Penguins received 42 goals and 98 points from Yevgeny Malkin, his best offensive result from 2011 to 2012. Phil Kessel finished the regular season with 92 points in his career. Patrick Hornqvist scored 29 goals, the second-largest career, while the penguins were one of eight teams with five or more 20 points.
Nevertheless, after reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs in the second round, it is difficult to sum up the Penguin forwards and come to some final conclusion. Yes, they were prolific. But their five-fold insult to start the season was terrible, and their secondary result was unsuccessful in the playoffs.
Jake Guenzel, Conor Sheri and Karl Hagelin were on the map. Dominic Simon, Zach Aston-Rees and Daniel Sproung showed flashes, but that's really all they turned out to be. Derik Brassard received incomplete information in his card, while Kessel played on the hook in the postseason.
Sidney Crosby finished with 29 balls, his least since he released 28 on Mike Johnston-Penguins 2014-15, but is this really worth worrying about? Short answer: no.
Shooting from Crosby returned to human levels: 17.3 in 2016-17 to 11.7 in 2017-18, which is exactly his career sign (14.5). He also withstood several stunning recessions - one goal in 15 games early, three in 22 in the middle - and had a revolving door of rulers.
Good included some ridiculous washers with a puck and two separate fives with five games, the second, as he made a late push to the 30-ball mark.
Speaking of shocks, Malkin was the best NHL player in January and February, when he helped develop the maneuver of penguins in the middle of the season. Malkin's 22 goals and 40 points in the two months gave him another four and nine, respectively, than Eric Staal of Minnesota.
Malkin had three goals and five points in the first four games of the Eastern Conference quarter-finals, but he clearly was not the same after injuring his knee when he got entangled in the corner with Jory Lechter of Philadelphia.
Was Kessel hurt? A good chance. It appears that he suffered a trauma in the upper body on February 23 in Carolina and was injured on March 31 at home against Montreal, but he obviously played next week, continuing his Ironman band.
When Shiri won twice in 5-4 wins over Buffalo Sabers on November 14, he gave him eight goals in the first 20 games of the season. He will score four in the next 44 on the way to a wildly inconsistent campaign.
Guentzel scored once in 19 games on two separate occasions, only to break into the playoffs with 10 balls and 21 points.
Hagelin was wounded himself at an early stage - two goals and six points in 42 games - before an eruption of eight and 25 over his final.
Derik Brassard showed flashes of what he could add to the penguin lineup, but the injury at the end of the season disrupted his progress. Four points in 12 games for the postseason were hardly the result of penguins. In the end, Brassard was the fourth liner.
Riley Sheikhan, purchased for Scott Wilson and the consolidated appeal, found a solid form and proved to be a reliable player who could play on the defensive, win in the spotlight and kill a penalty. The crime took a little to get off the ground, but as soon as it happened, Shihan equated to what you could call a center with 3 and a half lines.
Carter Rooney was virtually non-factor for most of the season, at least insultingly. Too often the fourth line, with Roni, was a cemetery when it came to resentment.
The three newcomers had chances: Daniel Sproong, Zach Aston-Rees and Dominic Simon.
It seemed that Simon could not be mistaken, while Sross - despite the fact that the newcomer to the penguins scored - a record 32 goals for minors - could not do anything.
Aston-Rees showed a flash of meshing with good players, but was never trusted with significant minutes after returning from a shoulder injury at the end of the season.
In the summer, rest will surely help the big boys, suggesting that the penguins will prefer to return Kessel.
In October, he will turn 31 years old, he breaks away from the amazing regular season - one that strengthens his ability as a scorer - and bears a significant blow. It's not horrible, but it would not be the worst business decision that penguins could make.
General Manager Jim Rutherford said that Sprong will be part of this club next year, and there is a good chance that he will join either Aston-Reese or Simon.
The biggest areas of intrigue in this offseason will be Kessel, and who will leave (someone will be) to make room for Sproung. Having lost key veterans in Chris Kunitz, Matt Cullen and Nick Bonino, it would not be surprising to see that penguins are also solving this problem.
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