Under former general manager Ray Shero, the Pittsburgh Penguins' philosophy was to prioritize defensemen in the draft. That led to the Penguins producing a number of high-end defense prospects but comparatively little up front. Now the forwards are starting to catch up.

"We're starting to get these forwards coming through the turnstiles," Penguins assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald said. "We feel like we've got them coming through now when in the past we haven't. We feel like we've got some forwards now finally coming through instead of being deep in just [defensive] depth."

Here's a look at the Penguins' top 10 prospects, according to NHL.com:

The Pittsburgh Penguins will enter the 2014-15 season as a different team, for better or worse.

After another disappointing result in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, Pittsburgh overhauled its managerial and coaching staffs, then retooled its roster. The Penguins have been one of the NHL's more consistent franchises in recent years, but their lack of satisfaction with regular-season success has led to a new direction.

Here are five questions the Penguins must answer if they plan to remain the steady franchise they were under their previous regime:

After another disappointing Stanley Cup Playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been taken in a different direction featuring new leadership and a retooled roster.

The Penguins will set out to prove the changes were worth the risk.

Pittsburgh was eliminated in the Eastern Conference Second Round despite a 3-1 series lead against the New York Rangers heading back to Consol Energy Center for Game 5. The Penguins scored one goal in each of the following three games and were outscored by seven.

In five years since winning the 2009 Stanley Cup, the Penguins have yet to return to the Stanley Cup Final. The dissatisfaction with postseason futility led Pittsburgh to make notable changes throughout the organization.

Defenseman Christian Ehrhoff had a whirlwind offseason.

After being bought out from his contract with the Buffalo Sabres, the 32-year-old was signed by the Pittsburgh Penguins to a one-year, $4-million contract shortly after free agency opened July 1. Now he enters the 2014-15 season as an instrumental piece to the Penguins' defensive corps.

Pittsburgh was unable to retain defensemen Matt Niskanen, who had a career year in 2013-14 with 10 goals and 46 points, and Brooks Orpik, its most tenured player entering the offseason. Each signed with the Metropolitan-Division rival Washington Capitals, making their losses sting that much more.

But the Penguins shifted their focus away from landing a possible top-six forward in free agency and instead decided to solidify their defense by adding Ehrhoff, who could more than make up for the losses of Niskanen and Orpik.

The Pittsburgh Penguins have won four Stanley Cup Playoff series in the past five seasons, a stretch preceded by back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final with what was the NHL's best collection of young star power.

When Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are healthy and on the roster, the expectation is to win four playoff rounds every season. There has been plenty of regular-season success in Pittsburgh, but the roster has eroded around them and losing three straight games after taking a 3-1 series lead against the New York Rangers in the second round meant the end for general manager Ray Shero and, eventually, coach Dan Bylsma.

New GM Jim Rutherford has tried to bolster the Penguins' depth, and he's earned deserved praise for some low-cost, low-risk additions. His big roster move, trading talented sniper James Neal for Patric Hornqvist and Nick Spaling, played to mixed reviews.

The other big acquisition is coach Mike Johnston, who had plenty of experience as an NHL assistant and plenty of success with Portland in the Western Hockey League, but is now the lead guy at this level for the first time.

New York Rangers forward J.T. Miller became very familiar with the stretch of highway connecting New York and Hartford last season. In 2013-14, the 21-year-old was sent down to the Rangers' American Hockey League affiliate in Hartford six different times.

He performed well with the Wolf Pack, scoring 15 goals and 42 points in 41 games. But with a number of key forwards no longer on the Rangers roster, the first-round pick (No. 15) in the 2011 NHL Draft must show he can consistently provide offense in the NHL.

"I think we made it pretty clear to him when he left where he stands and the opportunity in front of him. You only get so many chances," Rangers assistant general manager Jeff Gorton said of Miller. "I think J.T. is a pretty proud guy and a confident kid. I think he's encouraged there's a chance for him in the lineup. We're all looking forward to how he comes back, but it's all up to him."

After struggling through a marathon nine-game road trip to start the 2013-14 season, the New York Rangers found their footing by the holidays before enjoying a memorable march to their first Stanley Cup Final appearance in 20 years.

With many key players leaving in the offseason and more potential roster changes coming next summer, here are five questions the Rangers face entering this season:

The New York Rangers' 2013-14 season began with a number of major changes and ended with an unexpected run to the Stanley Cup Final. But the roster that takes ice on opening night against the St. Louis Blues on Oct. 9 will have some major changes from the one that lost in L.A. four months earlier, and the success of those changes figures to dictate whether they will make a return trip to the Final.

Free-agent departures, trades and a compliance buyout used on forward Brad Richards cost the Rangers five regular players from the team that won the Eastern Conference. The departures include top-four defenseman Anton Stralman, key checking center Brian Boyle and scoring wing Benoit Pouliot, all of whom left as unrestricted free agents. Replacing the skill sets of each player will be challenging, but the Rangers did their best to fill the holes on their roster.

"I think we look good. We're trying to fill in some depth positions, we lost some guys. Anytime you have success like we had, guys tend to get better opportunities somewhere else, more money, which in the cap world we couldn't handle," Rangers assistant general manager Jeff Gorton said. "So you go out and you work with your staff and try to identify guys that you think can fill those holes. One of the things we tried to do was do it fairly cheaply, considering the cap didn't go up maybe as much as we thought it might."

Despite not having the luxury of a first-round pick in each of the past two NHL Drafts, the 2014 Eastern Conference champion New York Rangers feel they've made all the right moves to solidify the organization's prospect pool.

The Rangers hope they can take it one step further and bring the Stanley Cup back to Madison Square Garden in 2014-15 after losing a five-game Final to the Los Angeles Kings, but it won't happen without some major retooling to the lineup. The Rangers lost forwards Benoit Pouliot and Brian Boyle and defenseman Anton Stralman to free agency and used a buyout on center Brad Richards, so there are spots for the taking.

Director of player personnel Gordie Clark believes that there may be a few good NHL players in the pipeline ready to take those spots.

For the first time in 20 years, the Stanley Cup Final returned to Madison Square Garden.

The New York Rangers put up a solid fight, but the Los Angeles Kings secured their second championship in three seasons and showed the Eastern Conference champs what flaws needed to be corrected. Before there was a salary cap, general manager Glen Sather's offseason would have involved spending to correct them.

Instead it was an interesting summer for the Rangers. New York became one of the best puck possession teams in the East in coach Alain Vigneault’s first season, but two key players on that front signed large contracts elsewhere.

The Rangers still have a formidable group of forwards, one of the best young defensemen in the League and maybe the best goaltender in the world.

Here's a look at the 2014-15 projected lineup for the Rangers: