After winning the Stanley Cup with a core of homegrown players, the Pittsburgh Penguins' prospect pipeline was left a little thin by trades, picking lower in the draft and some selections not reaching their potential.
While the 2004 of 2005 drafts brought Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Alex Goligoski and Tyler Kennedy, the only NHL regular Pittsburgh has drafted since 2006 is Jordan Staal, who was traded this summer to Carolina. General manager Ray Shero and his staff have been replenishing the system, particularly with blue-chip blue line prospects, and after early positive reviews on the 2011 and 2012 draft classes and the Staal trade, the Penguins' pipeline is flush again.
Shero's group has clearly focused on defense, and Pittsburgh might have the deepest collection of potential impact defensemen in the League. The depth up front and in goal isn't nearly as strong, and a couple of the organization's top forward prospects have dealt with injury problems. Those aren't exactly pressing areas of need though with guys like Crosby, Malkin, James Neal and Marc-Andre Fleury still on the front nine of their careers.
Here's a look at Pittsburgh's top 10 prospects: