- Penguins GM Kyle Dubas expressed a desire to improve both the depth and overall performance of his left-side defensemen, which led to a series of free-agent signings aimed at finding the right fit. Among the players he signed, physical defenseman Parker Wotherspoon — who inked a two-year, $2 million deal with Pittsburgh — may have the inside track on a roster spot. Wotherspoon, 27, has appeared in 108 regular-season games in the NHL across three seasons, including a career-high 55 games for the Boston Bruins last season. On the year, he averaged 18:02 of ice time per night and registered seven points, 75 hits, and 66 blocked shots. He joins recently signed Caleb Jones and Alexander Alexeyev, as well as veteran Ryan Graves, and promising youngster Owen Pickering in Pittsburgh’s depth chart. Per Justin Guerriero of Triblive.com, Wotherspoon believes Pittsburgh gives him the best opportunity to play. “They seemed interested, we seemed interested and we thought it’d be a good fit with some opportunity to play. … An opportunity to get back in the playoffs is all I wanted to do. Everything just kind of lined up really well,” he said.
Penguins Rumors
Alexeyev Unsurprised About Being Non-Tendered This Summer
- Speaking with RG’s Daria Tuboltseva, Penguins defenseman Alexander Alexeyev noted that he wasn’t surprised at being non-tendered by Washington back in June. The 25-year-old was a frequent healthy scratch last season, getting into just eight games during the regular season although he suited up more frequently in the playoffs. With Alexeyev having arbitration rights, the Capitals knew early they’d be letting him go, informing his camp of the decision several weeks ahead of time. Alexeyev added that he gave no consideration to returning home and playing in the KHL and instead, he signed for the league minimum with the Penguins and will look to earn a roster spot with them.
Could Penguins Consider Waiving And Demoting Recent Defense Adds?
- The Penguins have added some defensive depth this summer with the signings of Parker Wotherspoon and Alexander Alexeyev plus the acquisitions of Mathew Dumba and Connor Clifton. At first glance, that would seemingly close the door on prospects Owen Pickering or Harrison Brunicke having a chance to push for a roster spot, even with the team saying both will get long looks in training camp. Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders if the Penguins might consider waiving and demoting some of those newcomers – Clifton or Dumba in particular – to create an opening for one of the youngsters. With Pittsburgh not expected to contend for a playoff spot as things stand, it will be interesting to see if any budgetary restrictions are imposed which could make having a seven-figure player or two in the minors more of a challenge.
Caleb Jones Eyeing Roster Spot With Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins and GM Kyle Dubas have made a number of acquisitions since the start of free agency, but one under-the-radar move may prove impactful. On the opening day of free agency, the team agreed to terms with left-handed defenseman Caleb Jones on a two-year, $1.8 million deal. While the signing didn’t generate much buzz, Jones could quietly become a meaningful contributor in Pittsburgh as he sets his sights on earning a spot on the team’s opening night roster.
As Justin Guerriero of TribLive.com outlines, Jones is joining a franchise in the midst of a significant transition — not only will the team be adapting to new head coach Dan Muse’s philosophies, but the names on the blue line have changed considerably as well. He joins newly signed defenders Parker Wotherspoon, Alexander Alexeyev, and a host of other options on the left side vying for a spot in the lineup.
The organization is particularly thin on the left side of the blue line, with embattled veteran Ryan Graves likely the only lock for the opening night roster. Competing for spots behind him are promising prospect Owen Pickering and journeymen Ryan Shea and Sebastian Aho. While Jones admitted to not knowing much about Muse or his preferred style of play, he is confident his performance can make an impact at the NHL level.
“I just felt like the opportunity to come to Pittsburgh and kind of be a regular guy every night and really fully be established was something too good to pass up,” he said. “I had a lot of communication with management and the coaches, and I just felt really good about the opportunity I was going to have. I’m really excited. I think we’ll have a good team, and I think it’s going to be a great chance for me to come in, show what I can do and really earn a spot.”
Jones, 28, has 248 games at the NHL level under his belt across seven seasons with the Edmonton Oilers, Chicago Blackhawks, and LA Kings. He appeared in six games with the Kings last season, but spent the majority of the year in the AHL with the Ontario Reign. His most extended look in the NHL came during the 2022-23 season, when he registered career highs in games played (73), points (16), penalty minutes (40), blocked shots (118), and hits (116).
Snapshots: Heiskanen, Peddle, Penguins
The Stars will have a fully healthy and fully confident Miro Heiskanen atop their blue line when training camp begins next month, the defender told NHL Finland’s Varpu Sihvonen.
“My confidence is back where it used to be now that my knee can take all the practice and feels fine,” Heiskanen said. He told Sihvonen that his training schedule this summer has been normal after missing most of the back half of the season with a knee injury, only returning to action in time for the late stages of their second-round series against the Jets. The 26-year-old cornerstone had four points in eight postseason games upon returning, but saw a reduced workload at 21:49 per game.
Heiskanen was amid something of a down year offensively before his injury with 25 points in 50 games, but he’d operated at a 69-point pace over the previous two years with a pair of top-10 Norris Trophy finishes to show for it. With cap constraints thinning out Dallas’ defensive depth behind its big three of Heiskanen, Thomas Harley, and Esa Lindell, they’ll need him back at his peak to have aspirations of a fourth straight Western Conference Final appearance in 2026 – hopefully, this time with a Stanley Cup Final appearance to show for it.
More from around the league:
- Now-former Blue Jackets prospect Tyler Peddle has been traded in the QMJHL. He’s headed to the Charlottetown Islanders in exchange for a pair of draft picks, the team announced. He was the last pick of the 2023 draft but was not signed by June 1 of this year, making him an unrestricted free agent. He’ll hope for a strong overage season on Prince Edward Island to help him land an NHL or AHL contract next offseason. The 20-year-old center only had a 15-14–29 scoring line with a -34 rating in 54 games for the Saint John Sea Dogs last season, and his production has declined steadily since he peaked with 41 points in 64 games during his draft year for Drummondville.
- There’s been no significant traction on talks regarding any of the Penguins’ major trade chips in Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, and Bryan Rust, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet said on last weekend’s 32 Thoughts podcast. Friedman added there’s still potential for those discussions to heat up near the end of the month or closer to training camp, but no big moves are imminent.
Mathias Laferriere Signs In Slovakia
Free agent forward Mathias Laferriere has decided to take his talents overseas. He has signed with HK Spisska Nova Ves of Slovakia’s Tipsport Extraliga, the team announced on social media. Laferriere spent all of last season in the AHL. His year was split between the Springfield Thunderbirds and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins following a Spring trade that sent Corey Andonovski to Springfield.
Laferriere’s 2024-25 campaign was a muted one. He scored just 18 points across 55 games on the season – 10 in 33 games with Springfield, and eight in 22 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The performance marked a new low for the slight-framed winger, after he totaled 26 points in 50 games of the 2022-23 season, and 25 points in 68 games in 2023-24. Those performances were a healthy ramp up from Laferriere’s nine points in 56 games as an AHL rookie in 2021-22 – but it seems he couldn’t maintain the stout production through a change of teams.
Instead of lamenting in AHL bottom-sixes, Laferriere will test his talents overseas. This will mark the first European hockey of his career, after he grew up through Canadian youth hockey, played American pros, and never made a national team roster. Laferriere was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the sixth round of the 2018 Draft, on the heels of scoring 41 points in 67 games with the QMJHL’s Cape Breton Screaming Eagles.
He’s a lanky winger who leans on finesse and athleticism to make good plays along the boards. Those attributes could prove a helpful boost to a HK Spisska Nova Ves roster that stood on top of Slovakia’s pro league at the end of last season. Laferriere will join former AHL and ECHL pro Damien Giroux in the move to Slovakia. Despite quaint AHL scoring, sources available to Pro Hockey Rumors suggest that Laferriere was recruited by pro clubs in multiple European countries, and should have the chance to earn a middle-six role with his new club.
Poll: Will The Penguins Be Able To Trade Erik Karlsson?
Before the offseason began, it became clear that the Penguins were uniquely positioned as one of the league’s true few sellers who had no plans of contending for a playoff spot in 2026. Even with an understaffed roster, particularly on the blue line, they do still have some valuable trade chips to leverage in order to recoup additional future assets for their ongoing rebuild while also giving them a greater chance at a high-end pick in a stacked 2026 draft class.
While wingers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust will likely yield the most calls and have rather movable contracts, defenseman Erik Karlsson has also been on the shopping block since last season’s trade deadline. Aside from the declining veteran’s $10MM cap hit being virtually immovable without at least an additional 20% worth of retention, he has a no-movement clause through the remainder of his deal, which expires following the 2026-27 season.
Moving him, even with retention, is a sensible goal for the Penguins if they can yield a significant return. The 35-year-old obviously doesn’t fit into their long-term plans, and shedding some of his salary opens up more flexibility to take on more shorter-term undesirable contracts in the near future in exchange for additional futures, similar to their pickup of Matt Dumba from the Stars earlier this month.
That no-movement clause, which Karlsson waived to facilitate a trade to Pittsburgh from San Jose following his Norris-winning campaign in 2023, makes generating that significant return a difficult feat. He’s produced at a decent 55-point pace over his two seasons with the Pens and hasn’t missed a game since his acquisition, but a look under the hood reveals declining possession impacts to pair with his already solidified one-dimensional reputation as an offensive-minded rearguard.
While he usually helps his team generate significantly more shot attempts to help offset those poor defensive impacts, his +2.0% relative Corsi at even strength last year was among the worst of his career, as was his 48.4 xGF%. Entering his age-35 season, it’s not exactly as if there’s hope for a rebound there unless he’s deployed in an extremely insulated possession system.
Even if the Penguins are able to make Karlsson a $7MM-$8MM player for the next two seasons, the Venn diagram of teams that can afford him and those he’d be willing to waive his NMC for isn’t favorable. He’s willing to move but is only considering waiving his clause for a select few Stanley Cup contenders, according to reports earlier this month. That’s both foreseeable and reasonable – Karlsson has yet to reach a Stanley Cup Final in his 16-year NHL career.
That makes it hard to see many speculative fits outside of a potential move to the Hurricanes, who have something of a hole on the right side of their blue line after losing Karlsson’s former teammate, Brent Burns, to Colorado in free agency. They’ve got the space ($10.64MM) to burn and the high-end possession system to insulate his defensive shortcomings, particularly if he’s given license to play top-pairing minutes with one of the league’s top pure shutdown rearguards in Jaccob Slavin.
He’s not an extremely pressing need for Carolina with some other skilled puck-movers on their back end and a potential game-breaker in Russian rookie Alexander Nikishin, though. There will be questions, both from the public and likely within the Canes’ front office, of whether it’s wise to spend their remaining cap space on an area of strength rather than trying to pursue options to address their hole at second-line center.
PHR readers – how do you think things will shake out? Will the Penguins be able to get a Karlsson deal done? If so, how much money will they need to retain to make it happen? Vote in our poll below:
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Peddle Signs With QMJHL Charlottetown
- Penguins prospect Brady Peddle has decided to head to major junior as QMJHL Charlottetown announced that they’ve signed the blueliner for the upcoming season. The 18-year-old was a third-round pick last month, going 91st overall after spending last year with USHL Waterloo where he had 10 points in 62 regular season games and 10 more in 15 playoff outings. Peddle is committed to Michigan State for 2026-27 and that appears to remain the intention so his junior stint is expected to just be for 2025-26.
Could Mario Lemieux's Group Repurchase The Penguins?
As the Pittsburgh Penguins’ former ownership group continues to explore the possibility of buying back into the team, the Post-Gazette’s Jason Mackey broke down the potential pros and cons of the move. Fenway Sports Group has said that they’re only interested in selling a small portion of the Penguins, which appears to be something that interests Mario Lemieux and his former leadership group. However, Mackey wonders if there a path to where FSG would consider a full sale. There is precedent for FSG principal owner John Henry selling a team just a few years after purchasing it. As Mackey notes, in 1999, FSG purchased the MLB’s Marlins for $150MM, only to sell them three years later for $158.5MM. With the Penguins largely struggling since FSG’s purchase of the franchise, and the team now fully engaged in a rebuild, now could be the right time make a business decision. Even if Lemieux and his partners were to return as minority owners, Mackey emphasizes how meaningful that would be for the city.
Examining The Penguins’ Defense Core
The Pittsburgh Penguins started the offseason as one of the few teams considered more of a seller than a buyer. Despite that, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas made some clever acquisitions in free agency and through trades, aiming to bolster a defense that was probably the weakest in the NHL last season. It’s uncertain if this group is any better than before, but they will look quite different when the puck drops in October. New head coach Dan Muse will have many options to choose from when he sets his starting lineup. But how exactly will that group come together?
You can’t talk about the Penguins’ defensive core without mentioning the status of three-time Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, who may or may not be traded before training camp this fall. The Penguins would like to trade Karlsson (as per Josh Yohe of The Athletic), but they don’t see the 34-year-old as a liability and aren’t going to give him away for nothing, and rightfully so. The Penguins might trade Karlsson in the next two months, but if they don’t, they will face a logjam on the right side of their defense, which may not be the worst thing to start the season for various reasons.
The main benefit of having Karlsson is that it could lessen the load on veteran defender Kris Letang, who is coming off arguably the worst year of his career. The now 38-year-old posted nine goals and 21 assists in 74 games last season, marking the first time he didn’t reach 40 points since the 2016-17 season, when he scored 34 points in 41 games and suffered a season-ending neck injury. While injuries and age may have caught up with Letang, it’s also possible that he is being asked to do too much at this stage in his career, and trading Karlsson might not reduce his burden but could increase it. Pittsburgh has never really treated Karlsson as a top-pairing defenseman, but if they do keep him, it’s probably time to let Letang slide into the second pairing and move Karlsson up to the top unit. There’s also a remote chance that the Penguins could move Letang to the much weaker left side if they retain Karlsson, which they have tried in the past.
Behind Karlsson and Letang on the right side are newly acquired Connor Clifton and Matt Dumba, both of whom were salary dumps by their previous clubs. It’s tough to gauge how either man will fit in, but one or both will likely be playing on the third pairing. Clifton provides the Penguins with something they haven’t had in a defenseman for quite some time — a physical player who can throw hits. The 30-year-old struggled to find his game last season in Buffalo and needed a change of scenery this offseason. With one more year left on his contract, the Penguins hope he can rebound and become a valuable asset by the NHL Trade Deadline, making it likely they will shelter him on the third pairing to give him every chance to succeed.
The plan will likely resemble Dumba, who was once considered a top-pairing defenseman but is far from that now. He also plays with an edge, but doesn’t contribute much defensively or offensively beyond his willingness to shoot the puck. The move to acquire Dumba was mainly about the second-round pick that came with him, though he should still see time on the bottom pairing and could be moved up if the Penguins decide to part ways with Karlsson.
The interesting part on the right side involves Penguins’ defensive prospect Harrison Brunicke. The second-round pick in 2024 impressed many during his training camp last year, and he might be ready for NHL minutes this season. The 19-year-old probably won’t make the team due to the number of players on one-way contracts ahead of him on the depth chart. However, if he has another strong training camp, he could push his way onto the NHL roster. The Penguins are very high on Brunicke’s game and even see him as a potential future captain, but Yohe believes he will make his debut at the start of the 2026-27 season.
On the left side, the Penguins are a complete mess, and it all starts with Ryan Graves, who signed with Pittsburgh as a free agent on July 1st, 2023. At that time, the Penguins hoped the hulking defenseman would fit nicely alongside Letang and effectively replace the departing Brian Dumoulin. Things didn’t turn out that way, and Graves has been awful in Pittsburgh, sometimes becoming a healthy scratch and being sheltered from tougher competition whenever possible. His signing was the first mistake GM Kyle Dubas made during a summer that proved disastrous for the Penguins. Graves has been borderline unplayable over the last two seasons, and the hope in Pittsburgh is that the new coaching staff can improve his game and extract more than below-replacement-level play from him. Given the Penguins’ lack of high-end options on the left side, Graves will be given a long look to see if he can play a role in the Penguins’ top four.
Beyond Graves, there aren’t many options for Pittsburgh’s top four, but one player who might make it there someday is Owen Pickering. The 21-year-old doesn’t exactly wow with his play, but he showed last season that he’s probably ready to become a full-time NHLer. The 21st overall pick in 2022 played 25 games last season and didn’t look out of place, even though he was given challenging assignments on a very weak team. Pickering even saw some top-four minutes alongside Letang last season, but it will be tough for him to secure a full-time spot this season. Pittsburgh simply has too many players on one-way deals, and while Pickering’s future looks bright, he may have to spend another season in the AHL before earning a full-time role.
After Graves and Pickering, the Penguins have quite a bit of uncertainty on their blue line. This offseason, Pittsburgh signed Parker Wotherspoon to a two-year deal, along with Caleb Jones and Alexander Alexeyev. These players joined a crowded left side that also features Ryan Shea and Sebastian Aho. Among them, Wotherspoon and Shea likely have the best chances at NHL roles, but nothing is guaranteed. Alexeyev is an inauspicious addition, as he played only eight regular-season games last year, but he has good size at 6’4” and is a capable skater who can handle the puck. He might earn a spot on the NHL roster with a solid training camp.
The likeliest defensemen to start the season on the roster for the Penguins are Letang, Karlsson, Clifton, Dumba, Graves, Wotherspoon and Shea. Now, Penguins fans might not love the veteran-heavy defense core. Still, it will give all of the Penguins’ younger defensemen the chance to develop in the AHL with the Penguins’ forward prospects and could lead to something special for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Photo by Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images