Predictions for Each Penguins’ Player in 2024-25

With Penguins’ training camp starting in a little over a week, there is plenty to look forward to as the players arrive in Pittsburgh to begin the 2024-25 campaign.

…..

Here is a prediction for each Penguins’ player vying for a roster spot this season.

Forwards

Sidney Crosby: Crosby will register his second consecutive 40-goal season but barely break Wayne Gretzky’s point-per-game seasons record with 83 points.

Evgeni Malkin: Malkin will take a step back at five-on-five, but he will be a force on a new-look power play, scoring 14 power play goals – his most since 2017-18.

Bryan Rust: A notoriously streaky player, Rust will have a very slow start. But he’ll catch fire in the second half, registering 20 goals after the New Year on his way to a career-best 30-goal season.

Rickard Rakell: Rakell will take a few games to get his bearings, but expect a bounceback campaign. He’ll find his form again and finish the season with 28 goals and 57 points, spending time with both Crosby and Malkin again.

Michael Bunting: Bunting will be a key cog on the Penguins’ rejuvenated power play, but he will struggle a bit mid-season five-on-five and find some chemistry on the third line with Kevin Hayes and Cody Glass.

Drew O’Connor: O’Connor will see time up and down the lineup. He’ll start with Crosby and get demoted when rookie Rutger McGroarty heats up, switching between the third line and the second line for the remainder of the season. He will be the only Penguins’ forward to start on all four lines throughout the season.

Rutger McGroarty: McGroarty will break camp and make the roster, starting on the team’s third line. It will only take him 10 games to prove he’s ready to play alongside Crosby, and he’ll finish second in Calder Trophy voting while helping revive the Penguins’ once-dead power play.

Kevin Hayes: Playing an inspired brand of hockey this season, Hayes will find his game again in Pittsburgh. Having youth on his wings will lead him to regain his 2022-23 form, registering 20 goals and 52 points.

Cody Glass: Glass will start the year strong and show some promise, but ultimately, he will fade down the stretch with a lack of consistency. By the end of the season, he will be in and out of the lineup in favor of other options.

Lars Eller: Eller begins the season with the Penguins on a similar points pace to last season, upping his trade value. With the emergence of Vasily Ponomarev and the Penguins stuck in the middle of the pack, he is dealt mid-season for picks.

Blake Lizotte: By season’s end, Lizotte will be a fan-favorite. He’ll lead all Penguins’ forwards in hits, and he’ll score 12 goals to go along with it.

Noel Acciari: With the Penguins wanting to save cap space and a logjam of forwards vying for roster spots, Acciari is dealt before the end of training camp.

Valtteri Puustinen: Puustinen earns his spot on the NHL roster, but with McGroarty’s outstanding camp and subsequent roster spot, he spends a good portion of the season in the press box. He is traded along with Eller before the deadline.

Anthony Beauvillier: Earning the final forward spot on the roster, Beauvillier doesn’t see much time on the ice, but he’ll find his way into the lineup due to injury and perform better than expected.

Vasily Ponomarev: Ponomarev starts the season in the AHL, but his impressive work in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) – coupled with injury concerns at the NHL level – afford him a chance. He takes advantage and sticks around as the team’s primary fourth-line center in the second half.

Emil Bemstrom: Bemstrom begins the season on the NHL roster after Acciari is dealt, but his stint doesn’t last long. With the emergence of Ponomarev, he is waived, but he clears waivers and spends the rest of the season in the AHL.

Sam Poulin: Poulin spends most of the year at the AHL level, but he earns a mid-season call-up after a good showing in WBS. But because he is waiver-exempt, he is, unfortunately, the new Alex Nylander and is constantly caught between Pittsburgh and WBS all season long.

Jesse Puljujarvi: Unfortunately, there is simply not enough room for Puljujarvi on the roster. He is waived at the end of training camp and is picked up by the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Jonathan Gruden: See “Sam Poulin.”

Defensemen

Erik Karlsson: After a 2023-24 season of ups and downs, Karlsson’s analytics will show in the results, he’ll quarterback a vastly improved power play, and he’ll be a point-per-game player this season.

Kris Letang: While Karlsson will take a step forward, Letang will take a step back. He will evolve into a more one-dimensional defenseman, needing new partner Matt Grzelcyk to anchor down the pairing while he carries the offensive load. He’ll finish with nine goals and 45 points on the season.

Marcus Pettersson: Pettersson and Karlsson are one of the top defensive pairings in the league this season. With the Penguins on the brink of contention come deadline time, Pettersson signs a six-year, $36.6 million contract extension.

Matt Grzelcyk: Grzelcyk surprises this season, becoming the analytics darling he was just a few seasons ago. He helps anchor down the second pairing with Letang, and he registers 23 points on the season.

Ryan Graves: Although third-pair minutes take the pressure off of Graves to perform, he turns in another disappointing campaign. He spends a good chunk of the second half scratched in favor of Sebastian Aho.

Nikolai Knyzhov: Having both a Karlsson and David Quinn connection, Knyzhov breaks camp and makes the roster as the sixth d-man. He is eventually supplanted by Jack St. Ivany, as his level of play wanes as the season progresses.

Jack St. Ivany: St. Ivany impresses in camp, but his two-way contract and the defensive logjam relegate him to WBS at the start of the season. However, he earns a NHL role as the season progresses, and he sticks around for good.

Sebastian Aho: Aho secures the seventh and final defensive spot on the roster, occasionally getting spot start in favor of Knyzhov in the beginning. By the end of the season, he’s in the lineup more than Graves is.

John Ludvig: Ludvig begins the season in WBS, and although he gets the occasional stint due to injuries, he spends the vast majority of the year in the AHL.

Ryan Shea: See “John Ludvig”, although Shea will see even less NHL time than Ludvig.

Goaltenders

Tristan Jarry: Jarry starts strong but experiences struggles mid-season, so he and Nedeljkovic split time. A major goaltending injury elsewhere in the league makes another team bite on Jarry’s contract, and he is dealt more than a month before the trade deadline.

Alex Nedeljkovic: Even though his stats are middling, they begin to exceed Jarry’s. He takes the starting job once Jarry departs, but is eventually supplanted by rookie Joel Blomqvist.

Joel Blomqvist: Blomqvist earns his opportunity as the starting goaltender in the second half and leads the Penguins to a wild card berth.