Conor Timmins Says He’s Happy to Be With Penguins. Really.

CRANBERRY — Conor Timmins has plenty of reason to be sour about the abrupt turn his career — heck, his entire life — took last Friday.

That’s when Toronto, a team with serious Stanley Cup aspirations, traded him to the Penguins, who won’t compete for much beside their slot in the NHL draft lottery during the balance of this regular season.

It’s when he was discarded by the club for which he had rooted as a child.

When he effectively was consigned to spending the rest of his 2024-25 season in hotels, whether he’s playing at home or on the road, after having been working in comfortable, familiar surroundings.

But while it would be tough to fault him for being upset with how things went for him as the NHL trade deadline approached, Timmins, 26, was adamant after the Penguins’ practice at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex Wednesday that he is pleased to be playing here now.

“I see big things happening here in the future,” he said. “Obviously, there’s a great core that’s been in place for a long time. For a young guy like myself, there’s a lot of opportunity to help add to this team, so I’m really excited.”

Although trade speculation sometimes seems to be the primary fuel on which the NHL operates, there had been little, if any, talk about Toronto parting with Timmins.

That changed, however, when the Maple Leafs needed to clear salary-cap space to facilitate the addition of center Scott Laughton and defenseman Brandon Carlo, which is why they donated Timmins and forward Connor Dewar to the Penguins for a fifth-round draft choice.

“I wasn’t really expecting it, to be honest,” Timmins said. “I knew our team had some cap trouble, so we had to do something if we were going to add to our team. … You never really expect it to happen, until it happens.”

When it did, Timmins’ official ties to the team that had been his favorite while growing up in St. Catharines, Ontario were severed.

He said he wasn’t fanatical in his boyhood fandom, but allowed that “I had some shirts and some jerseys and stuff” and cited defenseman Tomas Kaberle as his favorite player.

Kaberle averaged over 23 minutes of playing time during his 14-season career. Timmins wasn’t nearly that busy during his first two games with the Penguins, averaging just 11 minutes, 15 seconds, which is down considerably from the 16:19 he averaged in 51 games with Toronto.

Some of that might have to do with easing him into a new system, but having Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson ahead of him on the right side surely is a factor, too. Those two rank first and second on the team at 23:35 and 23:19, respectively.

Sharing a locker room with them means Timmins has little hope of rising above the No. 3 pairing, at least in the short term, but he said that’s not an issue for him.

“Those are great players ahead of me,” he said. “I’m going to try to learn from them as much as I can. I’m not really looking at depth charts and things like that. I’m just trying to grow my game.”

That’s been Timmins’ objective since he entered pro hockey as a second-round draft choice by Colorado in 2017. He was traded to Arizona in 2021 and a little more than a year later, the Coyotes sent him to Toronto, which sparked a predictable reaction.

“It was exciting,” Timmins said. “It was nice to get the opportunity, at the time. To go home, live close to family and friends and play for the team I grew up rooting for was exciting. But that chapter is closed, and I’m excited to be here. I’m really looking forward to the future.”