Impossible is the task is projecting the Pittsburgh Penguins starting lineup.
There are almost assuredly more trades coming, and those trades will unlikely be one-sided deals sending Penguins veterans one way purely in exchange for future assets. The only thing for certain that we can predict is the uncertainty.
However, as the Penguins approach mid-July, general manager Kyle Dubas has had the Draft and July 1 opportunities to continue remaking the roster, and the results have thus far centered on a few first-round picks rather than exits or acquisitions.
As currently constituted, the Penguins have too many forwards and too many defensemen, and perhaps not enough goalies ready for the big show.
For the purpose of projection, we are going to assume that Erik Karlsson is not a Penguins defenseman on opening night. That is not based on inside intel, but mere appearance.
Read More: Gauging Erik Karlsson’s Trade Value
Also, goaltending is quite hard to predict because the easy thing to project is Joel Blomqvist being the backup to Tristan Jarry. However, Blomqvist’s mid-season meltdown when called up to the NHL was troubling. He didn’t just give up too many goals–as all Penguins goalies did–but he was picked apart by shooters. And allowed too many soft goals, too.
Blomqvist has struggled over the last two years when the spotlight has been on him; in the 2024 AHL playoffs with an NHL spot riding on his performance, and last season when the job was his following the team placing Jarry on waivers.
He projects as the backup, but Dubas might be advised to have a veteran such as Alexander Georgiev on a PTO or weasel a cheap deal from former Vegas Golden Knights goalie Ilya Samsonov.
While not stacking wins will have benefits for the 2025-26 Penguins, losing games because of poor goaltending can be demoralizing, and there’s no reason to subject young players to a game in which their efforts are wasted.
However, to put a finer point at the end of the projections for the campaign, the goal is NOT to tank, though Dubas is also under no obligation, nor is it his objection to build the best team possible. There is a middle ground between spending assets for a few meaningless wins and tanking. That canyon of compromise between the two is digging for players who could be diamonds in the rough, giving players a chance to step out of the shadows, and inserting young players into the lineup.
Drop your projections in the comments below.
Projected Pittsburgh Penguins Lineup
Rickard Rakell-Sidney Crosby-Ville Koivunen
Rutger McGroarty-Evgeni Malkin-Bryan Rust
Danton Heinen-Tomas Novak-Anthony Mantha
Connor Dewar-Blake Lizotte-Noel Acciari
13th forward: Philip Tomasino
First Call Up: Tristan Broz
Demoted: Joona Koppanen, Justin Brazeau.
Wild Card: Filip Hallander. He essentially announced at mid-season that he would return to North America, so it would be unreasonable to assume he was promised an NHL spot to return. He could push his way into the top nine or be sent down to WBS for a bit more work.
Also, we don’t know where Kevin Hayes fits. He could be a third-line LW or waived.
Acciari and Heinen are needless veterans in the lineup that the team should clear. However, until they do, they’re in the lineup.
Defense
Owen Pickering-Kris Letang
Parker Wortherspoon-Harrison Brunicke
Ryan Shea-Connor Clifton
7th & 8th D: Jack St. Ivany, Ryan Graves
Demoted: Alex Alexeyev. Matt Dumba.
Inflection points: The Penguins could recoup more draft picks if they are able to reclaim the best of Dumba. However, it’s been several years, and it shouldn’t be expected. Alexeyev needs to play hockey, and he’s an ideal candidate to get heavy minutes and responsibility in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Wild Card: Will Graves be better with a new system, or will we see the tentative problematic defenseman who has essentially played his way out of the NHL despite a six-year contract with a $4.5 million salary cap hit?
I think the Penguins have reasons to keep Shea in the lineup, primarily because he’s been the most steady left-sider still under contract. However, he has size, a little bit of aggression, and some offensive ability. It’s time to take the training wheels off, not put him on the right side out of necessity, and let him reach his potential, whatever that might be.
When pen hits paper, it’s impossible not to put Brunicke in the lineup.
Goalies
Tristan Jarry
Joel Blomqvist
First Call Up: Sergei Murashov.
In fact, we think Murashov could be ready to take the Penguins’ net by mid-season, very much in the same way that Matt Murray once shoved aside everyone else and took the net.