Television analyst Mike Rupp won’t be back on Penguins broadcasts this season.
The former NHL winger confirmed Monday that he will not return for a third season as color analyst on SportsNet Pittsburgh.
Rupp, Colby Armstrong and Phil Bourque rotated in as color analysts with play-by-play man Josh Getzoff on television broadcasts the last two seasons. Bourque and Joe Brand were the primary radio broadcast team last year.
SportsNet Pittsburgh also uses a large array of studio analysts, including Jay Caufield, Tyler Kennedy, Matt Bartkowski, Ryan Malone, Craig Patrick and Max Talbot.
Neither SportsNet Pittsburgh, which handles the television broadcasts, nor the team, which handles radio broadcasts, has announced a full lineup yet for this season, which begins Oct. 7.
Rupp, 45, will continue in his role as an analyst on NHL Network and will also work on New Jersey Devils games for MSG Network. Rupp played 11 seasons in the NHL from 2002-14, including two with the Penguins from 2009-11.
The team’s cast of announcers has undergone significant changes since Fenway Sports Group bought the team in 2021.
In 2023, Steve Mears and Bob Errey were dropped from television broadcasts, with Getzoff moving to the TV booth and Mears moving to radio. In 2024, Mears was hired to do television with the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Penguins brought in Brand.