Investing in Matt Grzelcyk Has Paid Off for Penguins

Mike Sullivan had some pretty high expectations for Matt Grzelcyk when Grzelcyk signed with the Pittsburgh Penguins as a free agent last summer.

And in a season when more than a few individual performances have been disappointing — if not downright disastrous — Grzelcyk has managed to give the Penguins what they were looking for.

Maybe even a bit more.

“I think (Grzelcyk) has been a great addition to our team,” Sullivan said after practice Monday at PPG Paints Arena. “It’s everything we’d hoped we’d get when we signed him.”

Grzelcyk has one goal and a career-high 34 assists — he never had more than 22 in seven full seasons in Boston — in 75 games this season, giving him more points than any Penguins defenseman except Erik Karlsson.

“His greatest attribute is his ability to move the puck,” Sullivan said. “I think we see that every night when he plays, whether it’s on breakouts (or) on our counters. He distributes the puck well on the power play. He passes the puck extremely well. We knew that was his greatest attribute, and that’s really helped our overall game.”

Grzelcyk is averaging 20 minutes, 27 seconds of ice time per game — third-most among Penguins defensemen, behind Kris Letang and Karlsson — including 122 seconds on the power play, where he usually mans the point on the No. 2 unit.

And while Grzelcyk has a negative plus-minus rating for the first time in his NHL career, his minus-8 is the best among defensemen who have been with the team for the entire season.

All of which helps to illustrate why Grzelcyk doesn’t second-guess his decision to accept the one-year, $2.75 million contract the Penguins offered him after his deal with the Bruins expired in 2024.

“I can’t say enough about the opportunity I’ve been given here,” he said. “I’m very thankful for it.”

He acknowledged that he had “probably a little slower start to the year than I would have wanted,” but is generally pleased with how it has played out after a trying 2023-24 in Boston for him.

“I just wanted to come in and reestablish some confidence,” he said. “I feel like I’ve done that over the past 50 games or so.”

Grzelcyk has solidified his credentials as a top-four defenseman this season and that, combined with the paucity of capable left-shot defensemen expected to be unrestricted free agents this summer, figures to get him a lot of attention if he goes on the market this summer.

The Penguins presumably will make trying to retain him a priority, since Owen Pickering, currently with their farm team in Wilkes-Barre, is the only other left-side defenseman on the organizational depth chart who seems qualified to handle operating on one of the top two pairs.

And while there apparently have not been any serious contract negotiations with the Penguins yet, sticking with them seems to be Grzelcyk’s preferred option.

“I guess I haven’t thought about (signing) anywhere else,” he said. “I love my time here so far. It’s an older, veteran group that has won and has a ton of experience, so that was one of the things that attracted me here. I just love the city of Pittsburgh, in general. I have a lot of good memories here.”

Mind you, Grzelcyk isn’t likely to be a unanimous choice for the Norris Trophy anytime soon. He’s undersized (5-foot-10, 180 pounds) for the position, which means there’s always a danger of being overpowered by bigger, stronger opponents, although he plays a bit bigger than he actually is.

“He competes hard on the defensive side of the puck,” Sullivan said. “He’s not the biggest guy out there, but he’s a fierce competitor. … He values defense.”

As much as the Penguins appear to value all that Grzelcyk has given them this season.