Pittsburgh Penguins fantasy projections for 2026-27

As part of NHL.com's 32 in 32 series, the fantasy hockey staff ranks the top five Pittsburgh Penguins players for standard leagues and provides skater points and goalie wins projections for the 2026-27 season.

1. Sidney Crosby, F

NHL.com fantasy rank: 45

Crosby, who leads active NHL players in career points (1,761 in 1,420 games; seventh in League history), is a six-time 100-point scorer and nine-time 90-point producer. Crosby has already set an NHL record for most point-per-game seasons (21; all with the Penguins). Last season, Crosby was limited to 68 games but still had 74 points (84-game pace: 91 points) and scored at least 10 power-play goals for the third straight season. Crosby remains a fringe top 30 forward in NHL.com’s fantasy rankings at the position and one of the safest players to target in the first three or four rounds.

NHL.com point projection: 90

2. Erik Karlsson, D

NHL.com fantasy rank: 94

Since 2022-23 (past four seasons combined), Karlsson ranks fourth among NHL defensemen in points (276 in 321 games) behind Cale Makar (327 in 292 games), Quinn Hughes (320 in 302 games) and Evan Bouchard (284 in 327 games). Karlsson has an enormous fantasy ceiling (101 points in 2022-23; most by any defenseman since Brian Leetch's 102 in 1991-92) and ranked highly at his position last season in goals (15; tied for 10th), assists (51; eighth), points (66 in 75 games; eighth) and power-play points (26; tied for sixth). Karlsson remains a fringe top 15 defenseman option in NHL.com’s fantasy rankings at the position.

NHL.com point projection: 70

3. Rickard Rakell, F

NHL.com fantasy rank: 104

Since 2022-23 (past four seasons combined), Rakell is quietly the only player in the NHL with at least 100 goals (102), 700 shots on goal (777) and 400 hits (440). He was limited to 60 games last season but set NHL career highs in goals (35) and points (70) just two seasons ago (2024-25). Rakell is a perennial fantasy draft bargain and a prime category coverage target attainable outside the top 100 overall.

NHL.com point projection: 61

4. Bryan Rust, F

NHL.com fantasy rank: 105

Rust, who frequently rounds out Pittsburgh's top line with Crosby and Rakell when healthy, is another valuable category coverage player for standard fantasy leagues; he has had a career-high 65 points in each of the past two seasons, and is one of 17 players over those two seasons combined to average 0.40 goals per game (0.42), 0.90 points per game (0.91), 2.60 shots on goal per game (2.62) and 0.60 hits per game (0.68).

Rust, who quietly leads Pittsburgh in even-strength goals over the past two seasons combined (46), is another Penguins target outside the fantasy top 100 overall with a ceiling of finishing in the top 50.

NHL.com point projection: 61

5. Evgeni Malkin, F

NHL.com fantasy rank: 129

Malkin, who turned 40 years old on July 31, is coming off a bounce-back season in which he posted his highest points-per-game average (1.09; 61 in 56 games) since 2019-20 (1.35) and has averaged at least a point per game in 16 of his 20 NHL seasons. A fixture on the first power play with Crosby and Karlsson, Malkin finished with at least 20 power-play points (22 last season) for the 15th time in his NHL career. Malkin is another potential fantasy draft bargain from Pittsburgh, especially given his instant chemistry with breakout wing Egor Chinakhov (had 18 goals, 36 points in 43 games after trade to Pittsburgh last season).

NHL.com point projection: 69

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Other PIT players on preseason draft lists:

Breakout candidates: Egor Chinakhov, F (point projection: 62); Ben Kindel, F (point projection: 45)

Sleeper candidate: Arturs Silovs, G (win projection: 23)

Rookie to watch: Sergei Murashov, G (win projection: 17)

Bounce-back candidate: Andrei Kuzmenko, F (point projection: 44)

Category coverage player: Justin Brazeau, F (point projection: 42)

Deep sleepers: Tommy Novak, F (point projection: 41); Nicholas Robertson, F (point projection: 40); Samuel Girard, D (point projection: 30)