Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal Tomorrow the Penguins players will officially check into training camp and get to work on what hopes to be a Stanley Cup championship season for them. Expectations remain high for Pittsburgh and there is no shortage of storylines going into the season.Ray Shero was a busy man over the offseason extending star players such as Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. He also kept Sidney Crosby happy by extending both Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis. Shero also brought back an old friend in Rob Scuderi to try and give the Penguins another way to stabilize their defensive zone.Here are some of the storylines that I find most interesting while entering training camp this season. Please feel free to vote on the one you think is most interesting, or create your own and explain it in the comment sectionThe 2012-2013 season for Evgeni Malkin was more successful on the other side of the Atlantic than it was stateside. Malkin ripped up the KHL during the lockout but upon his return to the NHL he found himself stuck in a rut production wise by his standards.Malkin’s 2012-2013 goals per game average was .29 and his points per game average was 1.06, both averages were significantly down from his excellent 2011-2012 campaign. Malkin had .66 goals per game and 1.43 points per game on route to winning the Hart Trophy, Art Ross, and Ted Lindsay.In 2013-2014 Malkin’s preparation for the NHL season returns to normal without an annoying lockout to deal with. Malkin also has his contract extension out of the way and that is one less distraction hanging over him.Another benefit heading into this upcoming season is that there will be less of a question mark about who will play with Malkin and Neal. Last year for the first month of the season Malkin and Neal had a revolving door on the left wing, nothing seemed to work out. This year Malkin and Neal will have the benefit of having a proven commodity in Jussi Jokinen or the upstart prospect Beau Bennett. Those two options are way better than anything that duo had to deal with last year to open the season.Last but not least, it is an Olympic year, and the games will be hosted by Russia. Malkin will most certainly want to be on top of his game leading up to the Olympics.Can Rob Scuderi come in and be the calming presence that the Penguins have clearly been lacking defensively? The Penguins have consistently suffered from helter skelter paly in their own end during the playoffs the past few seasons; in fact it has coincided with Scuderi’s departure in 2009.Rob Scuderi should be an immense help to the defense but more specifically to Kris Letang. Letang has not had the benefit of playing with a steady partner since he has become the main guy for the Penguins defense. He has had stints with Brooks Orpik but they were predominately during the seasons in which Orpik was having hernia related problems. Scuderi could provide the security blanket that Letang has been lacking. It could provide an opportunity where Letang can become even more dynamic than he already is. If Letang is able to improve on some of his puck management choices this could be the year in which he not only gets nominated for the Norris, but wins it.The question should probably read more like when will Matt Niskanen be moved. Niskanen’s situation is the pink elephant in the room. With Despres ready to stick in the lineup on a nightly basis and Bortuzzo being extended it does not look like Niskanen will be making it out of training camp as a Penguin. Outside of the salary cap ramifications that Niskanen carries, there is also the dynamic of a young Brian Dumoulin making a push for some NHL minutes.The fact is that Niskanen is an OK 4th defenseman and a really good option for a #5, but the Penguins have plenty of cheaper, and potentially better options coming up through the pipeline.If/when Niskanen is finally moved it will most likely be for a mid level prospect or draft pick(s) as the Penguins needs his salary relief more than they need tangible assets coming back.As far as I am concerned Simon Despres is going to be the #5 d man on the Penguins this season. That should be pretty close to set in stone. Despres will be one of the better bottom paring defenseman in the league next year and he has the potential to play a similar role to the one Kris Letang had in 2008 and 2009.Options for Despres’ partner include the incumbent Deryk Engelland, newly re-signed Robert Bortuzzo, and upstart Brian Dumoulin. I am hoping that the battle for the 6th spot on the Penguins blue line boils down to Bortuzzo or Dumoulin as the favorites and perhaps a real shocker like Scott Harrington taking a huge step forward. I have seen enough of Engelland and he is not the answer anymore for that position.The Bruins series taught us that puck skills and puck smarts is how you beat a quality opponent, not just raw strength and bravado. I believe all the other options are better suited than Engelland at this point.With the addition of Rob Scuderi, Orpik might find himself in a much less strenuous role for the Penguins this year. The last few seasons have had Orpik playing in a complete shutdown role and it has taken a toll on not only his health but his production.Now that another defensive defenseman is on the roster (Scuderi) perhaps the burden of shutting down the oppositions’ best offensive weapons can be shared amongst the top 4, as opposed to just Orpik’s pairing.A return to the 2009 version of Brooks Orpik would go a long way towards the Penguins making a run at the Cup again. The way Bylsma is able to use Orpik moving forward will play the biggest role in if that will happen.We all know about the question marks entering the season for Marc Andre Fleury. His play has significantly slipped in the postseason and it has led to Fleury exploring alternative options, including a sports psychologist.Will Fleury come into camp all smiles like we are accustomed to seeing, or will he come into camp with a steely business first approach.Personally, I hope that he can find some place in the middle that leads to success moving forward. Fleury is one of the easiest people in the NHL to root for and it all starts because of his great easy going personality.The best forward prospect that the Penguins have will either start the year riding shotgun with Evgeni Malkin and James Neal, or he will start the year on a third line checking role.I think most people are rooting for him to earn his spot on the Malkin line and never look back, I am in that camp. I think that the way Bylsma has used Bennett is extremely similar to how he uses Malkin and Neal I believe Bennett will be the best Penguins winger in 2 years or less and I think he has a 60 point season on the horizon this year. I am most excited to watch his development as a player.Pascal Dupuis and Chris Kunitz have had a couple of terrific seasons the past 2 years. Dupuis has emerged as one of the best even strength wingers in hockey and Chris Kunitz continues to show he can produce with either Crosby or Malkin at a high level.My concerns are that Dupuis and Kunitz have been the beneficiaries of extremely high shooting percentages as well as high PDO ratings. Classically speaking those kind of stats regress to the mean and are hard to sustain Ray Shero has committed to both players moving forward and it is now up to them to try and maintain the same quality of play that led to those extensions. It always helps when your center is the best player on the planet.Honestly. How much more hardware is Sid going to lose because of injuries? Even with the crazy amount of injuries and the crazy amount of time off he has maintained a 1.60 points per game ratio since 2010-2011.If Crosby can play in 75 games this year that would be the equivalent of 120 points, and if I were a betting man that would be good enough for the Hart, Art Ross, and Ted Lindsay.He deserves a full bill of health; I hope he is able to get it this year.Those are my storylines, what are yours? Don’t forget to vote in the poll above.Thanks for reading!Follow me on twitter Follow @GunnerStaal