The Pittsburgh Penguins fired Dan Byslma a few months ago in attempt to clean house and have change and theyreplaced him with Mike Johnston who coached Portland in the OHL. He went to four straight finals but only won one of them. How can he succeed here in Pittsburgh? Let's see.

Have Offense Thrive

The Penguins have been one of the best offensive teams in the NHL for years now and it needs to continue this year. Mike Johnston's team in the OHL scored a lot of goals every game and if he can incorporate that here, then the Penguins have a chance to seriously go very far in the playoffs. He needs to run a good power play that can score which it has every season and he needs Crosby and Malkin to be producing like crazy. This should be easy for Johnston to do and if he does it, the Penguins will be just fine with scoring for next season. 

Improve the Defense

Pittsburgh's defense has been one of their weaknesses over the years. I've noticed that some of the defenseman during the season and into the playoffs make a lot of careless mistakes that lead to goals. For example, flash back to game six of the 2013 Eastern Conference Quarterfinals between the Penguins and the Islanders. Near the end of the game, Kris Letang made an awful decision to try and force the pass to get the puck out and instead turned it over to Keith Aucoin who passed it to Michael Grabner and the Islanders scored. It's plays like those that gets Penguin fans concerned every season about the defense. Mike Johnston even said he wants to run some of the defense this season too and if he can really improve it, the Penguins could be well on their way to another Stanley Cup. We'll see how Mike Johnston's first season as an NHL coach goes.