Four Possible Penguins Career-Highs to Watch

After an offseason of different sorts of acquisitions and short-term contracts, it will undoubtedly be a divergent sort of Pittsburgh Penguins season than those of the previous 19. They are no longer the team to be feared, with a general manager on the prowl for splashy trades involving top-tier talent.

Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas is eager to return to that level, but first, he is sowing his field with draft picks and prospects rather than suitcases full of cash for big-name free agents to supplement the Penguins’ core three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.

In the absence of adding All-Star-caliber players, numerous players will be called upon to fill more significant roles than they’ve filled before.

1. Drew O’Connor: Goals

O’Connor was the choice to fill Jake Guentzel’s departed left-wing spot on the Penguins’ top line beside Sidney Crosby and right-wing Bryan Rust.

Last season, O’Connor’s progression from a borderline NHL player to a fourth-liner to a top-six winger was linear and straight up. O’Connor kept climbing the lineup, in part based on need but in larger part because he began to figure out the offensive side of the game. He learned to play with the puck instead of tossing it like a hot potato, learned to use his speed to get to loose pucks, and to pressure defensemen in the low zone. O’Connor also learned how to play with some of the greatest offensive players in hockey history.

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound forward scored more goals last season (16) than he had in the previous three seasons combined (8).

He projects to remain with Crosby this season and should set career highs in goals and points. His size and speed provide Crosby’s line with a complementary player who should easily eclipse 20 goals.

Is 25 possible?

2. Matt Grzelcyk, Points

It’s not often a 30-year-old is primed to set career highs in nearly every offensive category, yet that is exactly the situation in which Grzelcyk finds himself.

The left-handed defenseman could very well find himself in the Penguins top four. Grzelcyk has never before scored more than five goals and 26 points, but if he’s skating beside Letang or Erik Karlsson, surpassing that total should be well within reach.

If assistant coach David Quinn decides the power play needs two defensemen, Grzelcyk would be the guy.

Thirty points in the Penguins’ uptempo pressure system should be possible.

3. Michael Bunting, Goals

Bunting scored 23 goals in consecutive seasons (2021-22, 2022-2023) with the high-powered Toronto Maple Leafs lineup. In 21 games with the Penguins last season, he scored six goals with 19 points in 21 games.

He provided far more of a charge to the Malkin line than simply putting your tongue on a 9V battery. He was a lightning bolt willing the puck to Malkin’s stick and offensive zone possession.

Bunting’s Penguins pace would have put him on track to approach his career high in goals. Thge gut feeling here that Bunting’s energy and gritty game is a catalyst for the Penguins season.

25 goals? 50 points?

4. Alex Nedeljkovic

Nedeljkovic won 18 games last season and came close to his personal best of 20 wins, which he set with the 2021-22 Detroit Red Wings. However, Nedeljkovic was 20-24-9 that season.

He has a real chance to improve on the 20 wins this season as a 1A-type goalie with Tristan Jarry. Coach Mike Sullivan is not one to reveal goaltending plans or schedules. The blanket quote is, “Whoever we feel gives us the best chance to win.”

Yet his praise of Nedeljkovic and giving him the net in the final 15 games last season speaks volumes to Sullivan’s view of him.

Read More: Penguins Notes: The Nedeljkovic Effect; Locker Room Mood

Nedeljkovic signed a two-year, $5 million contract in June. He appeared in 38 games last season and could very well play in a similar number or more this season.

22 or 23 wins?

PHN wants to thank our friends at SinBin Vegas for the blog idea.