What will Penguins power play look like without Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin?

The Penguins’ top power-play unit looked strange during practice Friday.

That’s because reserve defenseman Juuso Riikola was on it.

But he was merely a placeholder. With top-six winger Kasperi Kapanen in the lineup for a road preseason game in Buffalo later that night, Riikola was filling in for his fellow Finn.

In the early stages of the 2021-22 season, that unit is bound to look askew with franchise icons Sidney Crosby (left wrist) and Evgeni Malkin (right knee) absent as they recover from offseason surgeries.

“Obviously, those two guys are big guys for us,” forward Bryan Rust said. “We’ve just got to worry about maybe playing a little bit more simple, a little bit harder and just try to get pucks to the net.”

On Saturday, the most likely candidates to put pucks on net with the power play to open the season were deployed during practice.

The first unit was composed of forwards Jake Guentzel, Jeff Carter, Kapanen, Rust and defenseman Kris Letang.

Forwards Drew O’Connor, Evan Rodrigues, Jason Zucker as well as defensemen John Marino and Mike Matheson comprised the second unit.

Even with the adroit talents of Crosby and Malkin unavailable, don’t expect the Penguins to alter the schematics of their power play.

“We’ll try multiple guys,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We have a certain philosophy with our power play and how it should operate with some of the principles that we’ve put in place here that makes it predictable for one another. I don’t know if that will change drastically.“

One change that almost definitely won’t happen is the usage of two defensemen on the top unit, outside of specific scenarios such as protecting a lead late in regulation.

“(Using two defensemen is) always a possibility,” Sullivan said. “But I would not anticipate it.”

It’s safe to anticipate Letang to be the lone defenseman on that top unit. That’s been the case for most of Sullivan’s tenure with the Penguins.

While Letang’s power-play numbers (one goal, 14 assists) were well above average for most defensemen last season, they were hardly overwhelming. Regardless, Sullivan expressed satisfaction with how Letang functioned on the top unit.

“Last year, he did a real good job of the shot selection,” Sullivan said “When the shot was there, he took it. We think that’s just an important aspect of establishing that shot up top in order for the power play to operate effectively. When you can establish that shot, a lot of times it opens up opportunities underneath for plays off the flank or low plays or things of that nature. Because teams have to respect it. I thought (Letang) did a really good last year with his decision-making up top on the blue line. When that (shooting) lane was there and we had people at the net, he could get pucks down and establish that point shot that is so important, I think, to having an effective power play.”

Another key to having any efficacy on the power play? A center.

With Crosby and Malkin out, Carter will be stepping in as the team’s top center in five-on-five scenarios and their lone true center on the top power-play unit.

In addition to scoring 114 power-play goals during his 16-year career, Carter has won 55.3% of the faceoffs he has taken in power-play situations (1,169 for 2,111) during his decade-plus in the NHL.

“(Carter) sees the ice well. He has real good offensive instincts,” Sullivan said. “I think he understands our scheme. He has the ability to play multiple positions on it, he brings size and he can shoot it. He has a real good shot. Depending on where he is, what position he’s playing on that power play, he can bring different dimensions that bring us success.”

Whatever success the Penguins’ power play enjoys at the onset of the 2021-22 season, it will largely operate differently than in 2020-21. But it’s going to look different in the early going based on who is on it.

Or, most importantly, not on it.

“Personnel will obviously have a lot to do with it,” Sullivan said. “We don’t have a definitive answer yet.”