Marcus Pettersson wasn’t the Pittsburgh Penguins’ highest-scoring defenseman during the 2023-24 season. He didn’t log the most ice time among their defensemen, either. And he didn’t cash the biggest paychecks. He simply was the most reliable, responsible, consistent presence on their blue line over 82 games. Pettersson shuttled between working with Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson for part of the season before settling in alongside Karlsson, but while his defensive partner changed at times, his game never did. “I think it was (a big step forward),” Pettersson said. “I took on a little bit bigger ..read more

The Pittsburgh Penguins loaded up the prospect pool Monday for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins playoff series against Lehigh Valley. The Penguins brought in four intriguing prospects, including Ville Koivunen, whom we’re going to put eyes on later Tuesday morning (I’m writing the Daily at 4:30 a.m. so I can get to the WBS practice and chat with a few). Elsewhere in the Daily, the Philadelphia Flyers are stirring the NHL trade rumors with possible big-name moves, New York Islanders had a commanding lead but absolutely melted in the third period. Auston Matthews dragged his Maple Leafs team p ..read more

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson will play for Sweden during the world championship tournament in Czechia May 10-26. The announcement of his participation was made by officials of Sweden’s national team, who also made it known that two Buffalo Sabres — defenseman Rasmus Dahlin and forward Victor Olofsson — will take part in the competition for that country. Karlsson, 33, previously has represented Sweden in the Olympics, World Cup and a pair of world championships, but this will be his first international appearance since 2016. Karlsson, who was acquired from San Jose last summer ..read more

The season began as if he used a launchpad at Cape Canaveral and ended in a similar streak, but Pittsburgh Penguins center Evgeni Malkin spent most of the games between the first 10 and last 10 apologizing, conceding, and coming to grips with Father Time, who visits like an angry repo-man in the middle of the night. While the advanced statistics showed a mixed bag of consistency and decline, the eyes who watched Malkin all season, and his own, would not grade him well. Evgeni Malkin: B- His expected goals-for was his lowest full-season mark since 2018-19 (excluding his 33-game season in 2020-2 ..read more

The Pittsburgh Penguins are stacking the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins roster with prospects and recent draft picks, including the recently acquired Ville Koivunen and 2022 first-round draft pick Owen Pickering. It will be Koivunen’s second appearance in North America. He played 12 games last season for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL. The WBS Penguins of the AHL added defensemen Pickering and Emil Pieniniemi and forwards Koivunen and Cooper Foster to their roster ahead of the team’s best-of-three series against the Lehigh Valley Phantom, which begins Wednesday at Mohegan Sun Arena. Read more ..read more

Missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for the second year in a row wasn’t the Pittsburgh Penguins’ only disappointment in the 2023-24 season. Just the biggest. But for all that went wrong, all that did not go as planned, there were some positives. The relentless brilliance of Sidney Crosby’s two-way game. The consistently strong play of guys like Bryan Rust and Marcus Pettersson. The high-energy example set by Michael Bunting after he was acquired from Carolina. The late-season work of Jack St. Ivany and Ryan Shea on the No. 3 defense pairing. And then there is Drew O’Connor’s continued development ..read more

What will the Pittsburgh Penguins do this offseason to improve? WPXI’s Final Word tackled the coming Penguins offseason and Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas’s decision on the goalie tandem of Alex Nedeljkovic and Tristan Jarry. Our Dan Kingerski joined 93-7 the Fan’s Paul Zeise and the Post-Gazette’s Chris Carter with host Shelby Cassesse. And, as you can see in the picture, Dan had a little fun with the guys and kept them guessing where he was going when discussing the Pittsburgh Pirates, too. Segment One: After Kyle Dubas’s season-ending comments, how confident are you t ..read more

The NHL trade rumors are starting up again. Calgary Flames goalie Jacob Markstrom was terse following his exit interview and the rumors linking him to New Jersey were re-ignited. Dave Molinari explained how the Pittsburgh Penguins hit a home run with Michael Bunting (see what he did there?), and I delivered a tough comparison between the Penguins’ chief rival who made the playoffs and the home-bound Penguins. Elsewhere in the Daily, The Stanley Cup Playoffs were a wild bunch on Sunday that had fans at home on the edge of their seat and the home fans on their feet. New Utah Hockey owner Ryan Sm ..read more

Despite the air of optimism that came from building on the season’s stretch run which almost earned them a playoff berth, the Pittsburgh Penguins joined the bottom half of the league in watching the Stanley Cup Playoffs on television Saturday night. The team the Penguins couldn’t catch was the Washington Capitals, who claimed their entry into the big dance with an empty net goal in Game 82 against the Philadelphia Flyers, whose eight-game losing streak with 11 games to go meant they had to win in regulation for a chance at the playoffs. So, Philadelphia pulled their goalie in a 1-1 game with t ..read more

The trade, when the Pittsburgh Penguins made it, was about as popular — inside and outside the organization — as foot fungus. OK, perhaps a bit less. Not because of what president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas got from Carolina in the deal — that full value of that package might not be known for several years — but because of what he gave up. Jake Guentzel, after all, not only was productive, but was immensely popular with his teammates. Sure, they appreciated the skills that made him a reliable 30-plus goal-scorer, but also his fearlessness; although Guentzel is only 5-foot-11, 180 pound ..read more