- With the Penguins lacking right-shot depth on the back end, Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette wonders if free agent addition Mac Hollowell could be this year’s version of Ryan Shea. Shea didn’t have any NHL experience heading into last season but wound up playing in 31 games. Hollowell does have six games at the top level under his belt with Toronto in 2022-23 but spent last season with AHL Hartford, notching 44 points in 64 games. Pittsburgh GM Kyle Dubas is familiar with Hollowell from their time in Toronto which could help his cause this coming season.
Penguins Rumors
Looking Ahead At Early Training Camp Battles
The 2024 offseason is nearly at its end and many teams are looking ahead toward training camp. A few teams have unfinished business to attend to but most heavy lifting is completed across the league. Training camp and preseason contests give the team a first glance at new talent and also bring along the strenuous process of trimming the team down to a 23-man roster before opening night in October. This will not be an exhaustive list by any stretch of the imagination but a few notable training camp battles have already developed after a lengthy summer.
Carolina Hurricanes
The Hurricanes have sustained one of the most successful stretches outside a Stanley Cup title in organizational history. The team has made the playoffs for six straight seasons and has regularly boasted one of the deeper lineups in the league over that stretch. Unfortunately, the team lost valuable talent in Jake Guentzel, Teuvo Teravainen, Brett Pesce, and Brady Skjei this summer, leading many to believe this team has taken a noticeable step backward this offseason. The team filled in their blue line adequately with Sean Walker and Shayne Gostisbehere on low-cost deals but there is still a glaring hole on the team’s second line.
Martin Necas could slot into a center or right-wing role on the second line. The possession-heavy Hurricane offense makes him a better option on the wing due to poor faceoff percentage throughout his career. That leaves Carolina to choose from Jesperi Kotkaniemi, Jack Drury, Jack Roslovic, or Jordan Staal to middle the team’s second-line with another question mark at left wing. This battle will mainly come down to prospects Bradly Nadeau and Jackson Blake as many of the other wingers on the team are better-positioned in bottom-six roles. Neither have the upper hand at the outset as both showed off promising talent in the NCAA last season at the University of Maine and the University of North Dakota, respectively, and it will be an interesting battle to see play out in a few weeks.
Detroit Red Wings
The Red Wings are headed into year six of the ’Yzerplan’ and have yet to return to the Stanley Cup playoffs. The organization came close last year as they tied with the Washington Capitals in points for the last wild card spot in the Eastern Conference only to miss out due to the first tiebreaker. Poised to make headlines this summer in the hopes of icing a playoff-caliber roster in a tough Atlantic Division — the Red Wings fell flat. Their biggest moves of the summer were retaining forward Patrick Kane on a one-year deal, signing Vladimir Tarasenko to a two-year pact, and signing goaltender Cam Talbot to complete their goaltending trio.
Detroit seemingly already has a full roster heading into training camp in a few weeks. Simon Edvinsson, Albert Johansson, Carter Mazur, and Nate Danielson are poised to challenge for a full-time spot in the lineup which could lead the Red Wings to some difficult choices in October. The team will eventually have to begin graduating their glut of prospects to the NHL level but most of them are blocked by the numerous acquisitions general manager Steve Yzerman has made over the last few years. Don’t be surprised if Detroit becomes an active trade candidate before the season opens to make room for some of their prospects.
Minnesota Wild
The Minnesota Wild are set to open the 2024-25 NHL season with two-and-a-half goalies on the roster to the surprise of many. After the team extended uber-popular goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury to a one-year deal in mid-April the going notion was that the Wild would pursue a trade of Filip Gustavsson over the summer to open up a spot for top prospect Jesper Wallstedt. It shouldn’t be a make-or-break season for Wallstedt if the Wild keep him down in the minors for another year but he has little left to prove at the AHL level.
Gustavsson could still be a viable trade candidate throughout the season with a manageable $3.75MM cap hit for the next two years. It’s still difficult to view Minnesota not capitalizing on an active goaltending trade market this summer as anything other than a misstep. Wallstedt is a naturally good goaltending prospect already and the Wild have a unique opportunity to have him learn under one of the game’s all-time best in Fleury. It would be a surprise to see Minnesota move on from Gustavsson at this point in the offseason. Wallstedt could certainly play himself into a third-string position for Minnesota this season which could create quite the rotation between the pipes.
Montreal Canadiens
As the Canadiens look to rebound from a multi-year retooling effort the team has created quite a glut of potential on the blue line. Defensemen Mike Matheson and Kaiden Guhle already strike as long-term options on the back end but the team will need to piece together a defensive core with seven different options. It would be wise for Montreal to enter training camp with a very open mind for the defensive core outside of Matheson and Guhle.
This reasonably leaves five other spots available which will be filled out by prospects Lane Hutson, Logan Mailloux, and David Reinbacher with David Savard, Arber Xhekaj, Jayden Struble, and Justin Barron left to pick from. All the options individually offer their unique skill set to the Canadiens’ blue line but they are another potentially active trade candidate heading into the season.
Pittsburgh Penguins
On the opposite side of the coin compared to the Canadiens; the Penguins will need to thin out their group of forwards heading into the regular season. Pittsburgh’s roster breakdown shows 14 forwards on the active roster with Emil Bemstrom and Jesse Puljujarvi in the minors according to PuckPedia. Rutger McGroarty and Drew O’Connor should be the main camp battle to who plays on the wing next to Sidney Crosby but the team’s bottom-six appears too saturated.
It should be a multi-tiered training camp battle as each player to pick from plays a different style of hockey. Depending on whether the Penguins want more scoring in the bottom-six or a more defensive-minded approach it will ultimately chart the trajectory of several players. Bemstrom, Puljujarvi, Lars Eller, Noel Acciari, Anthony Beauvillier, and Valtteri Puustinen all represent the notable talent who will compete for these spots once training camp begins in a few weeks.
St. Louis Blues
The Blues were originally thought to be a team looking to thin out their defensive core this offseason. The team instead brought in Ryan Suter, Philip Broberg, and Pierre-Olivier Joseph while only moving on from Marco Scandella. The team may be without defenseman Torey Krug for the entire regular season which opens up a spot on the left side of the defense but the team will ultimately have to cut the roster.
The choice will become less complicated if the team is without Krug for the regular season as the only battle of training camp will come down to Suter and Joseph as the team’s seventh defenseman. A roster spot hangs on the availability of Krug for the 2024-25 NHL season which makes for an interesting camp battle between several members of the Blues’ defensive core.
McGroarty "Feels Right" About Being A Penguin
- Forward prospect Rutger McGroarty went two seasons without signing an entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets due to concerns about his development path within the organization. The University of Michigan product went only a few hours between being acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a trade with the Jets and signing his entry-level contract because “Everything feels right here” (X Link). He has already been impressed by the organization’s front office staff and the veteran members of the team and certainly seems excited to begin work as a Penguin. He will compete with several forwards for a spot on the opening night roster out of training camp in a few weeks and could even see time on a line with captain Sidney Crosby in his rookie campaign.
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Penguins Notes: Robertson, O’Connor, Line Combinations
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes about a potential link between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nicholas Robertson. It’s not the first time rumors have surfaced about a potential Robertson to Pittsburgh trade, as Kingerski wrote back in May that the Penguins, specifically general manager Kyle Dubas, should target the undersized Maple Leafs forward. However, Robertson remains a Maple Leaf despite asking for a trade in June, and the Penguins have just under $900K in available cap space. While a move seems unlikely at this point, it should be noted that the Penguins have 15 forwards on their active roster and could likely bury an additional $1.7MM in the minors.
Kingerski writes that the Penguins could offer sheet Robertson for below $2.29MM, and the cost would only be a third-rounder, but the Maple Leafs would likely match that number and shut the door on the Robertson-to-Pittsburgh talk. It appears that the Penguins’ best option, should they want to acquire Robertson, would be to make a hockey trade using a roster player with value and perhaps a draft pick to try and pry the 22-year-old loose.
In other Penguins notes:
- Kingerski also wrote about the Penguins’ lack of a winger for superstar Sidney Crosby. The Penguins have spent the summer trying to find someone to play with Crosby after trading Jake Guentzel at the trade deadline, and with the summer coming to an end, Kingerski believes that Drew O’Connor is likely the Penguins’ best option for the first-line left winger role. O’Connor finished last season playing with Crosby and showed glimpses during that time. The 25-year-old finished the year with 16 goals and 17 assists in 79 games, including seven goals and five assists in the final 19 games when he played alongside Crosby.
- The Penguins acquisition of young forward Rutger McGroarty has changed the potential makeup of their forward lines (according to Dan Kingerski). The Penguins boast as many as 19 potential NHL forwards, including newly acquired Kevin Hayes, Cody Glass, and Anthony Beauvillier, and it could make for an interesting training camp in the Steel City. McGroarty could get a look alongside Sidney Crosby on the first line, but he could also slide into a third-line role alongside Hayes and Beauvillier. It isn’t even clear which side of the ice McGroarty will play on, but one clear thing is that his presence in Pittsburgh makes things very interesting when it comes to the Penguins’ forward ranks.
Poll: Which Trade Was The Most Impactful Since The Start Of Free Agency?
Heading into the offseason, the NHL trade market was expected to be full of activity. However, as things played out, the trade market took much longer to develop than anticipated, with many of the major trades taking place within the last few weeks. With most of the notable players on the trade market now having changed hands shortly before the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, we’ll look back at some of the bigger trades since the start of free agency.
The biggest trade from the start of free agency happened in the middle of the frenzy, with the Washington Capitals acquiring defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Nick Jensen and a third-round pick in 2026. Chychrun is coming off of one of the better statistical performances throughout his career on a middling Senators’ defense, with 13 goals and 41 points in 82 games. He finished the year with a -30 rating, but that had largely to do with his deployment with Ottawa, as Hockey Reference pegged his expected rating at +0.4 over the year. He will no longer be responsible for leading a defensive core with John Carlson holding that crown, but he should still receive big minutes in Washington.
Fast forward to mid-August, when the Montreal Canadiens acquired one of the better forwards available on the trade market. The Canadiens acquired Patrik Laine and a second-round pick in 2026 from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris. Laine carries a bloated salary of $8.7MM for the next two years and is coming off a disappointing due to injuries and a stint with the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, limiting him to only 18 games with Columbus. However, he is only two years removed from being a point-per-game player with the Blue Jackets, as he scored 48 goals and 108 points in 111 games. Montreal recently finished 26th in the league in goals per game, as they arguably only had one line for opposing defenses to worry about. With Laine now in the fold, if he can rebound with his new team, the Canadiens will be able to spread the wealth and give more for opponents to worry about.
The last two sizeable trades from the offseason are centered around prospects, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets getting together on a swap of prospects Rutger McGroarty and Brayden Yager, and the San Jose Sharks acquired their goalie of the future in Yaroslav Askarov from the Nashville Predators.
McGroarty gives the Penguins a young, cost-effective, and hard-nosed NHL-caliber winger to place next to Sidney Crosby for the foreseeable future while the Jets acquired a right-handed centerman further down the road that should challenge for the second-line role longer-term. Similarly, Askarov represents one of the brighter goalie prospects in recent years after dominating the American Hockey League over the last two years. The Sharks rounded out an already solid prospect pool with Askarov and did not need to part with any of their top prospects in return.
There were several smaller trades throughout the summer that could be more impactful than the above-mentioned group. Now that the offseason is only a few weeks away from officially being in the rearview mirror — which trade from the summer do you think will be the most impactful moving forward?
For mobile users, click here to vote.
Snapshots: Ullmark, Tuomaala, Penguins
The newest Ottawa Senators starter Linus Ullmark is reportedly getting comfortable in Ottawa. TSN’s Shawn Simpson shares that the former Vezina Trophy winner has purchased a home in the area and could begin discussing a contract extension soon. Ullmark is entering the final year of a four-year, $20MM contract signed with the Boston Bruins. He spent the deal emerging as one of the NHL’s premier goalies, posting a dazzling 88 wins and .924 save percentage across 130 games in Boston. But the emergence of Jeremy Swayman made Ullmark’s role expendable and the Bruins decided to sell high – sending him to Ottawa in exchange for a first-round pick, Joonas Korpisalo, and Mark Kastelic.
Ullmark now stands as the most promising Senators goalie in at least a few years. Korpisalo served as the team’s most recent starter and performed dismally, posting just 21 wins and an .890 save percentage in 55 games played. The performance was the peak of a string of struggling years for the Senators goaltending room, which has featured a different starter in every season since 2019-20. Ullmark will look to buck that trend this year by upholding his strong play under the scrutiny of the Canadian market.
Other notes from around the league:
- Philadelphia Flyers prospect Samu Tuomaala shared in an interview with Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer that he almost retired from hockey two years ago – one year after his second-round selection in the 2021 NHL Draft. He had worked his way up to the Liiga, Finland’s top league, but struggled to find much of a role, or much scoring. Those woes continued into the 2022-23 season and through moves across four Finnish teams – but Tuomaala ultimately managed just three points in 40 Liiga games. His struggles continued into the Mestis, Finland’s second-tier league, until Tuomaala was finally moved to Kettera, where he resurged with 46 points in 29 games. He rode that momentum into a rookie AHL season this past year, tallying an impressive 43 points in 69 games – good for third on the Lehigh Valley Phantoms in scoring. The wind is clearly back behind Tuomaala’s sails and, at just 21, there’s still plenty of time for him to become a true top prospect. He’ll have a chance to prove that worth, and maybe even fight for an NHL debut, next season.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t been shy about trades this offseason but they may still sit a few moves away from a compliant roster. Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now points out that the current lineup would force the Penguins to send multiple six-figure contracts down to the minor leagues. That’s a hefty investment – and is likely a prevalent thought as the team considers moving players like Lars Eller and Noel Acciari. Pittsburgh currently carries $874K in cap space, per PuckPedia.
Puustinen On The Roster Bubble?
- With the Penguins adding some extra forward depth over the summer, Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests that winger Valtteri Puustinen is no lock to make Pittsburgh’s roster in training camp. The 25-year-old became an NHL regular in December and picked up 20 points in 52 games after that, a respectable point total considering he averaged less than 12 minutes a game. Signed for two years at the league minimum, Puustinen could be an intriguing potential waiver claim should he not break camp with Pittsburgh.
Evening Notes: Lankinen, Nichushkin, Pieniniemi
The Vancouver Canucks are narrowing in on a deal with goaltender Kevin Lankinen reports CHEK’s Rick Dhaliwal. He’ll support the team as they await the return of Thatcher Demko, who is taking longer than expected to recover from his knee injury.
A deal in Vancouver would move Lankinen on from four seasons in the Central Division – split between the Chicago Blackhawks and Nashville Predators. He debuted as Chicago’s starter in the shortened 2020-21 season, recording 17 wins and a .909 save percentage across 37 games. It was an impressive start to the undrafted free agent’s career, though not strong enough to hang onto the starting role when Chicago signed Marc-Andre Fleury that summer. Lankinen has been a proud backup ever since, with his ice time dwindling to just 24 games with Nashville last season.
Vancouver could offer Lankinen his first true shot at a starting role in a while – though he’ll have to beat out postseason wonder Arturs Silovs. Silovs took over for Demko in last year’s Stanley Cup Playoffs with just nine career games to his name. He’d end up playing 10 more, posting a .898 save percentage and showing plenty of ability to win games when his team needed him. Silovs will be the favorite for the starting role entering camp, but Lankinen could offer quick relief should he struggle.
Other notes from around the league:
- Sergey Fedotov, a former scout for the Russian National Team, told Russia’s Sports.ru that Colorado Avalanche winger Valeri Nichushkin will be ready to return to the NHL in November. Nichushkin entered the NHL Player’s Assistance Program in May, missing out on the bulk of the postseason after a red-hot start – nine goals and 10 points in eight games. Nichushkin scored a collective 63 points in 62 games this season and will stand as a top option in Colorado’s lineup when he returns, though speculation will remain until the team formally announces his return.
- Pittsburgh Penguins defense prospect Emil Pieniniemi – the 91st pick in the 2023 NHL Draft – has signed with the OHL’s Kingston Frontenacs for the 2024-25 season. The move kicks off his career in North America after growing up through Kärpät’s junior system and playing 39 games with the Liiga club. He scored six points in those appearances but has already looked more impressive in international play this summer – posting four points in four games during Finland’s U20 friendlies. He’ll now look to maintain that scoring momentum into the much-quicker-paced CHL next season.
Penguins, Jets Swap Rutger McGroarty And Brayden Yager
1:45 PM: The Winnipeg Jets have confirmed the one-for-one swap.
11:00 AM: The Pittsburgh Penguins may have found their solution to who will play on a line with Sidney Crosby. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman is reporting the organization is close to acquiring forward prospect Rutger McGroarty from the Winnipeg Jets. A few moments later, Friedman additionally reported the Penguins would be sending prospect Brayden Yager back to Winnipeg.
McGroarty immediately becomes the best forward prospect in the Penguins organization with Yager’s exit and has a legitimate opportunity to crack the roster next season. Although nothing was purposefully made public, McGroarty reportedly sought a trade out of Winnipeg in late June for a more readily available opportunity at the NHL level.
Shortly after being acquired by the organization, the Penguins signed McGroarty to his entry-level contract meaning his time at the University of Michigan has concluded. The three-year deal will pay McGroarty a salary of $855K at the NHL level with a signing bonus of $50K and performance ’A’ bonuses up to $500K each year of the deal.
It’s difficult to argue with McGroarty on being NHL-ready as he recently finished ninth in NCAA scoring during the 2023-24 season with 16 goals and 52 points in 36 games. He was also sensational during the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships for Team USA as he scored five goals and nine points in seven tournament contests while captaining his team to a gold medal finish for the first time since 2021.
If the Penguins graduate McGroarty to the NHL for the 2024-25 campaign, he fills an obvious need on Crosby’s wing. Playing primarily against Big Ten opponents during his time in the NCAA, McGroarty developed an innate skill to read opposing defenses and show off his elite playmaking abilities in the offensive zone. He’s not satisfied without the puck either, as he is a relentless forechecker with a combination of skill and physical play.
His forechecking abilities make him an ideal candidate to put on a line with Crosby or Evgeni Malkin, as both players thrive with the puck on their sticks. McGroarty’s style of play should open up plenty of space for the two Pittsburgh legends but he also has a good enough shot to finish the play himself.
Yager was selected exactly one year after McGroarty with the 14th overall selection of the 2023 NHL Draft. He spent last season with the WHL’s Moose Jaw Warriors collecting 35 goals and 95 points in 57 games as the team’s assistant captain. He further cemented his legacy with the Moose Jaw program with an incredible playoff performance with 11 goals and 27 points in 20 games en route to becoming champions of the WHL.
Yager also had the opportunity to represent Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Junior Championships and scored five points in five games for the Canadians but unfortunately failed to medal. It appeared as if Yager may have an outside chance of making Pittsburgh’s roster for the 2024-25 campaign with the team signing him to his entry-level contract only a month ago. Now, Yager will attempt to crack Winnipeg’s roster in training camp.
The young Saskatoon native has inherent value as a right-handed shot center who also brings more defensive awareness to his game in comparison to McGroarty. If the organization is not content with giving Cole Perfetti minutes down the middle of the ice on the team’s second line, Yager provides a confident long-term answer at center behind Mark Scheifele.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins Sign Kyle Jackson To AHL Contract
- The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have brought in an ECHL standout from last season as they announced an AHL contract for forward Kyle Jackson earlier today. After wrapping up his OHL career with the North Bay Battalion in 2022-23, Jackson spent all last year with the Kansas City Mavericks of the ECHL which saw him collect 14 goals and 44 points in 53 games. Jackson’s final two years in the OHL were extremely productive as he scored 61 goals and 145 points in 112 games leading to him being selected by the Seattle Kraken in the seventh round of the 2022 NHL Draft although he would not sign.
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