Mark Madden: Penguins lineup already mostly determined, but they have options

Pittsburgh Penguins training camp seems to get shorter every year. The Penguins played exhibition games in two different cities Sunday. That’s certainly hurrying things up.

NHL preseason used to be longer. Players would work themselves into shape after truly taking the summer off. Now conditioning is a year-round endeavor.

Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang look to be in the best shape of their lives, as the cliche goes. Evgeni Malkin looks like a 36-year-old. (That’s no knock. Crosby and Letang are a different breed. Like Tom Brady, they started preparing for the latter stages of their NHL shelf life at the beginning of their careers.) Jeff Carter, 37, is already hurt.

The Penguins are an aging team. Five players are 34 or over, six more 30 or over.

The centers are 37, 36, 35 and 28. Only Teddy Blueger isn’t graying among the centers.

Old teams don’t win in hockey. The Penguins’ largely unchanged roster hasn’t won a playoff series since 2018. But keeping the old gang together is still their best bet and has been since ignoring a shot to trade off aging pieces in 2018 or ’19 to rebuild around Crosby.

Crosby and Letang are anomalies. Letang’s last two seasons have been among his best. Crosby is still in the conversation for hockey’s best player, and it’s hard to conclusively put him behind anyone besides Edmonton’s Connor McDavid.

The Penguins are a lock to make the playoffs for a 17th straight season. They would have won at least one playoff series last year if starting goalie Tristan Jarry hadn’t been hurt.

They have an excellent coach in Mike Sullivan.

The Penguins are an interesting team.

This space will examine later what style the Penguins should play and the idea of using load management with their core of Crosby, Letang and Malkin.

In terms of who makes the team, that’s mostly determined already.

The biggest question is on defense. The right side is Letang and new boys Jeff Petry and Jan Rutta. Chad Ruhwedel is the reliable extra.

The only nailed-on definite on the left side is Brian Dumoulin. A myriad of injuries last campaign produced Dumoulin’s worst season as a Penguin. But he figures to bounce back and is a good partner for Letang.

Marcus Pettersson is solid if overpaid. He could be moved to clear salary cap space, but that’s not proving easy. Pettersson and Petry, both 6-foot-3, could provide a “twin towers”-type pair if Pettersson stays. Lots of reach.

That leaves one spot on the left side. The candidates are perennial prospect P.O Joseph, new acquisition Ty Smith and feisty veteran Mark Friedman.

Joseph, a former first-round pick, is 23. It’s got to be his time. Joseph is skilled and smooth. His style on defense is the NHL’s style.

Smith, 22, is another former first-rounder. He’s good with the puck but needs work defensively. (Enter assistant coach Todd Reirden, who works great one-on-one.)

It wouldn’t be a shock if Friedman, 26, plays opening night on the left side of the bottom pair. Friedman has sand. He’s a right shot, which would disrupt Sullivan’s preferred lefty-righty duos. But he can legit play his off-side.

The organization doesn’t seem enamored of Joseph. Smith can go to the minors without clearing waivers. Joseph and Friedman can’t. (That’s even though Smith, the youngest of the three, has played the most NHL games of the three: 114 with New Jersey.)

So, Smith might be sent to the Penguins’ Wilkes-Barre/Scranton farm team to start the season. (That would get the Penguins under the cap.) Either Joseph or Friedman cracks the lineup. Things obviously change if Pettersson moves. (But it’s looking like he won’t. Yet.)

Up front, only one lineup spot seems available. The 6-3, 200-pound bull-rushing method of Drew O’Connor seems an obvious choice. But don’t count out the veteran stylings of reacquired Josh Archibald.

The Penguins aren’t as high on Joseph and O’Connor as you’d think. Maybe because they can just play Letang and Crosby more if it comes to that.