News Penguins Team Notes

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Evgeni Malkin hopes to have good year, potentially play on

Evgeni Malkin talked to the media today about entering the last season of his contract at the age of 39. There has been plenty of speculation that this could be the last rodeo for him in Pittsburgh, but Malkin kept his options open. In an ideal world, everything would go well, the Penguins would want to keep him for one more year and he would like to play longer than just the 2025-26 season.

“It depends how the season is going,” Malkin said about if this would be his last year. “If we play great, I play great, I feel confidence, and I show my game, why not one more? The preseason is huge for the team, and for myself. I’m still hungry. I’m glad to be here this year. We have new coach, a couple new teammates. it’s exciting to see what’s going on this year.”

Malkin admitted though, that ideal outcome hasn’t been happening lately.

“I’m not happy how I play last couple of years, for sure. If it’s my last year here, I want to show everything. I want to show my best game.”

Malkin was eligible to sign an extension on July 1st, but the Pens have not reached out. Kyle Dubas did indicate that he would use the Olympic break to communicate with Malkin’s agent and chart the course of action as far as a possible extension might go depending on how things go between now and February.

For now, all Malkin can control is in front of him as far as his 20th NHL season will go. A big part of that could be free agent signee Anthony Mantha. Malkin and Mantha have skated on a line for the first two days of training camp together. The big center has been impressed by his equally big new winger.

“He’s a great player,” Malkin said of Mantha. “He’s fast and has long stick. He’s physical, he can score, he can do everything. I’m glad we signed him. I think he not have confidence last couple of years, as well. I hope we all better here, and if we play same line, I do my best to help him and I hope we have good chemistry together.”

If that chemistry grows, Malkin could position himself for a deal next season, which he hopes would be with the Penguins. Short of that, it will be the old cliche of one day and game at a time to determine whether his story with the Pens has any more chapters beyond 2025-26.

“[My] mentally, my focus is on being better every day. Stay here with the team, and do my best. And we see. If it’s my last year here, I have 20 years played here, that’s not bad too, you know? I’m glad to be a Penguin, I’m glad to win three Stanley Cups here. If I have the chance to play next year, I’ll do it.”

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67215/evgeni-malkin-hopes-to-have-good-year-potentially-play-on

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins get energy infused in Dan Muse’s first day

The biggest change for the Pittsburgh Penguins this off-season came not among personnel but with a new head coach. Dan Muse is a big unknown, he’s been behind the bench as an assistant for five total seasons between Nashville and the NY Rangers but has hardly been a prominent figure. That changes with a step into the spotlight as a first-time NHL coach, and Muse has brought a new flavor to the mix.

“It’s been good,” defenseman Erik Karlsson said. “I think everything has been very clear and it’s Day 1, but even [Wednesday] was very organized and easy to move around and do your usual business. At the same time, obviously, a lot of new things and new voices. [Thursday] was a good day. It was probably one of the harder first-day training camp skates I’ve done in a long time.”

His fellow veteran defender teammate Kris Letang echoed a lot of those sentiments.

Kris Letang, on his takeaways from the first skate under Dan Muse: "The energy is through the roof… the emphasis is battle and play a game situation in every single drill… so yeah, it was pretty intense out there [laughs]. It's pretty hard."

Hear more from the defenseman pic.twitter.com/XX3BPq5GpF

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) September 18, 2025

Bryan Rust was feeling the vocal and competitive vibe too.

Bryan Rust: "The energy out there was great. It was contagious. The coaches were all very vocal. They were all banging their sticks. They were all trying to motivate guys, get guys going. Everybody out there, from the old guys like me down to the young guys, was working hard." https://t.co/XzNpbqrY7H

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) September 19, 2025

Nothing can really be that wrong on the first day, but an infusion of energy and freshness is a positive change a team can get from switching coaches.

It’s easy this time of year for the players to come on in and get to work, Muse and his staff have been hard at work preparing for this camp with very long hours to make sure that they are organized and can focus on the areas that they see fit to get ready for the long season. GM Kyle Dubas gave a window into that type of work ethic and level of preparation that Muse has been bringing to the table.

#Pens Dubas on Muse and staff's impact to start season: They've been at it all day for the last several weeks. Dan is here before 6AM every day and leaves after 10PM. He is working to instill the foundation that's going to set our team up for a long time.

— Josh Getzoff (@JG_PxP) September 18, 2025

“I’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time now, really, since our staff came together,” Muse said in a press conference after the final of three practices on day one. “It’s exciting more than anything.”

Muse was dripping with excitement and enthusiasm after the first day.

“There’s been a lot of preparation to get ready, not just for today, but for the season. And so, I think for everybody on the coaching staff, it’s just an excitement that we’re getting going,” Muse said. “I thought the players felt the same way, too.

“Skating around with guys that have been in this league for 20-plus years and talking a little bit, especially with (Evgeni) Malkin, Letang – this is their 20th training camp. Like, how cool is that?” said Muse, who had been coaching for 20-plus years before stepping into this role.

“And then the next shift, you grab one of the guys that’s coming into their first training camp ever, and it’s like, ‘it’s your first training camp. How cool is this? How lucky are we?‘”

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67176/penguins-get-energy-infused-in-dan-muses-first-day

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Pens Points: Dawn of another hockey season

New coach Dan Muse brought the energy and a competitive tint on day one of training camp yesterday. [Penguins.com]

Michelle Crechiolo rode around with Evgeni Malkin, who displayed his humor and usual forthcoming nature as he prepares to enjoy the ride for at least one more season. Great read and window into the spirit of the person here. [Penguins.com]

Kyle Dubas thinks the Penguins are on the right path, and external pressure won’t change his course from trying to set the team up for the future in the correct way. [Tribune Review]

But it’s not far from anyone’s mind about the situation with Sidney Crosby when it comes to the timeline about returning to being competitive and how this training camp and season goes. [Post-Gazette]

Dubas, however, isn’t looking to sign goalie Carter Hart. [X – Josh Yohe]

The Olympics are a big motivator for Erik Karlsson this season as he looks to show his stuff and prove he belongs on Team Sweden. [NHL.com]

This will be the last year for fitness testing by teams in training camp, and players are excited about that upcoming change to the CBA. [The Athletic $]

Alex Ovechkin offers a “we’ll see” on whether or not this will be his last season. [ESPN]

…But 2005 draft pick Anze Kopitar has come out and announced that 2025-26 will be his final year in the NHL. [NHL.com]

Nick Robertson is putting a brave face on being on the bubble with Toronto. You’d have to think Kyle Dubas is monitoring that situation fairly closely.. [Sportsnet]

Speaking of putting on a brave face, Minnesota Wild GM Bill Guerin says “things are fine” when it comes to the ongoing negotiation with star Kirill Kaprizov. [Sportsnet]

And in other slow-developing contract news, Connor McDavid says that nothing has really changed with his contract negotiation. [TSN]

For the trifecta of contract talk, Artemi Panarin gives a “no comment” about entering his final season under contract with the Rangers. [The Athletic $]

Finally, it’s not time for hockey until Brandon Tanev drops his annual headshot. Woo, baby, those new Utah jerseys are looking fresh. [X – Utah Mammoth]

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67180/pens-points-dawn-of-another-hockey-season

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Kevin Hayes hurt, out at least a month

The first new injury of the season happened on Thursday. Yesterday, head coach Dan Muse announced Kevin Hayes won’t be re-evaluated for at least a month with an upper body injury.

Dan Muse provided an update on Kevin Hayes, who got hurt during the first day of training camp:

"He's out with an upper-body injury. We're going to be re-evaluating in about a month. Based on that timeframe, he will not be available to start the season."

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) September 19, 2025

Hayes absorbed a hit from Ryan Graves in a drill on the first day of practice on Thursday and went hard into the boards. It’s been said he might even be out longer than the one month and certainly will start the season on IR while the rehab process takes place.

Sad as it is to say, in pro sports injuries to one always means opportunity for others. Danton Heinen has been skating with Evgeni Malkin in the first two days of training camp, the chances for him to make the roster, and perhaps even the opening night lineup, get enhanced by Hayes becoming unavailable. Maybe now PTO Robby Fabbri gets a longer look or a contract too, if he works out. To some degree this injury to Hayes serves to help youngsters like Tristan Broz and Avery Hayes to push one notch up the organizational rankings, if only because one more body and potential road block to making the club is now removed for the start of the season.

Kyle Dubas said earlier this week that the Penguins want to go younger and force the veterans to earn their spot on the roster, and though no names were mentioned, Hayes certainly applies as a key example for a player who would be on the borderline for earning his place. Hayes carries a somewhat hefty $3.57 million cap hit for the season, but 33-year old has seen his goals and points totals drop over the last three seasons. More troublingly, his ability to get around the ice has been compromised majorly. If not for his contract, Hayes probably wouldn’t win a job in the NHL, despite him carrying a lot of respect and likeability among players, coaches and managers alike. It would be a tough decision to go through with cutting ties to a player like Hayes — or the also injured Noel Acciari (expected to return later in camp) but those are key examples of what Dubas will have to weigh.

That’s to the backburner, at least for the time being because of this development. In some ways, for the broader team picture, this could be something of a blessing for the Pens. They can put Hayes on the IR to open the season and he doesn’t have to earn a spot or force an uncomfortable decision about where to place him in the lineup. Then come late October or November, who knows what might happen as far as other injuries, or potentially a need for Hayes coming open based on how the first few weeks of the season goes.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67218/kevin-hayes-hurt-out-at-least-a-month

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins announce roster for preseason game against Montreal

We now know the players for the first game tomorrow (Monday) when the Penguins head up to Montreal.

The roster for tomorrow's preseason game at Montreal is here https://t.co/5xu5yjGYM7

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 21, 2025

FORWARDS

12 – Robby Fabbri
14 – Boko Imama
15 – Joona Koppanen
18 – Tommy Novak
22 – Sam Poulin
26 – Tristan Broz
39 – Anthony Mantha
43 – Danton Heinen
48 – Valtteri Puustinen
49 – Rafael Harvey-Pinard
81 – Ben Kindel
84 – Atley Calvert
85 – Avery Hayes

DEFENSE

5 – Ryan Shea
24 – Matt Dumba
27 – Ryan Graves
38 – Owen Pickering
45 – Harrison Brunicke
50 – Finn Harding
75 – Connor Clifton

GOALIES

1 – Sergei Murashov
30 – Joel Blomqvist

It’s very much a first preseason game on the road roster, but it’s not exactly a poor group of names either. There are no 2025 draft picks, save first rounder Ben Kindel. There’s three forwards in Tommy Novak, Anthony Mantha and Danton Heinen that one would think have a really good chance of making the NHL lineup as long as they emerge from training camp with health. The rest is a mostly mixed unit of some players that could be mid-season callups (Boko Imama, Joona Koppanen, Valtteri Puustinen, Sam Poulin), a couple young ascending players (Tristan Broz, Avery Hayes) and then of course Robby Fabbri who is hoping to turn his tryout into a contract with a strong training camp.

The defensive group chosen is probably more intriguing than the forwards. Finn Harding won’t be an NHL factor but the other six names in the group are all gunning for roster spots. Heavy contracts may keep veterans Matt Dumba, Ryan Graves and Connor Clifton in the NHL but youngsters in Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke are right there gunning to make headway. Ryan Shea is always the forgotten about player from the outside, but one who also usually has a knack for playing his way into the good graces of his coaches. Brunicke starred in four preseason games last year, it looks like right off the bat from the first preseason game that it will be the start of another extended look by the Pens to determine whether Brunicke shows them he is ready to start the season in the NHL. Brunicke made the most of the opportunity last season and now he’s looking to do the same a year later and hope to change the end result by forcing the team to make an uncomfortable decision (with the intrigue being potentially at the expense of one of Dumba, Graves or Clifton).

The goalies picked should make this a fun game. Sergei Murashov has drawn rave reviews in early camp action, as he almost always does – in part due to style. Murashov is so athletic, active and eye-catching that he’s the rare goalie who stands out a lot to observers and demands attention based on how he goes about his business. Which isn’t to say the praise and attention is unwarranted, but he usually is going to get talked about a lot just based on how he plays. On the opposite end of the spectrum, there’s been little written or much said about Blomqvist – who does not typically capture the imagination of observers, but who is a sound and proficient goalie in his own right. There’s been no announced plan on the goaltenders officially, however in early preseason games it usually gets planned ahead of time to get both goalies into the game action.

As of press time, I haven’t seen an announced lineup yet for the host Canadiens. Given that it’s their first game too, it likely won’t be a very star-studded group of players either as the season gets into its very early beginnings.

For the Pens, it’ll be worth watching to see what players like Murashov, Brunicke, Pickering, Hayes and Broz can put out there. All of them are trying to make their cases and put themselves out for evaluation to start moving up the ranks within the organization. A single preseason game isn’t going to make or break any of them, but the opportunities can be quick and limited on the NHL stage.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67231/penguins-announce-roster-for-preseason-game-against-montreal

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins training camp: A Fleury farewell in the week ahead

It’s only been a few days, but the first segment of training camp is already over for the Penguins. Camp began with three days worth of intense and energetic 90-minute practices that brought a ton of basics from skating and drills to get the edge back on the players after a long summer, earning them all a well-deserved day off today on Sunday.

The preseason moves quickly and shifts gears into an unofficial second segment this week, the exhibition games start. And oh boy, they don’t stop. The Pens play their first game tomorrow night in Montreal, they have four total games this week with it being easier to list days when there aren’t games (Tuesday and Thursday) compared to when there are (Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday).

Here’s the schedule for the week to come:

September 22
11:30 AM – Morning Skate
7:00 PM – GAME AT MONTREAL (Bell Centre)

September 23
8:45-10:15 AM – Group A Practice
11:30 AM-1:00 PM – Group B Practice
2:00-3:30 PM – Group C Practice

September 24
11:30 AM – Morning Skate
7:00 PM – GAME AT COLUMBUS

September 25
DAY OFF

September 26
10:30 AM – Morning Skate
12:00 PM – Non-Game Group Practice
7:00 PM – GAME VS. DETROIT

September 27
10:30 AM – Morning Skate
7:00 PM – GAME VS. COLUMBUS

The other item to note is that for next Sunday’s practice, the three groups will merge down into two groups, clearly and obviously signaling that many of the 68 remaining healthy players in camp will be getting sent away in the coming days. If it follows last season’s major first cut it should be composed of most the junior level players (including anyone in the 2025 draft class in camp) as well as very low-end ECHL/AHL fringe level players. No one of relative prominence or with even the longest of long shots to make the NHL roster will be departing in the very near future, but the time is coming to start paring the roster down.

Before they do that, however, the roster will go the other way and increase by one on Friday when Marc-Andre Fleury comes back to practice in preparation for his game action on Saturday night against Columbus. It will be an emotional chance for the player and fans to say goodbye to each other one more time. Fleury, endearing as ever, is concerned about not looking like an “idiot” out there. He’s got nothing to worry about there, but it speaks to the compete level of how these athletes are wired – they don’t want to take a victory lap, they want to make sure that they can perform. Even for a meaningless exhibition.

marc-andré fleury mentions that the PTO was kyle dubas’ idea

“he talked to me when I came back from world championships with sid.” (…) “Inasked him to let me think about it over the summer. I was a little hesitant.” (…) “It’s a chance to come back and play with the boys.” pic.twitter.com/tsiZnI5aId

— archive fleury (@dailyfleury) September 16, 2025

All of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have made recent comments about participating in Fleury’s final game, even though it’s somewhat early in the preseason schedule for their typical involvement. Of course, this isn’t a typical preseason game and will have as much pomp and circumstance leading up to it as any game all season. It’s pretty incredible that a preseason game very well might be the toughest ticket in town all year long (and most expensive one too), but that’s the strange reality of the situation. If you can’t be there in person, the good news is that the game will be televised locally on Sportsnet Pittsburgh and nationally on the NHL Network. The NHL Network, in fact, will additionally be showing Monday and Friday’s Penguin games broadcast as well.

But first, the team has to get to Saturday and the first three preseason games of the week. Individually these are chances for evaluation, but it’s probably not going to be the most insightful week of games early on. The Pens will look to fill the required number of NHL bodies and give some younger players a chance to play preseason games. This week is more about getting through and checking off the boxes — up until Friday’s practice, of course.

This week will mark the first full week of the preseason, and since things move so fast this time of year, also mark the second-to-last week of the preseason as well. This time of year doesn’t last long, but the fleeting moment to celebrate and give a send off to Marc-Andre Fleury stands out as a clear top event that will be remembered and cherished for a long time to come.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67226/penguins-training-camp-a-fleury-fare-well-in-the-week-ahead

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins picked to finish 30th by The Athletic preview

Dom Luszczyszyn, Sean Gentille and Shayna Goldman put together in depth previews every year, and they don’t like the chances for the Penguins this season. They are projecting Pittsburgh to finish in 30th place, and last in the Eastern Conference, with 74 points in the 2025-26 season.

It's NHL season preview … season.

We're going from No. 32 to No. 1. The bottom five dropped this morning. pic.twitter.com/z7qtXlP87v

— Sean Gentille (@seangentille) September 22, 2025

The whole thing is worth a read, as usual it’s well-supported and offers insightful information on how they project it will play out.

Will it be accurate though?

The Pens have some areas to potentially exceed expectations, if only since the bar is set so low. It’s projected, for instance, that Pittsburgh will have the 32nd ranked defense. You might recall that there are 32 NHL teams, so that’s pretty bad. It got there by projecting big roles for bad players in Matt Dumba, Connor Clifton and Ryan Graves with no input from youngsters like Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke.

It’s fair to be skeptical that an NHL team truly will be giving roster spots on merit and not more broad influences like contracts and deferring to veterans factoring into roster decisions as they always will to some degree. At the same time, it would be for the best if players like Pickering and Brunicke cause the Pens to outright waive or at least bench players like Graves and Dumba. Will it happen? Maybe not, especially within the next week or two to get to such drastic conclusions. It’s also worth pointing out the hope and assumption that the young players are actually ready and good to go for the NHL level might not be right either. That’s a big breaking point though, and chance for the Pens to get better – they’ll need young options to play well. First they have to get into the lineup. Dropping veterans should serve as addition by subtraction.

Another area where Pittsburgh could exceed expectations this season is in the net. The Athletic has the Pens with the 31st best goaltending, and truth be told, it’s not like you can knock that projection too much. It could well end up being accurate. Then again, with goaltending, who knows what will happen in the next six or seven months. Unpredictable outcomes and swings from good to bad performances and bad to good performances happen all the time in the NHL. It’s not much to bank on the hope that Tristan Jarry reverses a fairly long slide the past couple of years or that Arturs Silovs or Joel Blomqvist emerges as a quality NHL option, but “you never know” is a decent enough hope when it comes to goaltending. That defense might not help much, then again, maybe the coaching or strategical freshening of philosophies will help more than is being forecasted.

Key thought:

That’s not to say that an opening-night first line of Crosby centering Rust and Rakell is a mistake; far from it, in fact, given what we heard from Crosby and Brisson as the offseason wound down. Starting the season in white-flag mode would’ve been destructive and disrespectful. It does, however, illustrate the fundamental issue facing the Penguins — doing right by Crosby, keeping him in the mix permanently and maximizing the rebuild is a complicated, potentially conflicting set of goals. Scorching the earth would be bad; finishing 25th in the league, where the odds of landing the first overall pick drop from 25.5 percent to 6.5, would be bad, too.

How long to hang onto players like Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, and how the fallout might affect Sidney Crosby, will be one of the over-arching stories of the Pens’ season. This preview says that a Western Conference source indicated Dubas is sticking with a price of three good assets for either Rust or Rakell, a price that no one has wanted to meet yet. Whether Dubas or another team blinks first will be an interesting development to track, but for now it’s beneficial to the Pens to hold a strong line.

Towards the end is a fascinating thought about “scorching the earth” and tearing down around Crosby in order to improve draft odds. Under the current NHL odds, only the three-worst teams have a double-digit chance of winning the first overall pick. Unless a team finishes dead last, they have at best a 13.5% of winning the first pick, and even for a last place team they have a much better chance of picking third overall (55.5%) than they do to be awarded the top pick (25.5%). Granted, in simple terms the worse the record, the better the pick and better of prospects to choose from, but that doesn’t change the math that the odds of landing the first overall pick are pretty poor regardless of finishing position. Whether a team finishes fourth from last and has a 9.5% chance of winning the lottery or eighth or ninth from last and get a 5 or 6% chance isn’t drastically different when it comes towards getting the ultimate prize.

At the same time, it’s true that the Penguins are in a contradictory place right now when it comes to fulfilling Crosby’s desire to compete in the short-term while being more focused on the longer-term when he won’t be around.

Across the broad view of the league, this outlook could be common among the Penguins. Not much will be expected from them, which will make the start of the season particularly important to create momentum and build the belief that they can be competitive. If not, and projections like this settle in as accurate, it’s going to be a long winter in Pittsburgh.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67246/penguins-picked-to-finish-30th-by-the-athletic-preview

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Podcast: Skating Penguin Network readies for ‘25-’26

At long last, the Pittsburgh Penguins will be back in action tonight for their preseason opener against the Montreal Canadiens. With the preseason slate ready to begin and training camp now entering full swing, it seems like a good time to remind our readers of The Skating Network Podcast (@PenguinsFFSN), formerly the Pensburgh Podcast.

After separating from the SBNation network back in 2023, the podcast rebranded as The Skating Penguin Network and teamed up with the crew at Fans First Sports Network to join their growing list of podcasts which included many former SBNation shows like our own.

With the 2025-26 season on the horizon, The Skating Penguin Network, hosted by Robbie (@rjnaugle2) and Snail (@MetaSnail91) is ready to get back into the hockey groove and keep our listeners entertained all throughout the upcoming season. A slow (even by NHL standards) offseason saw content dry up as the offseason went along, but now with the team back together in Pittsburgh and ready to hit the ice, the show is ready to move full steam ahead in anticipation of the new season.

Most recently, Robbie and Snail sat down to discuss a laundry list of recent news coming out of the Penguins camp, including the highly anticipated final bow of Marc-Andre Fleury in Pittsburgh, set for this upcoming weekend when Fleury will don the Skating Penguin jersey one final time in his Hall of Fame career.

Robbie and Snail also discussed training camp and some of the battles to expect among the players for highly coveted roster spots and tried to make sense out of yet another blue line log jam that will need to be sorted out before the season begins.

Once the season begins the podcast will return to its normal format of game recaps and weekly shows that include team updates, NHL news, general hockey discussion, mailbags, and more. You can subscribe to the show through your preferred podcast service to make sure you don’t miss any new episodes.

We hope to have you along for the ride throughout the 2025-26 Pittsburgh Penguins season.

View Link

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/67236/podcast-skating-penguin-network-readies-for-25-26

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins announce game lineup vs Columbus

The Penguins are rolling with these players for Wednesday night’s game against Columbus.

Tomorrow's roster for the preseason matchup in Columbus has been announced, as well as the roster for a scrimmage at 9:30 AM at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Reminder: Scrimmages are free and open to the public

Details: https://t.co/6pWUIjBP77 pic.twitter.com/5Y0hGKqnMv

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 23, 2025

FORWARDS

8 – Aidan McDonough
10 – Aaron Huglen
11 – Filip Hallander
16 – Justin Brazeau
19 – Connor Dewar
23 – Nolan Renwick
26 – Tristan Broz
41 – Ville Koivunen
46 – Blake Lizotte
53 – Philip Tomasino
62 – Zach Gallant
81 – Ben Kindel
84 – Atley Calvert

DEFENSE

3 – Jack St. Ivany
25 – Sebastian Aho
52 – Philip Kemp
56 – Alexander Alexeyev
75 – Connor Clifton
77 – Quinn Beauchesne
82 – Caleb Jones

GOALIES

31 – Filip Larsson
37 – Arturs Silovs

Ben Kindel looks to get another game in before being assigned back to juniors for the season likely some time in the not-too-distant future, might as well get the most of the time he has here. Tristan Broz is back with the game roster too after scoring on the power play (and shootout) in Monday night’s game as his long look continues. Connor Clifton is the other common name from the first game, likely to fill in for veteran minimums.

If there’s an interesting name to watch, and if you want the more obscure the better, then keep an eye out for No. 8 Aidan McDonough. McDonough, signed to an AHL contract, was skating with Sidney Crosby today at practice. That doesn’t necessarily mean anything beyond the surface level but it is interesting enough any time anyone of that level plays with Crosby. (And McDonough, 25, did score 16 points in 16 AHL games last season with Charlotte).

Some other practice duos that might be kept together include Justin Brazeau and Philip Tomasino, Ville Koivunen and Filip Hallander have also skated together as a basis for groups that could be kept together (or completely flipped apart).

The players who aren’t playing the game will have a scrimmage tomorrow morning. From the team:

Below is the Penguins roster for their non-game group scrimmage which will be held tomorrow, Sept. 24 at 9:30 AM at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. Tomorrow’s scrimmage is free and open to the public.

TEAM 1

Forwards – Sidney Crosby, Brayden Edwards, Robby Fabbri, Max Graham, Avery Hayes, Boko Imama, Gabe Klassen, Sam Poulin, Valtteri Puustinen, Bryan Rust

Defensemen – David Breazeale, Harrison Brunicke, Tommy Budnick, Matt Dumba, Finn Harding, Jake Livingstone, Owen Pickering, Ryan Shea

Goalies – Tristan Jarry, Maxim Pavlenko

TEAM 2

Forwards – Raivis Ansons, Cal Burke, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Danton Heinen, Jordan Kaplan, Evgeni Malkin, Anthony Mantha, Brett Murray, Tommy Novak, Rickard Rakell, Zach Urdahl

Defensemen – Ryan Graves, Erik Karlsson, Daniel Laatsch, Kris Letang, Emil Pieniniemi, Chase Pietila, Parker Wotherspoon

Goalies – Joel Blomqvist, Sergei Murashov

Not listed in the scrimmage is forward Joona Koppanen, who picked up a lower body injury in last night’s game against Montreal.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/67302/penguins-announce-game-lineup-vs-columbus

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins goaltender Sergei Murashov impresses in NHL preseason debut

Penguins fans got a first look at goaltender Sergei Murashov’s athleticism and agility when the 2022 fourth-round pick made his NHL preseason debut on Monday night against the Canadiens.

After taking over for Joel Blomqvist in the second half of the preseason opener, Murashov made 19 saves on 20 shots through 1.5 periods and overtime.

That included a highlight-reel grab on a point-blank chance from Ivan Demidov.

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Murashov then turned aside three of five chances in the shootout, stopping Demidov, Patrik Laine and Filip Cesar before Oliver Kapanen beat him on the game-winning goal.

The 21-year-old netminder was particularly happy to have made those two game-saving stops on Demidov, whom he had battled in the MHL, Russia’s junior league, according to Penguins reporter Michelle Crechiolo.

The Penguins will meanwhile be pleased with the ability to get quickly from side to side of the net that Murashov displayed during his 34:55 on the ice Monday night.

Murashov has been surrounded by plenty of hype heading into camp after recording franchise-record rookie win streaks in both the AHL and ECHL during his first season in North America.

With the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Murashov went 12-3 with a 2.64 goals against average and a .913 save percentage with one shutout.

He’s now getting some glowing reviews from his Penguins teammates during training camp.

From Tristan Broz after Monday night’s preseason loss, via Crechiolo: “He’s such a stud. I love him so much. I wish we could have got that win for him. He deserved it. He’s such a great player and such an inspiring person. So, it was fun to see him do his thing out there. I’m sure he’ll build and get better off of it.”

From Bryan Rust earlier in training camp, via The Athletic’s Josh Yohe: “Yeah, I have noticed him. In fact, I noticed him last year, too. Even before camp this year, I noticed him. It’s hard not to notice him. He’s that much better this year.”

More from Rust: “His athleticism and natural ability are one thing. But what I really see is his work ethic, his competitiveness, how he never gives up on plays. We just seem him putting the work in every day. All of those things add up over time for a goalie.”

Joel Blomqvist meanwhile made 11 saves on 11 shots while playing the first 30 minutes of Monday’s preseason opener.

Penguins head coach Dan Muse said about both goaltenders after the game, per Crechiolo: “You want hard decisions. We want guys to be constantly taking advantage of opportunities. Both guys came over tonight and played really well.”

With Tristan Jarry still on the roster heading into the season, and Blomqvist joining Arturs Silovs and Filip Larsson in competing for playing time, there’s no guarantee as to which level Murashov will be playing at next season.

Dubas has told reporters that the goaltenders’ preseason and training camp performances will matter more than their contract status, but Jarry’s $5.375 million cap hit is still something the Penguins will have to take into consideration when shaping the roster.

But Dubas has said repeatedly, especially amid comments from Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin about wanting to win again, that the Penguins are “urgently” trying to rebuild.

Having a goaltender with Murashov’s potential, especially the quick movements he flashed against the Habs on Monday night, could eventually end up as a key building block in constructing a contender in the future.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/6...gei-murashov-impresses-in-nhl-preseason-debut

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Canadiens Recap: Thoughts and observations on the first preseason game

By rule, it’s a good idea not to place too much stock in any single instant of the preseason. NHL training camps are a series of many data points from testing to practice to games that it’s not a good idea to have the needle move too much for any one time the spotlight is the brightest – on TV in an exhibition against an incomplete opponent.

That disclaimer out of the way, there is of course some evaluation and stories developing that we can draw from tonight’s action when the Penguins kicked off the first game of their 2025-26 preseason schedule up in Quebec against the Montreal Canadiens.

Here was the lines and lineup for the Penguins:

Tonight’s lineup in MTL pic.twitter.com/xqGEZqbzzQ

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 22, 2025

The hosting Canadiens ice a pretty good lineup with a bevy of NHL forwards at the top of their lineup and new addition Noah Dobson playing on the back-end, as well as starting goalie Samuel Montembault. Home teams usually are a little stronger than the visitors on paper in willingness to bring a little extra for convenience and entertainment alike

La formation de ce soir

Tonight's lineup#GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/5tk0rCHD5E

— Canadiens Montréal (@CanadiensMTL) September 22, 2025

The Pens and Habs traded some power plays, it was Pittsburgh who struck first. Harrison Brunicke, Valtteri Puustinen and Tristan Broz teamed up to make a flurry of quick passes in and through the slot that culminated with Puustinen feeding Broz who quickly snapped a shot past Samuel Montembeault.

FIRST GOAL OF THE PRESEASON! pic.twitter.com/Uw3DfuV9In

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 22, 2025

Sam Poulin threw a hit and dropped the gloves with a spirited fight about halfway through the game, the Pens used that break to split the goaltending time with Sergei Murashov coming in to relieve Joel Blomqvist. Montreal also took the opportunity to substitute Jacob Fowler into their net in exchange for Montembeault.

Jared Davidson and Sam Poulin drop the gloves in a heated tilt pic.twitter.com/g0g2ILPzef

— TSN (@TSN_Sports) September 23, 2025

The Pens got into penalty trouble in the third period, they battled to kill off some more 5v3 time and soon after the power play expired Montreal got their first goal. Murashov couldn’t sweep up a puck into his glove, got spun around and eventually ended flat on his back. Not much good comes from that and Owen Beck was able to lift a puck over the fallen goalie and into the net. 1-1 game.

Overtime was in the cards, seeing a mostly cautious 3v3v for the first half. It finally opened up, Ryan Shea setup Avery Hayes for a nice look on a 2-on-1 but Fowler made a nice save to keep the game alive. Murashov would answer that big save with one of his own, flashing the leg moving laterally to take a goal away from Ivan Demidov. Mike Matheson hit the outside of the post in the final seconds.

That allowed some shootout practice. Murashov got the better of his countryman Demidov again by poking the puck away from his attempt. Mantha couldn’t score in his home province. Laine fired off target and Tommy Novak couldn’t find the five-hole. Sean Farrell shot a puck that hit Murashov and still had enough English to flip over and into the net. Broz managed to extend the game even further with a nifty deke and fake to tuck a forehand five-hole shot in. Filip Mesar couldn’t deke past Murashov only to see Ben Kindel not be able to score on his backhand deke.

In Round 5, Oliver Kapanen solved Murashov with a nifty backhand deke, which ended up being the winning effort after Avery Hayes couldn’t score on the final chance.

Some other thoughts and stray observations:

• Tristan Broz was the lone forward to kill a 3v5. Needed a center in the situation but nice to see him get tapped and do well even before he scored a goal. Broz also made a wonderful centering pass for Mantha in front of the net that nearly scored. All of that went down in the first period alone. Broz was shining against the prospects in Buffalo last week and he’s still looking pretty darn good and standing out in multiple moments early in the preseason.
• Montreal got that 5v3 advantage because the puck rolled over the stick of Ryan Graves, who was left behind the play and Connor Clifton tripped over his feet crossing up, leading to Graves having to slash to limit the chance. So, yeah, that wasn’t pretty or much evidence “new year, new me” is going to apply to Graves when he’s struggling with the basics like trying to send a puck in deep. That’s unfortunately shades of the past. Graves would go onto take another penalty while the Pens were already shorthanded later in the game, so, yeah..Not a great first night.
• First impression of some newcomers: Clifton is physical if nothing else, limited elsewise…Thought Matt Dumba had a nice night, it’s not exactly 100% regular season pace out there but for a player advertised as dropping off moving the puck, he had some nice moments in that regard…Anthony Mantha, quiet but not a ton to work with either…Robby Fabbri played with more of an edge than I expected, throwing his body around with hits.
• Ben Kindel got time on the top power play, alongside some NHL players (Mantha, Dumba, Novak) and Avery Hayes too. Kindel looked pretty good again holding on to the puck when he needed to.
• Blomqvist didn’t have a ton to do but did everything he needed to on the way to stopping all 11 shots he saw. Quiet night for him due to the game circumstance of the Pens mostly controlling play while he was in there, but a nice start nonetheless.
• Similarly, nice but quiet night for Pickering. He stood tall on Patrik Laine during a rush, which is exactly what you want to see. Nothing overwhelming but a good night to build on for Pickering.
• Tonight marked the NHL preseason debut of 21-year old Sergei Murashov, who wasn’t quite ready to match up against NHL caliber shooters last September. He certainly is now, and that’s a progress point for his growth and development. A lot of places and people are whisking along his development, and not for nothing since he is a very talented and promising player. His style is to play on the edge of losing control, and that was on display on the goal against when he lost his net. Murashov also played in the busy portion of the game and stopped 17 of 18 shots in regulation and was good in OT and decent enough in the shootout situation.

Overall it would have to be considered a successful first night for the Pens. Win or loss can be flushed out the window compared to the more important items like seeing some good things from players like Broz, Brunicke, Blomqvist and Pickering all putting some nice tape together that should continue to build the cases they are making to earn some sort of role either at the beginning of the season, if not deeper into it in some of their situations. That’s about all you can ask for the first game, now it’s back to Pittsburgh to keep camp rolling along.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...-and-observations-on-the-first-preseason-game

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Pickering, Brunicke take it one day at a time

Dan Muse talked about what he was looking for from players looking to get on the radar and offered an insightful comment.

What Dan Muse and his staff are looking for in these preseason games is simple: "However it is that you impact the game, go find a way to do it… show what you can do to help this team. What that actually is for each person, it's going to be a little bit different."

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) September 24, 2025

Muse has been liking what he’s seen from the young pair of Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke. The two were joined together at the Prospects Challenge earlier this month in Buffalo and that has carried over through the early part of training camp. So far, so good.

Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke remain together.. This is what Dan Muse had to say about their play in the preseason opener on Monday in Montreal: pic.twitter.com/6ziqBTXmKb

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) September 24, 2025

A picture is starting to develop for how Pickering and Brunicke could slot in for the start of the regular season as the Pens’ third pair. While Pickering and Brunicke took their familiar places along side one another Ryan Graves worked with Kris Letang during a scrimmage today, Parker Wortherspoon got some time with Erik Karlsson. A mid-day scrimmage isn’t an absolute indicator of hard and fast future plans but it also could be early signals of how the pieces of the puzzle are getting lined up as a first try, if nothing else.

Of course, given the current state of the Pens’ blueline, there are a lot of possibilities. Ryan Shea and Matt Dumba worked in the scrimmage today and represent another potential third pair for the season. There were others that didn’t play this morning because they will get the opportunity to show their stuff tonight — Caleb Jones, Jack St. Ivany, Alexander Alexeyev and Connor Clifton —which could get sliced and diced into many combinations in the days to come to offer even more options.

Those combinations can be scrambled in a hurry if any element doesn’t develop as the team likes — including what could be questionable matches with their most two important players at the position of Karlsson and Letang. To this point the club has found a match they like and want to see more from with Pickering and Brunicke — their top two defensive prospects — working and growing together in visibly apparent ways during this preseason.

The old phrase “take it a day at a time” is a cliche that does have some truth behind in this situation, as Harrison Brunicke knows already with his NHL training camp experience of last fall being the same as what he is facing this year.

"I came into camp last year just feeling it out with a nothing-to-lose mindset, going in each day just trying to get better. That’s the same thing that I’m doing now, just taking it a day at a time and working towards my goal of making this team."

Hear from Harrison Brunicke pic.twitter.com/I9KVOZIVZQ

— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) September 24, 2025

Brunicke impressed at last training camp and he’s drawing rave reviews again. His performance and ability to keep going will dictate whether he’s going back to juniors in the near future or gets up to nine games in the NHL before his contract burns a year to prove that he should stick around a little further.

Brunicke tends to draw more attention due to his young age, 19, and since he either has to play in the NHL or go back to the WHL this season, which makes for a more dramatic and long-lasting decision coming up soon. On the other end of the pairing, the situation is similar for Pickering in the sense that he is looking to avoid assignment back to the AHL and graduate into becoming a full-time NHL player.

"It’s a business. And it’s cut-throat. You’ve got to keep pushing.”

On Owen Pickering figuring out the NHL as he enters his second full professional season:https://t.co/YBfpSbSkGD

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) September 22, 2025

Pickering’s comments on the subject mirror that of his partner fairly closely.

“My mentality was as soon as I was drafted to a team before this was to try to make that team in the fall,” Pickering said that day. “That’s kind of the mentality that I have, and I’m going to carry that forward.”

Moving forward more than three years, Pickering’s hopes haven’t changed.

He wants to be in the NHL as soon as possible.

“The goal, since last year, for me has been to be full-time in the NHL,” the rookie defenseman said Sept. 11 in Cranberry. “I try not to get too complicated or specific with the goals that I want. I feel like if I keep them simple and just kind of stick to them every day, it’s better for me.

“I’m honestly not thinking about it too much right now. It’s cliched, but I’m literally focusing on today. Then tomorrow. Then I feel like that will take care of itself if I attack every day. But I feel like since last year, the goal has been to be a full-time NHLer.”

Muse has been telling his players to “go find a way to do it” in terms of landing their spot. Young Pickering and Brunicke have been making the most so far at the attempt to achieve their individual goals together through continued impressive play, and they just might do it if they can keep building their case with each passing day.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67328/pickering-brunicke-take-it-one-day-at-a-time

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Best and worst case scenarios for the 2025-26 Pittsburgh Penguins

There still seems to be a concern among some fans and media that the Pittsburgh Penguins haven’t fully embraced the idea of a rebuild enough, and still have a little too much talent on the roster for the 2025-26 season. They will not be a good team. But are they still a little TOO good for a potential run at the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes?

It’s hard for a team to truly bottom out when it still has one of the best players in hockey (Sidney Crosby) on it.

Evgeni Malkin will still have his moments.

Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell are still here.

Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty bring some young skill and talent to the lineup.

I can kind of see where that concern (if you want to call it that) might be coming from. But I don’t necessarily agree with it, because this team still isn’t likely to be very good. They’ve had all of those guys the past three years and still missed the playoffs. The young guys will have growing pains. Rust and Rakell might not be as productive as they were a year ago. Even all of them are good, the defense and goaltending will likely cancel out whatever quality play the forwards give them.

It’s almost certainly going to be a lottery team.

But there’s still a pretty wide range of possibilities on what this team could look like this season.

It’s a low-ceiling and a low floor.

The Penguins’ highest ceiling on the ice (and worst-case for rebuild): Compete for a wild-card spot​

I am not saying they will actually get a wild-card spot, but I could envision a scenario where all of the variables at play fall in their favor and the team is way more competitive than anybody imagined. Crosby is still great. Young players make an immediate impact. Somebody in goal actually plays well. I mean, Tristan Jarry has had extended stretches in his career where he has played at an All-Star level. Just because something isn’t likely to happen doesn’t mean it WON’T happen. Maybe Arturs Silovs is good. Good goaltending and some high-level forwards can mask an awful lot of flaws. There’s not enough to make this a contender, but there’s enough to potentially make it a competitive team.

That would make for an exciting season, but it would probably result in another mid-first round pick. Which would not be totally ideal for the rebuild.

The Penguins farm system has dramatically improved over the past year, and there is actually some real talent in their top-10 prospect list. But they are still lacking that franchise-changing superstar that can bring it all together and be their long-term building block and focal point. They need some lottery luck to get it.

The best-case scenario for the short-term and the rebuild: Play competitive hockey and get draft lottery luck​

There was a time where I fully supported the idea of complete tear down rebuilds and “tanking,” but after seeing so many of them fail, and after seeing so many of them take way longer than expected, I just don’t know if that’s the best approach in the modern-day NHL. Especially with the draft lottery odds being what they are, and the worst record potentially giving you the No.3 overall pick. You’re really putting your luck and future into an 18 percent chance the ping pong balls are going to fall your way. Teams like Detroit, Arizona/Utah and Vancouver went through rebuilds and never had lottery luck. There’s a world of difference in most draft classes between the No. 1 pick and the No. 3 pick.

You’re not always going to get the Sidney Crosby or the Gavin McKenna.

Plus, everybody loves the idea of a punted season until you have to actually watch what it looks like.

And then see how long it takes to come back from that.

So, in my mind, the best-case scenario for this season is the Penguins play competitive hockey. They are in most games. They play some exciting games. They win a few games. They are still a lottery team, but not a 22-win team bad. And then the lottery balls fall their way.

Over the past 10 lotteries we’ve seen five teams with the worst-record maintain the top pick.

We’ve also seen teams more from eighth, third, fifth, 10th to the No. 1 spot, and teams move from similar spots up to No. 2.

It’s all luck and you have no control over it.

Play competitive hockey, be interesting, and let the lottery balls do what they are going to do.

The worst-case scenario: The Penguins are truly terrible and get no lottery luck​

This is what you don’t want. And it happened on a smaller scale this past season when they had their worst regular season in two decades and actually dropped two spots in the draft lottery results.

They could be worse this season if all of the variables mentioned above go in the opposite direction.

The goaltending is bad. The defense is as bad as advertised. Rust and/or Rakell get traded. The team legitimately bottoms out and finishes with one of the two-worst records in the league and is just unwatchable slop. This is the floor for this team. I don’t think it’s the most likely outcome, but it is a potential outcome. Especially if they go as young as we have heard they want to go with this roster.

If all of that happens, and they still don’t win the draft lottery and end up picking third or fourth, that would be a brutally devastating result.

I know the 2026 draft class is supposed to be incredibly top-heavy, but McKenna is still the prize you want. Not getting him after a season like that would be a real gut-punch.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/pittsburg...scenarios-for-the-2025-26-pittsburgh-penguins

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins announce roster for Red Wings, gives context clues for Fleury game

The Penguins announced their pool of players for Friday night’s exhibition game against Detroit.

Tomorrow's roster for the preseason matchup against Detroit has been announced, as well as the roster for the 12 PM practice at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Details: https://t.co/9tBKSLsK90 pic.twitter.com/ruTpzhObox

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 25, 2025

Below is the Penguins’ lineup for Friday night’s preseason game against the Detroit Red Wings at PPG Paints Arena. Puck drop is set for 7:00 PM ET and fans can watch a live stream of the game on SNP+ or tune in to the game on the Penguins’ official flagship radio station, 105.9 ‘The X’.

FORWARDS

8 – Aidan McDonough
10 – Aaron Huglen
11 – Filip Hallander
12 – Robby Fabbri
18 – Tommy Novak
19 – Connor Dewar
22 – Sam Poulin
23 – Nolan Renwick
43 – Danton Heinen
46 – Blake Lizotte
48 – Valtteri Puustinen
51 – Cal Burke
53 – Philip Tomasino

DEFENSE

3 – Jack St. Ivany
5 – Ryan Shea
24 – Matt Dumba
27 – Ryan Graves
44 – Chase Pietila
56 – Alexander Alexeyev
75 – Connor Clifton

GOALIES

35 – Tristan Jarry
37 – Arturs Silovs

While there are some NHL players in that lineup, the majority of the top players on the team still won’t play Friday. There’s a good reason for that, instead, they’ll practice ahead of Saturday night’s big preseason game (for as big as any preseason game can be) against Columbus.

Below is the non-game group slated to practice tomorrow, September 26 at 12:00 PM at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex.

Forwards – Justin Brazeau, Tristan Broz, Atley Calvert, Sidney Crosby, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Avery Hayes, Boko Imama, Ben Kindel, Ville Koivunen, Joona Koppanen, Evgeni Malkin, Anthony Mantha, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust

Defensemen – Harrison Brunicke, Finn Harding, Caleb Jones, Erik Karlsson, Philip Kemp, Kris Letang, Owen Pickering and Parker Wotherspoon

Goaltenders – Marc-Andre Fleury, Filip Larsson and Sergei Murashov

Since it’s unlikely that the team would run any players on Friday’s game back into action the very next night at this time of the year, the pool of players in this second group is likely going to be where the Pens pick from to create Saturday night’s lineup. That tracks, since all of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang have made various comments recently about expecting to play in Marc-Andre Fleury’s last game, which essentially will serve as something of what soccer fans might call a testimonial to see him off.

The splits are also intriguing since on defense it has what could be close to an opening night lineup type of feel with Harrison Brunicke and Owen Pickering getting to make their case in a game that will include Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson on the back-end, as well as potentially Pittsburgh’s entire top-six forward group of Crosby, Malkin, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Anthony Mantha and Ville Koivunen. The game could be a big one for players like Koivunen, not to mention Avery Hayes and Tristan Broz to show their stuff under a bright spotlight in a fairly close to actual type of game lineup.

Saturday won’t be a complete dress rehearsal, since apparent NHL roster players like Blake Lizotte, Connor Dewar, Philip Tomasino and Danton Heinen will play on Friday. It’s too early for a full dress rehearsal anyways, with over a full week of camp to go. But the Pens are giving context clues that Saturday night’s game with Fleury should be one of their strongest lineups of the early/mid preseason and probably included the 2025-26 season debuts of star players like Crosby, Malkin, Letang, Rust, Karlsson, Rakell and the like.

One other cool wrinkle is that it could potentially be a “passing of the torch” type of moment should the Penguins decide to dress 21-year old Sergei Murashov alongside the 40-year old Fleury. Murashov could project to be Pittsburgh’s next top goalie one day in the future, what better way to have a changing of the guard than share a game with the franchise’s record holding goalie in every major category? That’s one of several little items that will be special over the weekend as Fleury makes his return and prepares to bid adieu.

If you want to go to practice tomorrow, well Godspeed and may the odds be in your favor, the team is expecting huge crowds at UPMC Lemieux.

A message to fans regarding tomorrow’s open practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex pic.twitter.com/H12wla2lOa

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 25, 2025

It was a circus in 2024 when Jaromir Jagr practiced with the team, more people were around 30-45 minutes BEFORE practice than usually ever show up even during playoffs. If you are itching to go, the earlier to get there and sacrificing much of the morning is probably going to be required, if at all possible.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/6735...red-wings-gives-context-clues-for-fleury-game

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Red Wings Game Recap: Pens earn first win of the season

The Penguins used the following lineup of potential lower-lineup players and maybe a third pairing or two possibility surrounded by future minor leaguers in their first home preseason game of the season against Detroit on Friday night.

Tonight's lineup vs. the Red Wings

: SNP+ pic.twitter.com/UAHCIMW0zP

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 26, 2025

The visiting Red Wings didn’t exactly bring their A-team either, though they did start Whitehall native John Gibson for his very first taste of action with the winged wheel on his chest and bring a couple of recent first round picks in Carter Bear and Nate Danielson to the party.

Tonight's lineup @ Pittsburgh pic.twitter.com/QhDAqbN2m1

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 26, 2025

Detroit got the better of the play early but the game settled in until AHL contracted rookie Aaron Huglen got forced into a bad idea with a pass coming up the ice that got picked off and Connor Clifton and Ryan Shea were both way up on the play and out of position. That gave John Leonard a free look at picking a spot, and he did just that wiring a puck by Tristan Jarry. Leonard scored 36 goals last season in the AHL (for Charlotte) and, well, you can see how with this shot.

John Leonard snipe! pic.twitter.com/oXgJEml0VY

— Detroit Red Wings (@DetroitRedWings) September 26, 2025

Detroit scored on the power play, and it was Leonard again. This one was a little flick of the wrist from just inside of the blueline, a couple of players waved their sticks at it, but it looked like it went straight through and somehow eluded Jarry. 2-0.

The Pens got on the board early in the second period, Jack St. Ivany took the wide open space he was given to skate to space and centered the puck for Connor Dewar. Dewar made a spinning backhand shot that might have been hopeful but did have some zip and elevation on it. 2-1 game.

Nifty backhander by Connor Dewar pic.twitter.com/qsPROM3TYh

— Sportsnet (@Sportsnet) September 27, 2025

Philip Tomasino raised the temperature of the game when he went into Gibson at high speed. There was some back pressure on him from a defender and Tomasino did try to leap up instead of plow right through but that got the ire of Gibson and a bunch of Red Wings to try and pound him. Even up penalties resulted, which seemed just.

During a TV timeout near the mid-way point of the period, and game, both teams change out their goalies. Arturs Silovs gets into the net for the Pens, Jarry departs having stopped 11 of 13 shots.

The change of goalies eventually let the Pens’ class shine, Detroit put in an undrafted goalie signed from the Czech league. He gave up a goal to Robby Fabbri, with the former Red Wing knifing through the defense and getting to the far post quicker than the goalie 2-2 game.

No quit in #12 pic.twitter.com/dN8DGb9cYv

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 27, 2025

Pittsburgh struck on the power play in the third period to take their first lead and the lead for good. A quick series of passes ended up with Filip Hallander finding Philip Tomasino all alone in front. Wrong guy for the Red Wings. 3-2 Pens.

A PPG FOR PGH pic.twitter.com/6HpnVibClj

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 27, 2025

That ended up being it for the scoring, and the Pens have their first win of the 2025-26 season.

A few random thoughts to put a bow on the night:

• Jarry, like many Penguin goalies, are wearing black pads this fall. That’s a change up from a rule instituted by Kyle Dubas. Upon joining into the organization in 2023 Dubas mandated that all goalies in the organization were to wear white pads, due to the belief white pads and a white net/end boards made it more challenging for the opponents to see open areas to shoot, compared to the contrast of black pads. Doesn’t mean much, as we’ve seen from goalie results in the last couple years, if anything the takeaway is that it’s nice Dubas is flexible at least. It would probably be a stretch to call Dubas a Lou Lamoriello disciple, but the younger manager certainly had an impression made on him in their time spent together, and that kind of connection catches an eye for a manager making a suggestion like color of pads. But I don’t think old Lou would have been flexible enough to change his ways and drop many of his ideas, so I guess credit to Dubas for letting it go on the control for one matter that proved not to mean that much.
• Regardless of pad color, gotta hope Jarry gets goals like the second one out of the way now when the games don’t count. Dealing with any sort of traffic or distraction has always given him fits and that was on display. That’s what preseason is for to get sharp but he’s gonna have to take it up a notch when it counts. Hard to do much more hand wringing besides that for tonight, though it isn’t the most encouraging tell about where his game is at right now.
• Dewar had a nice spinning backhand shot. Was reminiscent of those first few games in Pittsburgh when he couldn’t miss and was scoring regularly. That never lasts very long for him but is frequent enough to win him an NHL job. And he wore an A on his jersey as an alternate captain. Not that they had much to choose from or that it means too terribly much, but it’s something.
• Also wearing an A: Ryan Graves. Unlike his first preseason game earlier this week, he wasn’t a train wreck tonight either. Progress! And see, other various NHL teams, Graves is a veteran! A leader of men! Trade for him now!
• The preseason is always good for a ‘holy crap, that guy’s still around?‘ – and today’s contestant was 35-year old Travis Hamonic. Completely blanked that he was picked up by the Red Wings, and not even on a tryout, on a $1.0 million deal. Good for him.
• Not many people say “stock down” and bash a player in the preseason compared to all the sleepers and risers that get celebrated, but so far Tommy Novak hasn’t really stood out or popped or done much to suggest he’s ready for the NHL season. It’d be foolish to read into that too much, but tonight you saw Dewar score, and Fabbri score and Tomasino score. Novak, like other games, is just kinda there. Not that he has to earn or win a job, but it would be more encouraging to see him play a more visible style or get on the board now and then. Same could probably be said for Danton Heinen getting copied and pasted in the above note.
• With that in mind, Fabbri is giving the Pens something to think about after his solid exhibition game performances. Is the team really going to waive someone like Heinen to sign a guy like Fabbri that will probably be about same same for overall impact over the course of the season? That’s something to be considered; how much is too much, and are the guys under contract enough when Kevin Hayes and Noel Acciari will be coming back from injury sooner or later too? Fabbri’s done pretty well for making a case for himself — we’ve seen enough to be confident he wouldn’t be out of place based on his on ice play — but there are bigger questions surrounding need and numbers already on hand with contracts that make it a gray area where the team could reasonably go in different directions with the decision about Fabbri. It’s not going to make or break the year regardless of the call, but it will be interesting to see if Fabbri has impressed enough to stick around — and what that decision could mean for other players on the fringe of the roster. There are only so many numbers to go around.
• Gotta call this what it was for the Penguins — a throwaway game. Nice to get out of it with a win and see a few NHL guys kick in enough to get the result, but this night won’t leave many lasting memories. With camp in WBS opening up this weekend, a lot of the lower part of this lineup will be headed up that way sooner than later. This was just kinda one to get through to get to tomorrow.

And now we’re through with it! There won’t be a bigger difference all year from the quarter-filled building tonight and a lineup of mostly non-factors for what the arena will turn into in just 24 hours. The stars will be out, the stands will be packed for the Pens’ game against Columbus to see Marc-Andre Fleury play a period one more time.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...-game-recap-pens-earn-first-win-of-the-season

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins make first big cut, drop 15 players

The Penguins have assigned a player here or there back to juniors (like Travis Hayes and Quinn Beauchesne), but hadn’t had a mass cut of players from their 2025 training camp until Saturday. 15 players are leaving Pittsburgh and heading to the minor league training camp.

The Penguins have reduced their training camp roster to 58 players.

Details: https://t.co/WI84v1waXq pic.twitter.com/ibvM0ZZJ3E

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 27, 2025

From the team:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have reduced their training camp roster to 58 players, it was announced today by President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas.

The following players have been assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s training camp (AHL), which begins on Monday, September 29 at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex:

Raivis Ansons
David Breazeale
Tommy Budnick
Kyle Criscuolo
Brayden Edwards
Zach Gallant
Max Graham
Brent Johnson
Jordan Kaplan
Gabe Klassen
Daniel Laatsch
Brett Murray
Maxim Pavlenko
Emil Pieniniemi
Zach Urdahl

No major surprises in that listing, plenty of those players are on AHL contracts that were headed back to the minors sooner than later anyways — that includes a player not to be confused 22-year old defenseman named Brent Johnson that isn’t to be confused with the Pens’ backup goalie from the 2010’s that has the same name. The rest of the cuts are rookies like Max Graham, Daniel Laatsch and Emil Pieniniemi that will be looking to stay in the AHL and avoid getting pushed down to the ECHL and can use the AHL acclimation and evaluation much more than they need to be in the NHL camp any longer.

While there weren’t any difficult decisions or tough cuts made today, that will be changing in a hurry. The Pens still have 58 players on their roster and will have to trim all the way down to 23 before you know it. The regular season starts in only 10 days and final rosters will be submitted before that point.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67414/penguins-make-first-big-cut-drop-15-players

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Marc-Andre’s Day

Today is the big day. Marc-Andre Fleury is back in Pittsburgh and after successfully completing a practice yesterday will be getting some action in a preseason game tonight for the Penguins for the final time in his illustrious career.

While we wait for 7:00pm and the game, here’s some things we’re reading and thinking about. Check back in tonight for the first game thread of the season to discuss the game with your pals! The game will be televised on SNP+ and NHL Network.

The roster for the game is out, as expected the Penguins are bringing out the big guns for Fleury’s farewell. [Penguins]

Coach Dan Muse has said Fleury will play one period tonight, but it has not been announced which period it will be. [X – Wes Crosby]

Usually practice at any age is a chore to get through. Yesterday was one of the few times ever that every single player was outwardly smiling and enjoying every second of it. [Penguins.com]

Fleury’s going out the same way he came in: with a Penguin logo and the bright yellow Cape Breton style goalie pads. [Sportsnet]

Fans lined up way early to get a glimpse of Fleury’s final practice yesterday [KDKA – video]

The full media scrum after practice. [YouTube – Penguins]

Fleury soaked up the opportunity for the simple things, liking having a breakfast with the boys yesterday and getting the chance to catch up with old friends. [X – PensInsideScoop]

Behind the scenes with some stories from days gone by. [The Athletic $]

Sidney Crosby talking about Fleury’s play, and pranks. [Dave Molinari – Substack]

The pranks were there, Crosby and Letang’s vehicles getting the worst of it.

This shouldn’t (and surely won’t) be it for Fleury in Pittsburgh…Next stop, a jersey retirement ceremony? [Post-Gazette]

Youngsters named James…Always mischievous.

First victim: His own dad
Second victim: Evgeni Malkin

No one is safe. pic.twitter.com/NKFXBwjIPA

— Penguins PR (@PenguinsPR) September 26, 2025

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67379/marc-andres-day

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins/Blue Jackets Recap: Fleury shines in his last game

The Penguins and Blue Jackets traditionally meet for two preseason games a year, convenient for all given the geography. They haven’t had a preseason game like this, which officially was a run of the mill NHL exhibition game. Then again, run of the mill NHL exhibition games don’t draw a sell out crowd full of the emotion that comes from saying goodbye to a franchise icon. The unique Marc-Andre Fleury game is here.

The Pens’ lineup for the night, marking the preseason debuts of all their best players to join Fleury, who it was announced would play the third period.

How we're lining up vs. Columbus pic.twitter.com/7TBK3EAUkl

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 27, 2025

The Blue Jackets didn’t bring many of their bests, nothing unusual for a road preseason game where a team does a favor to their top guys and lets them stay at home and take a night off.

Yinz ready?

https://t.co/foNtS2f4uB

CBJ x @OhioHealth pic.twitter.com/0Wyw8M2hev

— Columbus Blue Jackets (@BlueJacketsNHL) September 26, 2025

Columbus scored in the first period on a 2-on-1, nice finish.

Sidney Crosby looks ready for the season. Exquisite placement on this shot, and check out the little setup by Avery Hayes. Looks pretty good. 1-1 game.

Raise your hand if you missed Sidney Crosby scoring goals at PPG Paints Arena:

pic.twitter.com/LVvIHVVpmr

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 28, 2025

The Pens took the lead with just 1.6 seconds left in the second period on the power play, Erik Karlsson’s point offering got hung up with Crosby near the net and Rickard Rakell was there to chip the loose puck home from the crease. 2-1 game.

RICKY RAKS BEATS THE BUZZER ON THE POWER PLAY! pic.twitter.com/IWz441mm6a

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 28, 2025

It turned into the Fleury show in the third period, the veteran goalie took the ice to a standing ovation and a crowd chanting his name. Letang even needlessly played the puck back to his buddy to get him a touch — and more importantly a chance for another big roar from the crowd. Fleury went vintage with one more pokecheck a few moments into his period.

Fleury was active making saves, many routine but to the delight of the crowd, and then the Pens doubled the lead out of no where. Ville Koivunen did well to pick off a breakout attempt and turned that into an easy goal for himself. 3-1.

VILLE BURIES IT! pic.twitter.com/XeEAlfjVVd

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 28, 2025

Owen Pickering got rung up for a penalty, even though it look like the other guy just fell down. Tristan Broz picked the team up by keeping his legs moving to draw a makeup call soon after and nothing comes of it.

Columbus pulls their goalie late, but by the cruel irony of fate, the play never comes close to Fleury to offer him his elusive dream of a goalie goal. Rakell takes care of that to tack on his second of the game. 4-1.

The game came to a perfect end when the Pens put Malkin, Crosby, Rust, Karlsson and Letang all on the ice for the final shift. With about 12 seconds left Malkin pulled the plug on trying to score again and passed the puck all the way back to Fleury to soak in the final seconds.

The home team in preseason games can elect for a shootout, regardless of game score. The Pens did so, and Blue Jackets agreed. A few more moments in the spotlight for Fleury.

Letang went first for the Pens, and chipped a shot high.

Yegor Chinakov got to go against Fleury, pad save on the aggressive challenge!

Crosby was next up for the home team, denied on his shot.

Cole Sillinger goes next, he can’t beat Fleury’s sprawling leg to the far post and the shot is wide anyways as it clicks off the outside of it. MAF gives the post a little love, one more time.

Malkin is next but his shot doesn’t work.

Luca Del Bel Belluz goes next, Fleury gives his classic pushups as the series starts. He picks himself up and gets beaten to the forehand to end the game, not that anyone minded.

Some more thoughts to finish it up

• Setting Fleury stuff aside for a second, the way teams choose to break forwards into pairs is always intriguing. Crosby-Rust has been a long-term connection that we all know about. Malkin-Mantha have been together extensively this training camp, looking ready to form the basis of a line. Rakell-Koivunen is another combo that’s gotten a lot of play this preseason. The ultimate end result may well be to move one or both of Rakell and Koivunen to Crosby’s line, but the creative idea to expand the depth is sitting there, at least as a possibility. It would outside of the box but interesting to think about if the talent stays split across three lines various pieces like Justin Brazeau, Philip Tomasino, Tommy Novak, maybe Danton Heinen (and eventually Rutger McGroarty when he’s healthy) get worked around into the blank spaces available to fill out those pairs that have played together so far. If it comes to that, which it might not since Rakell is going to need a pure center sooner than later. (And, afterall the Pens went Rakell-Crosby-Rust for a d-zone draw late in the game before their ENG for a reason..)
• Could Avery Hayes play his way into the mix? He didn’t look out of place with Crosby tonight. Based on the math, you would think not and this could be a one night only type of thing for now, but it certainly does make for a good data point in the minds of the coaches and managers to see Hayes do well in that spot in case it might be something to look at again at some point during the long season.
• A premiere game also means something towards the defense usage and potential future plans. Tonight Parker Wotherspoon and Caleb Jones got huge opportunities to partner up with Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang, respectively. Whether it’s popular or not, Jones may be a placeholder for Ryan Graves, who played last night. If that’s more of less the top-four, the picture clears up for Harrison Brunicke and Owen Pickering to fit in if it works out (Matt Dumba and Clifton Connor then going to healthy scratch island, at least until the decision to keep or send Brunicke back down). The picture could be shuffled at any time, but it’s not difficult to see those pieces slotting together.
• Columbus didn’t dress a good lineup, the Pens put a lot of big names out there. Why didn’t the Pens crush them right out the gates? As always, this Jack Han take has to be considered:

At this time of year, the team icing the most "preseason" rosters typically beat the opposing teams that dress their stars, simply because the AHL/tweeners try harder than the top line NHLers who are just trying not to get hurt.

— Jack Han (@JhanHky) September 22, 2025

• First power play group for the night: Malkin, Crosby, Rakell, Rust, Karlsson. We’ll see how much staying power that ends up having for the regular season, the Mike Sullivan/David Quinn power play often had Malkin split away from Crosby for significant times last year, for pretty much the first time.
• Player development can be unnoticeably small and take a while, but it certainly looks to the eye like Ben Kindel has been incrementally better in each and every viewing during this preseason. At the beginning of the Prospects Challenge in Buffalo he was barely a factor, eventually having a great game at the end. The same has unfolded in his three preseason games to date. He’s not quite NHL ready yet, but the talent has been on display more and more.
• One goal and two assists for Crosby in his preseason debut, still looking like the same old Sid (as if there were any doubts).
• Murashov ended up stopping 12/13 shots he saw in 40 minutes, including a flair for the dramatic with a big glove save on a breakaway. We can only hope this night is the obvious bridge from past to future in net, even if 575 career wins are too big of skates for anyone to expect to fill.
• Fleury made all eight saves on the shots he saw. You can understand why everyone would want the shootout to extend the night even longer but that was unnecessary. Named first star of the night, Fleury earned one more chance to soak up the adoration of the crowd that showed up to cheer him on every second he was in there. Special moment to take in.

A picture taken before the game, for your viewing pleasure:

Brothers for life. pic.twitter.com/H6dQnEYzzS

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 27, 2025

Truly a night for the history books that will hold a special place in the franchise’s lore for all who got to experience putting a well-deserved cherry on top of one of the greatest careers the NHL has ever seen. Congrats, cheers and merci to Marc-Andre Fleury for wrapping it up in the place he belonged.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/game-reca...-jackets-recap-fleury-shines-in-his-last-game

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins have a whole lot of waivin’ left to do

Here’s the announcement of waivers today. There were no Penguins today, and haven’t been any yet.

#NHL waivers on Sunday: pic.twitter.com/WkqckEe8cw

— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) September 28, 2025

There’s a reason for that with three preseason games left to go this week, including one tomorrow. The Penguins still have 58 players on their roster, pretty thick for this time of year.

Let’s do a little breakdown of how things are looking based on the last roster the Penguins gave out.

Forwards (26): Justin Brazeau, Tristan Broz, Cal Burke*, Atley Calvert**, Sidney Crosby, Connor Dewar, Robby Fabbri*, Filip Hallander, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Avery Hayes, Danton Heinen, Aaron Huglen**, Boko Imama, Ben Kindel***, Ville Koivunen, Blake Lizotte, Evgeni Malkin, Anthony Mantha, Aidan McDonough**, Sam Poulin, Valtteri Puustinen, Rickard Rakell, Nolan Renwich**, Bryan Rust, Philip Tomasino

Defensemen (16): Sebastian Aho, Alexander Alexeyev, Harrison Brunicke***, Connor Clifton, Matt Dumba, Ryan Graves, Finn Harding, Caleb Jones, Erik Karlsson, Phil Kemp, Kris Letang, Owen Pickering, Chase Pietila, Ryan Shea, Jack St. Ivany, Parker Wotherspoon

Goalies (5): Marc-Andre Fleury*, Tristan Jarry, Filip Larsson, Sergei Murashov, Arturs Silovs

Key:
*PTOs
** AHL contracts
***Junior eligible players

Injured players who will go straight to the IR, like Kevin Hayes, Joel Blomqvist and presumably Noel Acciari and Rutger McGroarty have not been a part of the official playing roster.

Where will the cuts come from? That’s where the fun begins. Pretty much everyone with an asterisk after their name is facing an uphill battle, though Fabbri and Brunicke might still have more time in the next week to make their case. From there, all the names in bold are bold for a reason, those are players who would have to be waived to get assigned to the AHL and are all in the danger zone for that potentially happening in the next week or so. From there, younger players like Broz, A. Hayes, Harding, Murashov, Pietila and others can be assigned back to the AHL without requiring being placed on waivers.

The question is one of timing, which could also be answered by the game schedule with games on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. The Friday game, also the only home game, could serve as a final tuneup for much of the eventual lineup. One reason the Pens are carrying so many players who won’t be on the team (like the ones on AHL contracts) is since Monday and Wednesday’s games are on the road, those types of players can help get through those games and the others on the bubble have one more chance to show their stuff and make a case for staying with the NHL team as the season approaches

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/67438/penguins-have-a-whole-lot-of-waivin-left-to-do