If you were looking for areas of strength for the Penguins heading into the 2025-26 season, you wouldn’t be looking at the back end or the goaltending. And even then, using the term strengths might be overshooting it. Being middle of the road is about where the ceiling lies these days. For the Penguins wingers, that’s exactly where they are, for now
The issue with viewing the Penguins’ winger depth as a potential strength is that their best two players in this group aren’t likely to be around. Throughout the entire summer, the prospect of moving Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell has been looming.
Pittsburgh Penguins (T4) – Admittedly, veteran trade targets like Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell are holding this grade up a fair bit, but the trade rumours will likely continue as the Penguins eyeball a broader organizational rebuild. Rakell is signed through the 2027-28 season and Pittsburgh is a much better team with him on the ice than not, but a cost-controlled top-six forward could snag a bit of a fortune if moved in-season or at the trade deadline. Notably, Rakell is coming off a 35-goal, 35-assist season in a down year for Pittsburgh – both of those numbers, by the way, were career highs.
For a moment, let’s treat both players like they are going to be on the team for the entire season. If Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust get to play together with Sidney Crosby, there is little doubt they will be a bona fide top line in the league despite the advancing ages of each of the three players. This is a known commodity, and I feel confident they would continue to find success in the upcoming year. At the very least, fans would be treated to a quality NHL product each time that line stepped onto the ice.
Help For Geno
For the first time in a while, Evgeni Malkin might be feeling some love with the quality of teammates he has access to. Ville Koivunen came onto the scene last year and right away looked the part. He has quality instincts with the puck and a smoothness to his game. He is the most promising in-house prospect the Penguins have had since Jake Guentzel. While he isn’t likely to have the goal-scoring prowess of Guentzel (not many do) he will have the potential to be a quality top-six winger for the Penguins moving forward.
In his 21-year-old season, he had 56 points in 63 games with the Baby Penguins. In his eight NHL games, he produced seven assists. This upcoming year, he will be almost guaranteed to pot his first NHL goal.
On the other side, you have new Penguin Anthony Mantha, who is coming off a lost season in which he tore his ACL. He signed a one-year $2.5M contract, where he will be able to attempt a bounce-back season while playing in a top-six role. In 2023-24, he put up 23 goals in 74 games. He has the potential to accomplish that bounce-back season, which might ultimately lead to him being dealt away just like the other veteran wingers already mentioned
Big Year For McGroarty
The other intriguing winger on the depth chart is Rutger McGroarty who Kyle Dubas deliberately targeted and moved Brayden Yager for. McGroarty had an adjustment season last year. He needed some time to get acclimated to the pro game. After starting the season with the big club, he was placed in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to polish up his game. He had a slow start down there, and it wasn’t until late November that he started to gain traction.
In the 48 games, once he found his footing, he put up 13 goals and 36 points. He is going to get another opportunity to show what he has at the NHL level and could potentially make the jump as an NHL regular. If he sticks around, there are likely a few top six spots for him to compete for. The 2025-26 season is going to be a big year for his development on whether he is going to track towards being an impactful player at the highest level or if he will become a regular depth guy.
Rounding Out The Rest
The Penguins are returning a group of wingers who have been with the team. This group includes Noel Acciari, Danton Heinen, Connor Dewar, Philip Tomasino, and, depending on the night, Kevin Hayes. For me, the most interesting player in the group is Philip Tomasino, who is entering his age-24 season and flashed some skilled moments during last season. He has the potential to provide the Penguins with some third-line depth offense, and he is entering the prime ages of his career.
Some growth is still possible, and it remains to be seen what that can look like. He will have the chance to showcase his growth on a team like the Penguins, who will be able to give him ice time; perhaps other teams wouldn’t be willing to.
Justin Brazeau is new to the Penguins and is coming over from his stints with the Minnesota Wild and Boston Bruins. He’s likely to provide competent fourth-line minutes where he is able to tread water on the possession front and chip in a little bit of offense. He is what I would consider a tweener between being a quality fourth-line player and a lower-end third-line player. Brazeau has a cap hit of $1.5M each of the next two seasons.
For now, the Penguins’ winger depth is good enough to put them in the middle of the pack. However, it is very unlikely that this group is going to be together for a meaningful sample size. Trades are likely to happen, and then the group will ultimately slide into the lower tiers, just like the defense and goaltending.
