Forgotten Lineup Options for Penguins Rebuild; Are They Good Enough?

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas has been building a highway for wayward forwards from Nashville to Pittsburgh, and those friends in low places might be the new foundation of the bottom of the Penguins’ lineup.

It would seem the Penguins’ top-six forwards are set. Rookies Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen made such an impression in their limited run at the end of the season that they figure to be firmly installed beside centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

As of now, Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust are fixtures, too. So, the top of the lineup is full.

But what about the third line? The fourth?

As Dubas builds out his 2025-26 roster, there are plenty of players capable of bottom-six roles, but few options with reliable production or even quality.

Blake Lizotte performed well in his fourth-line role this season, but the rotating cast of characters around him has as many negatives as positives. Any could be with the team next season, or just easily not.

• Noel Acciari was a warrior who played injured and still blocked more than 100 shots, a rarity for forwards. However, he had little activity on the offensive side of the rink.
• Danton Heinen is a capable NHL player, but remains remarkably unremarkable.
• Connor Dewar had a little offensive pop when he first arrived from Toronto after being acquired with Conor Timmins at the NHL trade deadline, but was goalless in 31 previous games in Toronto. He’s speedy but small, very generously listed at 5-foot-10, 192 pounds.
• Kevin Hayes did little to distinguish himself with his second chance after the St. Louis Blues shed his salary on the Penguins along with second and third-round picks. In 64 games, Hayes had 23 points, including 13 goals. However, 10 of Hayes’s points were power-play points (4-6-10), which were a big help to the revitalized power-play units, but his 5v5 production was poor.
• Tomasino, 23, was the second of the non-physical Nashville cast-offs, following Cody Glass. After a hot start to his Penguins career in November, when Tomasino netted three goals in his first five games, he scored just eight in his next 45 games despite significant top-six minutes. Tomasino fought against himself to be tougher on the wall, harder in the defensive zone, and a better forechecker.

At best, Tomasino is a work in progress. Former coach Mike Sullivan pushed him to become a reliable third-line scorer, but never dished a lot of praise on the results, only the effort in the process. After four NHL seasons, how much further Tomasino progresses might be down to small steps.

There are also multiple prospects waiting to join the list of potential bottom-six players, beginning with Vasily Ponomarev, who looked tentative in seven scoreless NHL games this season.

Tristan Broz has been on the rise since turning pro in April of 2024. The Penguins’ 2021 second-round pick has been adding layers to his game since the University of Denver’s David Carle thrust him into the middle out of necessity in the second half of the 2023-24 NCAA season. Denver won the National Championship, in part because Broz netted a couple of overtime winners in the NCAA tournament.

Broz continued his growth as a center with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. But is he ready? Is he capable of the third-line center role in the NHL?

The question marks won’t be removed until the player removes them with his performance.

Read More: Character Revealed: Penguins Prospect Analysis in Heartbreaking Loss (+)

The options to fill out the bottom of the lineup begin with those passengers on the Nashville expressway. What retired Nashville Predators GM David Poile acquired, Dubas has been syphoning from current Nashville GM Barry Trotz in the form of Cody Glass, Philip Tomasino, and Tommy Novak. The former two were Nashville draft picks that Dubas coveted as the GM of the Toronto Maple Leafs, but he wasn’t able to get his hands on them until those players faded in Nashville, and the Penguins had space to offer second and third chances.

The first foray into taking on Nashville scraps worked well. Glass raised his stock enough with his performance in Pittsburgh that Dubas was able to flip him at the 2025 NHL trade deadline to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for a package including a 2027 third-round pick and a 2021 first-round pick (Chase Stillman). The final tally of assets that Glass brought to the Penguins was two third-rounders and Stillman, who still has some NHL potential, too.

Not a bad haul for Glass.

But as Dubas builds out the roster for the 2025-26 NHL season, and transition from the championship core to whatever comes next lies ahead, Nashville could figure prominently, or … not at all.

While Dubas might have eyes on 2027 or 2028, the players and whoever Dubas tabs as the next Penguins coach will still have desires to win every game.

And so with the cadre of bodies with fourth-line skills, completing the trio will depend as much on how the new coach configures his team. However, there’s still a big hole in the Penguins’ lineup. Who will be on the third line?

Forgotten Options: Novak & Hallander

Dubas acquired Tommy Novak and Luke Schenn at the NHL trade deadline in a deal with Nashville for Michael Bunting. Draft picks also changed hands. Schenn quickly expressed his desire to play for a contending team and was shipped to Winnipeg in exchange for a second-round pick.

While Schenn never played for the Penguins, Novak only played 26 more minutes in a Penguins sweater than Schenn. A lower-body injury the team initially thought would keep Novak out day-to-day ended up claiming the remainder of Novak’s season.

He played just two games with the Penguins, not earning a point.

Novak is a natural center, but played left wing beside Evgeni Malkin and Tomasino in only two Penguins games. A new coach will have flexibility, but is Novak good enough to rely on?

Novak’s point per game total has dropped in each of his three NHL seasons, from .84 in his rookie year when he popped for 43 points in 51 games, to .64 in his sophomore season when had 45 points in 71 games, and finally down to .4 last season when he had 22 points in 54 games.

Worse, Novak got the horns from Trotz after the trade.

“When he was a fourth-line, league-minimum guy and scoring while getting some sheltered minutes, that fit him just fine,” Trotz told Nashville reporters. “When you move up the lineup, it’s harder to find your space and be productive. If you want to move up the lineup and get paid more, there’s more responsibility.”

So, what do the Penguins have in Novak? No one yet knows. He is a willowy 6-foot-1, 179-pound center with hockey smarts and some speed, but a near lack of any physicality.

In 203 career games, Novak has delivered 24 hits, not more than nine in any of his three-plus seasons.

The other under-the-radar option to bolster the middle nine or third line is former, now again, Penguins prospect Filip Hallander.

The 24-year-old forward finally had his breakout season. Six years after being the Penguins’ 2024 second-round pick, and two years after leaving North America to return home to Sweden, Hallander finally showed his breadth of skills.

In 51 Swedish Elite League games, Hallander registered 53 points, including scoring 26 goals. The cautious and tentative player flashed elite-level skating as finishing ability. It takes only a few seconds of watching Swedish highlights to see him zip past defenders, making them look like bystanders.

Hallander is NHL-sized (6-foot-1, 190 pounds) and has experience in North American games for his two seasons with the WBS Penguins. The Penguins retained Hallander’s rights by submitting a qualifying offer when he went back to Sweden, and have signed him to a two-year deal with an annual cap hit of only $775,000.

Hallander is a left wing and could be the offensive contributor the team desperately needs on the third line.

Based on the current options for the third line, there could be some offensive contributions, just don’t expect much physicality. Perhaps Dubas will address that, too.