2026-27 NHL team preview: Pittsburgh Penguins
LAST SEASON
To encapsulate just how much the Pittsburgh Penguins defied expectations last season, and how uncertain their future nevertheless looks, it’s best to just share verbatim my exchange with Sidney Crosby last week at the NHL Player Media Tour.
Daily Faceoff: To get a little bit meta…Sid, I remember last year we were sitting here. And I don’t want to say we were grilling you, but we were asking you tougher questions about the direction of the franchise in the future. Flash forward a year, you guys make the playoffs, it feels like everything has changed. Do you feel that way? What are your thoughts on the direction of the team now? Are you in a much better place than you’ve been in a while?
Crosby: I think it’s hard to say. Last year, I didn’t think too far ahead, regardless of what was being said. And I don’t think I’m going to think too far ahead in this situation either. That experience last year was great. For the guys that are coming back – we took that step, we were a lot better than people expected, and now there’s a little bit more of an expectation. So we’ve got to find a way to elevate again. That’s the challenge.
Crosby summarizes the sentiment well. A year ago, the Pens were perceived as a potential lottery team by many, fresh off three consecutive playoff misses, with rumors swirling on whether their franchise icon would fancy a trade to a contender. But they were a shockingly competitive outfit from the start, roaring to an 8-2-2 record in October. Their legendary duo of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin maintained a high standard of offensive play, they had veteran help from the likes of Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, and they got surprisingly big contributions from a motley crew of bargain finds, from UFA signing Anthony Mantha to wily in-season trade acquisition Egor Chinakhov.
The Pens were transformed under new coach Dan Muse, particularly in their 5-on-5 play driving, and they improved by 18 points year over year, finishing second in the Metropolitan Division. Yet all that goodwill – and their hard-earned home ice – evaporated rather quickly when they stalled in Round 1 of the playoffs, bounced in six games by the Philadelphia Flyers.
So where is this franchise a year later? This is still a team in transition, split between twilight-aged veterans and a rising class of young but not top-tier prospects. Was last season a sign of sustainable progress? Or did it merely delay an inevitable bottoming out for a team lacking emerging stars to build around in the long term?
KEY ADDITIONS & DEPARTURES
Additions
Andrei Kuzmenko, LW
Nick Robertson, RW
Trevor van Riemsdyk, D
Kaedan Korczak, D
Declan Carlile, D
Hendrix Lapierre, C
Departures
Anthony Mantha, RW (NJ)
Ryan Shea, D (Edm)
Stuart Skinner, G (Wpg)
Connor Clifton, D (Bos)
Noel Acciari, C (Phi)
Parker Wotherspoon, D (VGK)
Kevin Hayes, C (KHL)
OFFENSE
The Presidents’ Trophy winning Colorado Avalanche. The Stanley Cup winning Carolina Hurricanes. Those are the only teams that outscored the 2025-26 Penguins. The craziest thing about Pittsburgh’s fever-dream season: it iced a top-three offense despite boasting just one 30-goal scorer and no player with more than 33.
But if we look beyond the surface numbers, we can see how the Pens put so many pucks in the net. They rated near the top of the NHL in 5-on-5 scoring chances under Muse’s tutelage. They had 12 players score at least 13 goals; Crosby had 29 in just 68 games, his season abbreviated by the knee injury he sustained at the 2026 Olympics. Chinakhov was a revelation after GM Kyle Dubas acquired him from the Columbus Blue Jackets in late December. Chinakhov’s 18 goals in 43 games as a Pen put him on a 34-goal pace, and he did so playing a modest 15:37 per night. Chinakhov ranked fourth in the NHL in 5-on-5 goals per game post-trade, finding some real chemistry with countryman Malkin, who slid over to the right wing, and center Tommy Novak. But Chinakhov was held off the scoresheet in the postseason, leaving lingering questions on whether he can sustain his breakout.
One of the three NHL players who averaged more 5-on-5 goals per 60 than Chinakhov from late December onward: Mantha, who delivered a career-best 33-goal, 64-point campaign only to price himself out of Pittsburgh and join the rival New Jersey Devils as a UFA. Mantha’s health history and elevated shooting percentage last season made his numbers unrepeatable, so it was wise for the Pens to walk away, but it’s still fair to wonder where they will replace his team-leading goal total.
Dubas is clearly hoping he can find his next sleeper scoring sensations in Andrei Kuzmenko and Nick Robertson. Kuzmenko sat top-25 in the league in power-play goals per 60 last season and has potential to be the Pens’ new Mantha as an undervalued veteran sniper. Robertson, drafted by Dubas with the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2019, could be another Chinakhov as a post-hype sleeper with untapped offensive upside. Robertson never earned himself a long-term look in Toronto’s top six, but he’s scored 17 goals per 82 games in his career on just 11:52 of average ice time.
Even if the Pens’ scoring depth is weakened this season, they still have their personnel from their seventh-ranked power-play on board, quarterbacked by the ageless Erik Karlsson, fresh off his best season as a Pen, having compiled 66 points.
DEFENSE
The Pens were an elite offensive club last season but were middling at best in their own end, sitting in the NHL’s bottom third at preventing scoring chances and high-danger chances at 5-on-5. Since their goaltending wasn’t strong enough to bail them out of all trouble, the Pens allowed the ninth-most goals in the NHL.
Even though Karlsson’s game is more about offense and defending by keeping the puck in the other end, he’s still a strong all-around game impactor and will still be tasked with the tough quality of competition once again – for now, we’ve pencilled in low-event newcomer Trevor van Riemsdyk as a steady partner. The Pens will miss Ryan Shea, who capitalized on a breakout year and signed with the Edmonton Oilers, but Dubas is clearly trying to unearth his next gem in Kaedan Korczak, who was a 97th percentile chance killer with the Vegas Golden Knights last season but played extremely sheltered minutes. On the whole, though, this is a thin group that will collapse like a house of popsicle sticks if anything happens to Karlsson. The Pens will likely do what they can to keep defensive ball and chain Ryan Graves out of their lineup; Declan Carlile is our pick to take his place on the third pair, but perhaps a youngster like Harrison Brunicke or Owen Pickering can push his way into the lineup.
Even if Pittsburgh can’t make gains on defense at even strength, it can cross its fingers for continuity in its penalty kill, which finished sixth in the NHL last season. That won’t be easy after losing Shea and Parker Wotherspoon from the back end. Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar will contribute up front, but don’t sleep on sophomore Ben Kindel. On top of a 17-goal effort as a rookie, he showed some legitimate two-way acumen.
GOALTENDING
Stuart Skinner was a lightning rod for criticism due to his inconsistent play as an Oiler. As a midseason acquisition for the Penguins, he was similarly unreliable, and he struggled in the postseason. It’s thus understandable why Pittsburgh didn’t re-sign him, but the decision wasn’t just about Skinner. It’s clear the Penguins didn’t want to block Sergei Murashov any longer. Murashov has excelled at one level after another over his past couple seasons, transitioning smoothly from the KHL to the ECHL to the AHL. He was one of the latter league’s best players in 2025-26, posting a .919 save percentage in the regular season and dominating at a .931 mark in the postseason. He’s ready for the NHL. Maybe he starts as Arturs Silovs’ 1B, but I’d bet on Murashov overtaking him for the 1A by December. Silovs profiles as a dutiful backup goaltender capable of getting hot for extended stretches as a spot starter, but Murashov’s ceiling is much higher. He’s an exciting prospect.
COACHING
Muse was a Jack Adams Award finalist in his first season as head coach. Most exciting wasn’t just that Pittsburgh got better results in the standings with him but also that they played a sustainable style. They drove the play much better and excelled on special teams. He figured out how to rewind Karlsson’s body clock and turn him back into a dominant player. The Pens will be hard-pressed to maintain last season’s gains due to their personnel losses, but they seem to have found a coach who will help them overachieve.
ROOKIES
The NHL’s rookie class is elite this season, led by high-profile prospects such as Gavin McKenna, Porter Martone and Anton Frondell, but Murashov is a viable Calder Trophy sleeper should he steal a starter’s workload from Silovs. Pickering technically meets the Calder Trophy requirement even if he’s a third-year NHLer. He played 25 games in 2024-25, while 26 is the cutoff to end eligibility, and he only suited up four times in 2025-26, so he remains a rookie. While enthusiasm has dimmed on his puck-moving potential, his long reach makes him intriguing as a future shutdown option. Brunicke, the Pens’ top blueline prospect, racked up a ton of experience across multiple levels last season, from the WHL to the AHL to the NHL to the World Juniors. With his size and all-situations skill set, he has top-pair potential someday in the NHL. Will he force his way into Pittsburgh’s lineup this season? Keep an eye on right winger Avery Hayes, too. He had a great year in the AHL and potted five goals in 16 NHL games with the big club last season.
BURNING QUESTIONS
1. Can Dubas pull off clearance-rack magic again? Dubas is betting on a collection of buy-lows to duplicate the scoring and penalty-killing efficiency Pittsburgh achieved last season. If he misses on any of them, the Pens stare down regression.
2. What happens if any of the vets decline? Crosby is 39, Malkin is 40, Rust is 34, Rakell is 33, Karlsson is 36, and 39-year-old franchise institution Kris Letang stopped being a top-end NHL defenseman years back. If the greybeard brigade can’t keep defying age, the Pens could suddenly struggle to score at a league-average rate.
3. Do the Pens have NHL-caliber goaltending right now? Silovs has shown it in spurts. We think Murashov will deliver this season, but he’s only 22 and not a lock to instantly excel.
PREDICTION
Scroll back up to the Crosby conversation now. He had an opportunity to hit a softball out of the park and claim he was extremely excited for this season. But he was careful not to overpromise, wasn’t he? Almost as if he understands that last season was a bit of a unicorn for a team in purgatory, not saying goodbye to its old stars nor handing the keys to new stars yet. With great coaching and leadership, the Pens should remain relevant in the volatile Metro. But if we factor in their roster losses and the fact the loaded Washington Capitals missed the playoffs last season and likely won’t again, it feels like the Pens’ spot goes back to D.C. in 2026-27. Pittsburgh might end up on the outside – barely. Expect a competitive year and a point total in the 85-90 range, just south of the Wildcard cutoff.
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