Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford believes his team will prove the haters wrong this season.
The Hall of Fame executive has been criticized for some of his moves this offseason after swapping Patric Hornqvist for Michael Matheson, signing Cody Ceci, and trading a first-round pick for Kasperi Kapanen.
However, even though Sidney Crosby is 33 and Evgeni Malkin is 34, Rutherford believes his team can still make another deep playoff run.
"It’s a pretty standard thing for people to say," Rutherford told The Athletic's Josh Yohe. "To be honest, that’s what I would expect people to say. Those people don’t follow us very closely, though. They aren’t close to our team. So they don’t know as much about our team. We are still Stanley Cup contenders."
Rutherford believes critics are especially harsh on the Penguins because they're envious of the team's success.
"Here’s the thing," he said. "I think some of the comments … when a team like us has a lot of success, these are just negative and jealous things that are said. I see it in all sports. For whatever reason, some people can’t wait - assuming you’re not a fan of a certain team - to take joy when that team takes a step backwards. That’s how I view those comments. Some people just don’t like the Penguins and are waiting to see us fail."
Following back-to-back Stanley Cup wins in 2016 and 2017, the Pens own a postseason record of 7-13 with just one series victory.
