[2] It entered the season as two-time defending Stanley Cup champions.
The Penguins entered this season as the longest active playoffs streak in the NHL after the Detroit Red Wings missed the playoffs for the first time in 25 years last season.
This was the first season since the 2002–03 season in which the team played without goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury; team leaders had shipped him off to play for the Vegas Golden Knights during the expansion draft.
The team failed to defend its title, after being eliminated in the Second Round of the playoffs by the eventual Stanley Cup champion Washington Capitals.
It would also have been the first in a North American professional sports league since the NBA’s Los Angeles Lakers from 2000 to 2002.