Crosby dictates Cup chances but team will remain competitive for top-5 seed in East

The Penguins can and will remain competitive without Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. The belief from evaluators I spoke with on Saturday evening is that the Pens' ability to defend will keep them in the hunt for a top-5 seed and also as long as Marc Andre Fleury remains at his current level he has now sustained for months.

This is going to be a playoff team and when it comes to the Penguins chances of competing for a Stanley Cup, it all depends on whether Crosby returns to the ice and can play at an elite level. That's a major question mark at this point and a "big if" for this season.

As the Trib's Rob Rossi mentioned in his Sunday analysis feature, Crosby is expected to be out until "at least March." The talk right now is he's at least 4-6 weeks away and his absence could go right up until the final couple weeks of the regular season. This injury is that serious and this could very well end up being a lost second half of the season for Crosby.