Blake Lizotte Can Be ‘Heartbeat’ of Penguins When They Need it

Ladies and gents, in a bit of a delayed introduction to the Pittsburgh Penguins, we give you center Blake Lizotte, who seems to have just what the team and its fans have been clamoring for.

Just not with a big name. Or a big stature.

Lizotte, who signed as a free agent July 1 after the Los Angeles Kings did not extend him a qualifying offer, brings youth – at 26, he should be right around his prime – and speed and energy and some snarl.

And maybe an “it” factor. Just dig on what he said he could bring to the Penguins.

“I think I bring a little more youth and some energy to kind of give – I don’t know what you want to call it – a heartbeat or some life to the games. I think that’s what I do well,” Lizotte said Thursday in a virtual interview session with Pittsburgh reporters.

“When we maybe don’t have our A game, I tend to bring players into the game, whether it be with tenacity or speed or forechecking or whatever that might be. I have a tendency to kind of drag players who maybe don’t have it that night into the game. For me, bringing it to Pittsburgh, that will be key.”

It did not seem as though Lizotte was bragging. After all, he’s not an intimidating brute. He was undrafted, is listed at 5 feet 9, 172 pounds and was not a top priority for the Kings after playing 320 games for them.

Add in the fact that after a career season in 2022-23 of 81 games, 11 goals, 31 points, he slipped last season to seven goals and 15 points — no doubt in part because he missed more than a month because of a lower-body injury – and Lizotte can be expected to show up for training camp next month not with a chip on his shoulder but with the enviable wisdom of exactly what the best version of his NHL self looks like.

Lizotte said as far back as junior hockey with the Fargo Force and then in two seasons with St. Cloud State he knew he was not going to be a highly skilled offensive force as a pro. So he developed his game accordingly.

“Not being a really high-sought-after prospect, and it’s always been a part of my game, to play with intensity and play rough and kind of give it everything you have to win a battle and eventually, hopefully to win a game,” he said. “It kind of came to me naturally to play the game that way.”

He also figured only the very elite could get by on skill. He pointed to Penguins captain Sidney Crosby as being in that category but also someone who decidedly doesn’t simply rely on his skill.

“As a young player, you’re looking at the league thinking, OK, my odds of being that skill player are a zillion to one,” Lizotte said. “I had to bring something to the table that other people maybe aren’t willing to do, especially as an undersized guy.

“As I realized that’s probably was going to be my path to the NHL, I really worked to kind of craft that way of play and that play style.”

Although the contract he signed – two years at $1.85 million per season – would indicate the Penguins expect him to earn a spot in the lineup, Lizotte will have to work for it.

Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, of course, man the top to center spots.

“Down the middle, those top two guys aren’t moving. Nor should they ever move,” Lizotte said.

In the bottom six, there are returning centers Lars Eller and Noel Acciari, newcomers Kevin Hayes and Lizotte, and perhaps competition from some prospects.

That logjam at center could mean Lizotte gets a look on the wing just as Eller might, although Penguins president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas said he sees Lizotte as a center.

Lizotte played wing his first couple NHL seasons and has filled in there at times the past couple seasons.

“It actually excites me to potentially have a chance to be on the wing,” he said. “I think you’re able to focus a little more on the offensive zone, which I think is exciting.”

Reality is that the competition on the wings could be as intense or nearly as intense at center.

None of that daunts Lizotte.

“I think it’s a great fresh slate and new people that I’m not familiar with,” he said of joining the Penguins, his first time changing organizations as a pro. “It will be all new, which I think is exciting and fun and re-energizes my love for the game.”

He and his wife, Abby, both Minnesota natives, even embrace the idea of leaving the warm climate and hustle and bustle of Tinseltown.

“LA is a great organization. I have nothing bad to say about them, and I’m thankful for my five full years with them,” Lizotte said. “My wife and I loved it out there.

“But I think for us, in terms of living, away from the rink, we’re excited about somewhere that’s a little more midwestern. Believe it or not, we’re really excited to have snow again in our day-to-day, and just a little slower pace of living.”

But not a slower pace on the ice.