A variety of good and bad season outlooks coming out for the Penguins

A little something for everyone

It’s almost time for the Penguins to drop the puck on the 2024-25 season, which means it’s high time to check out various season previews and outlooks. The Penguins fit all over the map, depending on the model or prognosticator

The good

The HockeyViz model has the Penguins at a mean of 94.6 points, good for the third best Metropolitan division team this season. Micah Blake McCurdy says about the Pens, “Pittsburgh are still declining, broadly, but will remain competitive so long their admittedly old players remain extremely good, which looks likely to hold through this season at least”

The not so good

The Athletic’s model isn’t big fans of the Penguins, giving them just a 30% chance at the playoffs on a total of 88.5 points for the season. They bottom lined it as such:

Crosby and his counterparts, for now, have largely stayed ahead of the aging curve. Bet against him at your own peril. Still, expecting a return to the playoffs by an old team with a flawed supporting cast in a conference with several up-and-coming teams would be unfair.

Moneypuck isn’t much higher, at 33.6% playoff odds projected to start the season. That is good for fifth in the division, but this model preferred the chances of teams like Detroit, Ottawa and Buffalo to take the final Wild Card playoff spot.

The Evolving Hockey model shows how difficult it may be to make the playoffs due to a potentially strong Atlantic Division. It puts the Pens at 87.8 points, fifth in the Metropolitan Division, but also projects the Atlantic to gobble up both the Wild Cards (with Tampa and Ottawa north of 93 points, and Boston at 91).