News Penguins Team Notes

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins face next decision point on Harrison Brunicke’s season

Harrison Brunicke’s time with Team Canada for the World Junior Championship is now completed. The Canadians won the bronze medal game yesterday against Finland after getting upset by Czechia on Sunday night.

Brunicke played in all seven games, recording no goals and two assists. At times he was alright, but it was hardly a smashing success. In fact, he saw his role reduced as the tournament went on to the point of being the fifth most played defenseman for Canada in the critical game against the Czechs. The hope was Brunicke would shine as an older player and one with pro experience, instead he ended up just kinda being there. Corey Pronman from The Athletic said he “underwhelmed” for an NHL loan. Scott Wheeler from the same publication:

PP wasn’t a natural role for him at this level, even though they tried him there. Want to see him play a little harder in his man-to-man D coverage, too. I actually thought he played better once his minutes moved from 18-20 to 14-15, but the coaching staff had clearly decided he wasn’t a go-to guy, and they tried to spread out the minutes to find that person and never did. Not a confidence-building tournament for him, which is what you’d hope for when you get sent down from the NHL. Skating and potential remain.

In short, Brunicke showed the rust of a player who has only played five games since November 3rd, because, well his only game action since early November was appearing in five AHL games. The ‘developmental plan’ the Penguins have had Brunicke on had him not play in the NHL since he appeared in his ninth game in early November and go to the AHL on a conditioning loan for five games with Wilkes-Barre from November 26 – December 6. That wasn’t a huge runway to enter the tournament at the top of his game and the results showed as much.

There’s been enough time wasted on where Brunicke ‘should’ be playing or best-served playing while avoiding the fact that as a 19-year old he needs to be playing as perhaps the most important variable involved. Given what we’ve seen, that is nowhere close to the NHL level at this time. The AHL is not an option for him this season until his junior season is over, which whether fair, right, wrong or in the middle is the unavoidable way it is this season.

That only leaves one option: assigning Brunicke back to the WHL. The Penguins have been resistant to that to this point but enough data from his performance in the three venues (NHL, AHL, WJC) have come in to present a clear choice

The Canadian junior league is in the midst of rapid change now that several of the top players are opting for the collegiate route before they turn pro. However, several of Brunicke’s peers from Team Canada currently play in the CHL, and ones that are arguably even more advanced than him based on the performances at the recent tournament like Tij Iginla, Jett Luchanko, Cole Reschny, Caleb Desnoyers, Sam O’Reilly, Ben Danford and Kashawn Aitcheson. Most, if not all of these players will due their time in juniors and go onto having fruitful professional careers. Several of those players are ‘24 draft picks like Brunicke was, playing out one more season in juniors. Playing in the CHL for a couple months until Brunicke can rejoin the pro ranks in Wilkes-Barre may not be an ideal situation, but it’s not unprecedented in the current climate and also something that can’t be avoided for much longer either. After a rocky World Juniors, Brunicke could benefit from the regular playing time of a huge role on a team for a few months after playing a total of just 21 games in the last three months at various levels and usually in very limited roles while in the pro ranks.

By sending back Brunicke now before he plays in a 10th NHL game and spends 40 games on the roster, the Penguins will avoid seeing his entry level contract start and having him earn a year towards unrestricted free agency. (As an aside, funny how there was no drama and the question never really came up about Ben Kindel blowing past that 40-game mark since he wasn’t off the NHL roster to be assigned to Team Canada).

No harm, no foul on that front. It hasn’t been a notable past few months for Brunicke on the ice, which is a shame but also hardly unprecedented for a talented young defender to need some time to put everything together. Progress is not always a straight, linear arrow that steadily moves up without a few bumps along the way, doubly so for a defenseman.

The Pens haven’t announced just yet what they plan to do with Brunicke for the balance of the season, but from what they’ve seen there isn’t much way around the fact he has shown that he needs more developmental time in a lower league to build and grow before he can reach his potential in the next stages. Then, with any luck, it’ll be a few short months until they can get him back in Wilkes once his junior season ends to be a part of the AHL team for what everyone hopes will be a deep playoff run.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/pittsburg...t-decision-point-on-harrison-brunickes-season

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Jack Johnson retires, hired by Canucks as a professional scout

Longtime NHL defenseman Jack Johnson has retired from playing hockey and has joined the Vancouver Canucks organization as a professional scout.

Johnson, 38, played for 19 NHL seasons, including a two-year stint in Pittsburgh for the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons.

General Manager Patrik Allvin announced today that the #Canucks have hired Jack Johnson as a pro-scout.

— Vancouver Canucks (@Canucks) January 5, 2026

The Penguins signed Jack Johnson to a five-year, $16.25 million contract during the 2018 offseason, eventually placing the veteran defenseman on waivers and buying out the remaining three years of his deal in October 2020.

Johnson bounced around several NHL rosters post-buyout with stints in New York, Colorado, Chicago, and Columbus, where he spent a good chunk of his career before coming to Pittsburgh.

Over six years removed from his time in Pittsburgh, Johnson’s retirement and new gig in Vancouver is a reunion of sorts with Canucks President of Hockey Operations Jim Rutherford, who drafted Johnson in Carolina in 2005 and signed him in Pittsburgh when he was the Penguins’ general manager.

The Penguins are still paying a cap hit on Johnson’s 2020 buyout, which saw the remaining three years of the term of the deal spread across six years.

Former Penguins defenseman Jack Johnson retires and moves into a front office role with several former Penguins' executives.

As a result of a 2020 buyout, he still counts $916,667 against the Penguins' salary cap. This is the last season that cap hit will exist. https://t.co/St2VnE0t6z

— Seth Rorabaugh (@SethRorabaugh) January 5, 2026

The cap hit, which counts for $916,667, will go away after this current season.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/7...ires-hired-by-canucks-as-a-professional-scout

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Penguins waive Egor Zamula, open third roster spot

The Philip Tomasino trade could ultimately amount to a salary dump for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The Penguins placed defenseman Egor Zamula on unconditional waivers Monday for purposes of contract termination, according to PuckPedia.

Pittsburgh will be left with 47 roster players and three open spots when Zamula clears waivers, per PuckPedia.

Expecting 25 y/o D Zamula to be on waivers today for purposes of contract termination.
After being acquired by #Letsgopens he did not report to AHL.

Sounds like there’s interest from multiple teams on a new deal and he’ll sign elsewhere.

He’s in the final year of a 1.7M cap…

— PuckPedia (@PuckPedia) January 5, 2026

If Zamula clears waivers, he’ll become a restricted free agent Tuesday. PuckPedia reports multiple other teams are interested in signing him to a new deal.

For Zamula, that could mean a more cap-friendly deal and potentially more playing time in the NHL.

For the Penguins, it will mean moving out some salary and opening a roster spot down the stretch.

Zamula was acquired by the Penguins in the trade with the Philadelphia Flyers for Tomasino back on Dec. 31. He was suspended by the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on Jan. 3 for not reporting to the team.

PuckPedia had reported prior to the trade that Zamula was “willing to terminate” his Flyers contract and sign with another team for less money, presumably in hope of getting more playing time in the NHL. The 25-year-old defenseman had spent most of the Flyers’ season as a healthy scratch before he was sent down to the AHL, seemingly for good, in early December.

Zamula was playing this season under a $1.7 million cap hit, while Tomasino had a cap hit of $1.75 million.

The Penguins have now effectively moved Tomasino’s salary off the books without a buyout while clearing out a roster spot.

That extra room could potentially give Kyle Dubas more move to maneuver down the stretch of the season, either with call-ups or trades.

Giving up multiple picks in order to acquire Yegor Chinakhov could be an indication the Pens are at least considering buying at the deadline, although that will likely depend on what the playoff picture looks like by the March 6 deadline.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/71277/penguins-waive-egor-zamula-open-third-roster-spot

 

[JJ]

lmaooooo the pens are STILL paying jack johnson almost a million bucks against the cap this year?? that's absolutely hilarious. rutherford really did a number on this franchise with that signing. five year deal for a guy who was already washed when he signed it. at least it finally goes away after this season, small victories i guess

anyway gotta give credit where its due - five straight wins coming out of the break is exactly what this team needed. that crosby OT winner yesterday was vintage sid, the guy is still absolutely filthy at 38 years old. chinakhov making that aggressive play to set it up was smart too, none of that boring 3v3 keep-away garbage

the zamula situation is interesting though. dude straight up refused to report to WBS after the tomasino trade?? like i get wanting NHL time but that's a bold move. dubas basically turned tomasino's salary into nothing which gives them some flexibility i suppose. whether they actually use it to buy at the deadline remains to be seen

brunicke underwhelming at world juniors is a bummer but not surprising when the kid has barely played since november. send him back to the WHL and let him actually get some reps instead of sitting in the press box "developing" by watching. that whole situation has been mishandled imo

also lol at columbus beating the sabres then getting clapped by pittsburgh. classic NHL parity nonsense. at least my boys got the win over them before that happened

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Predicting Penguin higher/lowers for the second half

The Penguins have reached the halfway point of the season, the top part of their leading scorers looks like this via hockeydb.

Let’s look at which players can pick it up, and who will might taper off in the second half. For these purposes, we’re simply looking at the player had in the first half of the season and whether he will provide more or less than that over the second half.

Second half best bets

Rickard Rakell – this is borderline cheating, courtesy of the long injury absence in the first half. He easily could and should be scoring more than six goals and 15 points in the team’s next 41 games. Nice little warmup to take the slam dunk when it’s right there.

Ben Kindel – can Kindel keep going or will he hit a rookie wall? With the way he’s played lately (three points in the last two games, four in the last five, eight in the last 12), I think Kindel has the staying power to score 19+ points in the second half of the season. He has been piling up more points as the year has gone on, the Olympic break should help as a natural reset for a young player to get a breather.

Erik Karlsson goals — It’s a wonder Karlsson has only found the back of the net three times, striking the iron from a post or crossbar and staying out just as many times as good goals. Karlsson should end up with at least seven goals this season and end up scoring more in the second half than he did in the first.

Second half puzzlers

Justin Brazeau goals — What would you take on Brazeau scoring 13 goals over the team’s next 41 games? Considering he’s got 12 in 27, it doesn’t sound unreasonable. I’m not so sure the magic of shooting 25.0% keeps going that long, but why not? Whether he remains healthy or not could make or break the outcome for doubling his goals.

Tommy Novak — Novak has two career 40+ point seasons under his belt, he’s certainly not incapable of the 42 points that he’s on pace for with a good second half, he makes this portion because he’s tough to project. Is Novak a center or wing? He’s played with Crosby on the first line, played on the second line and at times been a bit out of the spotlight on a lower line, what’s the role moving forward? I wouldn’t be surprised if Novak keeps having a quiet but good season, but then again he had a slow start and was barely a focal point of the team early. Does he slip back to that now that a new piece like Chinakhov is around?

Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty – One on hand, the output required is so low to hit in this exercise, Koivunen would only need six points over the rest of the season, four for McGroarty to pitch in more. On the other hand, both young players might not get the games and opportunities in the second half with Chinakhov on a forward group that is approaching health. Leaning to the unders for both, but those bars are so low to clear that it gives some pause since that’s basically only a couple of really good games for either to chip in more.

Evgeni Malkin – Malkin was the Pens best player in the first 10 or 20 games this season. Then he hurt his shoulder and missed a while. He put up 29 points before he got hurt, does he have another 29+ in him for the second half of the season? Missing a chunk of games is always a strong possibility for him too, so I’m torn on this one, it’s not difficult to imagine scenarios where he ends up on either side of second half performances.

I don’t want to say lower but probably lower

Sidney Crosby goals – I mean a 38-year old just can’t score 48+ goals in a season, right? That’s not humanly possible (first place all-time for a 38-year old is Brett Hull’s 37. Johnny Bucyk and Alex Ovechkin are tied for second with 31. As a 39-year old buoyed by the record chase, Ovechkin scored 44 goals last season). The head says to bet Crosby doesn’t have 24 more goals in him for the second half of the season, the head also knows by now not to actually believe in limiting what Crosby could be capable of, which could be having the best ‘old guy goal scoring season’ in NHL history if he keeps it up.

Take the under

Ryan Shea – now that Shea’s down to the third pair he’s not going to get the chance to play as many minutes with top-end forwards. He’ll still be good at stretch passes and in the offensive zone but probably not record 14+ assists in the second half of the season good.

Anthony Mantha – Mantha would need to demolish a career-high of 48 points to have as good of a second half of the season as he did in the first (on pace for 58 points). He’s also a guy that tends to miss some time with injuries over the course of a year and has perfect attendance so far. That spot on the top power play that he’s had for most of Malkin’s injury is going away too. He still is tracking to have a very good season even if it does tail off in the second half.

Kris Letang – maybe having Brett Kulak as a steady and defensively quality partner will help unlock Letang, and his game has been a lot better lately. But do we really think 38-year old Kris Letang is going to end up with 43+ points (last year he ended up with 30 points in 74 games)? That gives some pause, with the concern of injury also very viable to lower the amount of points he produced in the first half.

—

Anything else stand out for guys who will pitch in more for the Penguins in the second half of the season than they did in the first? Bonus points for going more challenging than Chinakhov. And who might see their first half contributions dwindle over the rest of the year?

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/general/71340/predicting-penguin-higher-lowers-for-the-second-half

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Game Preview: New Jersey Devils @ Pittsburgh Penguins 1/8/26

Who: New Jersey Devils (22-19-2, 46 points, 7th place Metropolitan Division) @ Pittsburgh Penguins (20-12-9, 49 points, 5th place Metropolitan Division)

When: 7:00 p.m. eastern

How to Watch: Broadcast locally Sportsnet Pittsburgh and MSGSN, streaming on ESPN+

Pens’ Path Ahead: Today kicks off another heavy stretch of games for the Pens, starting with three in four days over the weekend with a home afternoon game against Calgary (3:30pm start) and then a visit to Boston on Sunday (5:00pm start). The Pens then return home next week for games against Tampa, Philadelphia and Columbus.

Opponent Track: Well, it’s not pretty. The Devils got pounded 9-0 on Tuesday night against the Islanders. New Jersey has floated towards the bottom of the East with a 6-11-1 record since the start of December. It’s been tough sledding to find their game, going 2-3-1 since the Christmas break and 2-5-1 in the last eight games.

Season Series: NJ took the first game, a 2-1 shootout win back on November 8th. After tonight the teams will matchup two more times on February 26th in Pittsburgh and then on April 9th in New Jersey.

Hidden Stat: The Devils have scored 0 or 1 goals in 11 games of their last 25 games since Nov 18, with a 2.08 goals/game this stretch that easily ranks last in the NHL. NJD has been shutout five times in this stretch, including last game.

Getting to know the Devils​

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Jack Hughes – Nico Hischier – Jesper Bratt

Timo Meier – Dawson Mercer – Arseni Gritsyuk

Paul Cotter – Luke Glendening – Stefan Noesen

Ondrej Palat – Cody Glass – Connor Brown

DEFENSEMEN

Jonas Siegenthaler / Dougie Hamilton

Luke Hughes / Brett Pesce

Brenden Dillon / Simon Nemec

Goalies: Jake Allen and Jacob Markstrom

Potential scratches: Juho Lammikko, Colton White, Dennis Cholowski

Injured Reserve: Evgenii Dadonov

• The good news is that it looks like Nemec could return for his first game since December 11th after coming off an injury. Cotter, too, looks like he’s approaching a return.
• Palat has been moved down to the fourth line.
• No news on a goalie, but you’d have to think Jake Allen will be going tonight. He’s been the better of the two goalies this season, and somewhat shockingly, the Devils left Markstrom in to crash and burn when he allowed all nine of the goals in the 9-0 loss on Tuesday. They didn’t play Monday or Wednesday, so that certainly was an interesting choice to keep a struggling goalie twisting in the wind like that.

Season stats
via hockeydb

• This is ugly. 80 different skaters on 30 out of the 32 teams have 13+ goals this season, only Calgary and New Jersey aren’t represented. 70 different skaters making up 27 of the 32 teams have at least 34+ points, the Devils again are in the handful that don’t. Those numbers are cherrypicked for maximum effect, the overall meaning remains stark to not have even one of the top 70 point scorers or be anywhere within the top 80 goal scorers so far, that’s a terrible place to be midway into the year.
• As you’d expect, the underperformers are everywhere. Jesper Bratt scored 88 points last season, Nico Hischier had 35 goals, both are way under that. Jack Hughes and Timo Meier combined for 123 points last season, they have 49 together so far. Expensive veterans like Ondrej Palat and Jacob Markstrom have looked more like the problem than solution.

Key matchup: Trying to keep a struggling team down

Is it good or bad to be the next opponent of a team that just loses 9-0 two nights before? The Penguins are about to find out. While it seem fortunate to be playing a team that clearly has a high level of disarray, there’s always the dreaded ‘response game’ to worry about, where NJD will rally and show that the previous outing isn’t one that they are going to try and come back from.

Besides that emotional element, this is one to try and keep a bad team on their downward trajectory. The Devils underperform at scoring, they can’t finish, their goal share is the worst, their goaltenders aren’t very good, their PK stinks. You name it and they’re a hot mess right now.

It’ll be a fascinating watch to see if they quit taking on water and can turn things around. Between J. Hughes, Pesce, Nemec, they’ve dealt with a lot of talent out of the lineup in what ended up being a cascading effect. Many expected by bringing on Sheldon Keefe as coach that the Devils could take the next step forward, so far it’s been mostly a frustrating and troubling season at a critical moment given that a 9-0 blowout happened.

And now for the Pens​

Infographic courtesy of the Penguins

Projected lines

FORWARDS

Rickard Rakell – Sidney Crosby – Bryan Rust

Ben Kindel – Evgeni Malkin – Yegor Chinakhov

Anthony Mantha – Tommy Novak – Justin Brazeau

Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Noel Acciari

DEFENSEMEN

Parker Wotherspoon / Erik Karlsson

Brett Kulak / Kris Letang

Ryan Shea / Jack St. Ivany

Goalies: Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs

Potential Scratches: Ville Koivunen, Kevin Hayes, Connor Clifton

IR: Filip Hallander, Caleb Jones, Rutger McGroarty

• McGroarty was placed on the IR yesterday with a concussion suffered in practice when he had a collision with a teammate.
• The question about how Malkin will be used has been answered, for now it appears the Penguins will not reunite him with the successful line he had with Mantha and Brazeau. The good thing is that the coaches can always go back to that by the second or third period if circumstances dictate needing it.
• If the familiar goalie rotation continues it would be Skinner’s turn starting tonight for the Pens. That would line Skinner up to play two of the upcoming three games, just as Silovs last week played that portion of the games.

Pens look to stay hot

While the wheels came off the Devils on Tuesday in their blowout loss, the Penguins are red hot.

From the team (and prior to last night’s games):

The Penguins are red hot with a 5-0-0 record since Christmas (December 25). They rank near the top in multiple statistical categories around the League:

NHL Stat Leaders Since Dec. 25

Category Rank
Wins (5) T2nd
Points (10) T3rd
Goals For (25) T3rd
Goals Against (12) T1st
Power Play (33.3%) 6th

Pittsburgh had an off day on Monday and many a veteran like Crosby, Karlsson, Letang and Rust were able to rest an extra day during Tuesday’s optional practice. Whether the Pens are energized by the break or have lost the momentum with some inactivity will be worth watching.

Another day, another potential move up the ranks for Crosby

It’s a fun and niche trivia note that Ray Bourque (21 seasons 1,516 games with the Bruins) has more assists for one franchise than anyone else. More than Yzerman or Howe for the Red Wings, or Lemieux with the Penguins or even Gretzky with the Oilers. Then again, Gretzky only had nine seasons in the NHL with the Oilers. Crosby, who is on a five-game point streak (5G+7A) is knocking on The Great One’s Edmonton total and as of today is only 26 back of Bourque, so that little trivia note is approaching extinction quickly.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/penguins-...-new-jersey-devils-pittsburgh-penguins-1-8-26

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Revisiting the Jake Guentzel trade tree yet again

The Jake Guentzel trade was one of the first major moves of the Kyle Dubas era. Not only because it involved a core player that won a championship with the Pittsburgh Penguins, but also because it signaled a shift into a more long-term outlook.

It was the unofficial beginning of the current rebuild, or re-tooling, or whatever you want to call it. It has turned out to be a significant trade with a still growing trade tree. It also keeps looking a little better than it originally did.

I was thinking of this over the past couple of days because a lot of the pieces the Penguins acquired as a result of the trade have been in the news.

Forward Ville Koivunen, one of the key prospects/young players acquired in the trade, was just sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Thursday to make room for the return of Evgeni Malkin. The offensive production has not been there, but I am still a believer and do not hate the way he has played. The underlying numbers and possession impacts are promising.

Defenseman Harrison Brunicke, who was selected with the second-round pick the Penguins acquired in the trade, just completed the World Junior Championships and was sent back to Kamloops of the Western Hockey League. It is not a perfect situation, but it is probably the best choice given the options available to them. He got a taste of NHL action, spent half a season around the team, got to play in the World Juniors, and now gets to go dominate (hopefully) in the WHL. He may not have been ready for the NHL this season, but he held his own. That is fine. He is 19. If only there was a level between the juniors and the NHL where a player like this could grow and develop.

If only.

There is another layer of branches to that trade tree, and it remains the section that branches out from forward Michael Bunting.

He was the NHL player acquired in the Guentzel trade, and after about a year with the Penguins he was sent to the Nashville Predators for forward Tommy Novak and defenseman Luke Schenn.

Novak remains in Pittsburgh and is doing about what was expected of him. Solid player. Talented. Probably going to score 15-20 goals with 40-45 points in a variety of roles. He has value. I think he is at least more interesting with a potentially higher ceiling than Bunting.

Schenn never actually played a game for the Penguins before he was traded to the Winnipeg Jets. That is where my attention went this week, because I am not sure if you have noticed, but Winnipeg absolutely STINKS right now.

In exchange for Schenn, the Penguins received the Jets’ second-and fourth-round picks in the 2026 NHL Draft. At the time, given that the Jets were on their way to a Presidents’ Trophy winning season with the league’s best record, there probably was not much thought in those picks.

Entering play on Thursday, however, and the Jets have the worst record in the NHL and are one of only four teams with a points percentage below .500 for the season. Not even the return of starting goalie and reigning league MVP Connor Hellebuyck has helped remove the stink from this team. They stink. They absolutely, positively stink. There is also not much in their underlying numbers to suggest any of this is a fluke. They just plain stink. Folks, they stink.

All of a sudden that second-round pick (and to a lesser extent, that fourth-round pick) are going to be looking a little more valuable.

Those would not only be two top-100 picks, the first of those, at this moment, would be the 33rd overall pick in what is considered to be a very deep and very good draft. That gives Dubas and the Penguins a really nice asset that could either be used to, A) Easily move back up into the first round, B) stand pat and still get a solid prospect, or C) use as a trade chip as part of a larger deal for more immediate NHL help.

With Vasily Ponomarev now playing in the KHL, that leaves the Penguins return for Guentzel as being:

• Ville Koivunen
• Harrison Brunicke
• Tommy Novak
• Cruz Lucius (NCAA)
• No. 33 pick in 2026 NHL Draft (as of this moment)
• No. 97 pick in 2026 NHL Draft (as of this moment)

I am not calling the trade a win, because Guentzel is still one of the best forwards in the league and better than every player here. They would objectively be better with him on the team right now. It is hard to call a trade a win when that is still the case.

What I am saying is the Penguins at least managed to get solid value for a rental and have seen the return grow through additional moves. It is still growing. There are good potential pieces here. Perhaps even a couple of NHL players and long-term pieces that could be part of the next contending Penguins team.

This is the one thing that I have really liked about Dubas during his time with the Penguins. The long-term moves and asset management has been extremely solid.

He inherited a team that had the worst farm system in hockey, limited draft picks and an aging, rapidly declining roster. In less than two years the farm system has at least become closer to middle of the pack, there is real young talent on the roster and knocking on the door, and they have more draft picks over the next three years than any team in the NHL. Oh, and the NHL team is still competitive.

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/analysis/71388/revisiting-the-jake-guentzel-trade-tree-yet-again

 

[Pittsburgh Penguins]

Pens Points: Malkin scores in return as Penguins win sixth straight

Here are your Pens Points for this Friday morning…​

Pittsburgh Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin returned from a 15-game absence on Thursday, giving even more depth to a Pittsburgh team that has recently found its stride. Malkin, 39, scored a power-play goal as the Penguins beat the New Jersey Devils 4-1 on Thursday night for their sixth straight victory. [Recap]

The Penguins on Thursday assigned rookie forward Ville Koivunen to their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. [Trib Live]

The Jake Guentzel trade in March 2024 unofficially signaled the beginning of the Penguins’ current rebuild. But the trade tree has branches that are still growing, and in doing so, continuing to impact the Penguins in more beneficial ways than one. [PensBurgh]

News and notes from around the NHL…​

The San Jose Sharks acquired goaltender Laurent Brossoit from the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday in a multi-player trade that also involved draft picks. [TSN]

Patrick Kane became the 50th player in NHL history to reach 500 goals, as his Detroit Red Wings beat the Vancouver Canucks 5-1 on Thursday night. [Associated Press]

The ice surface for the 2026 Olympic Games has become a hot topic, as construction appears to be coming down to the 11th hour. Despite that, some players share similar sentiments to those of Team USA and Florida Panthers forward Matthew Tkachuk, who said last month on his podcast, “I don’t give a sh*t, I’m going over there. Even if it’s not safe, I still want to play.” While several sources have relayed to ESPN that they don’t anticipate any issues over the next month that would prevent NHL players from participating in Italy, others added that there is no Plan B for an alternative tournament should the ice surface not meet standards. [ESPN]

Source: https://www.pensburgh.com/news/7139...malkin-koivunen-ahl-nhl-patrick-kane-olympics