After the season ended, it didn’t take long for the Penguins to re-sign Connor Dewar to a two-year extension.
“He could’ve gone to the market, and probably done very well,” said Kyle Dubas, Pittsburgh’s President of Hockey Operations and GM. “But he wanted to be here. Different players represent the Penguins in different ways, but in his role and everything he’s about, he represents us perfectly.”
It has become an excellent fit for both sides since the Penguins first acquired Dewar from the Maple Leafs at the 2024-25 trade deadline.
Dubas called Dewar, then 25, a highly competitive player and a great teammate, and said the Penguins hoped he could bring a certain spirit to the group as they continue to work their way back towards legitimate contention. For Dewar’s part, he was looking to cement himself in this league.
Originally a third-round draft pick of Minnesota in 2018, he played parts of three seasons with the Wild beginning in 2021 before they flipped Dewar to Toronto at the deadline in 2024. He picked up one goal in 17 games and appeared in six playoff games before having offseason shoulder surgery. Dewar returned to game action that November, and was goalless in 31 games with the Maple Leafs before getting traded to Pittsburgh.
Dewar finished the season strong with the Penguins, scoring four goals in 17 games and earning a one-year contract extension in the summer.
“Things didn't really go well for me in Toronto. I came here, and found a bit of life,” Dewar said. “But I felt like I had to prove that I'm an NHL player. That was kind of my motivation this year.”
Dewar ended up having a career year with the Penguins. He continued to find the back of the net, finishing with a single-season personal best of 14 goals, before adding two tallies in six postseason games. But he said the scoring was just gravy on top of everything else.
“They gave me a role here where I felt like I was an important player every night,” Dewar said. “When that's the case, you feel confident in what you're doing, and you're able to excel as an athlete. So, that's kind of something I've been looking for my whole career, and I feel like I found that here. So, yeah, really want to stick around here and feel that every night.”
Every night, every game, every shift, Dewar brings it. Head Coach Dan Muse has said on multiple occasions that he’s never seen Dewar take even a second off, and that’s how he tries to represent the Penguins.
“I feel like as a player, when I maybe don't have my best stuff, I'm still competing every night,” Dewar said. “If I’m not feeling it offensively, I'm trying to be really good defensively, and making sure I don't hurt the team that way. So, just doing anything I can every night to contribute to a win somehow.”
Dewar developed that style of play growing up in The Pas, Manitoba, a small town a few hours north of Winnipeg. In Minnesota’s Becoming Wild series (link video), Dewar said everyone who influenced him along his hockey path preached the same message: be blue collar, and you’ll be successful.
“I feel like hockey there was a lot rougher than maybe when you go down to the city and play,” Dewar said. “We would see the same five communities every weekend at tournaments, and you had rivalries with all those teams, and you would go at it every weekend with, like, hate for every team you played against. Wanting to not just win, but demolish them. So, I think that kind of helped me learn to compete every game. You can't really take a game off.”
That mentality allowed Dewar to find chemistry alongside Blake Lizotte and Noel Acciari. They were arguably the best fourth line in hockey when all three players were healthy and in the lineup. Dan Muse and the coaching staff gave those guys regular minutes at even strength in addition to the penalty kill, instead of limiting them to just a few each night. They even got shifts in overtime.
“It takes a load off guys over an 82-game schedule, and at the same time, it keeps everyone involved and everyone's engaged in the game, and everyone can contribute that way,” Dewar said.
But when players were in and out, Dewar slotted in wherever he was needed. Most notably, he played center down the stretch when Lizotte was sidelined for the final 16 games of the regular season.
“No matter what gets thrown at him, he takes it, runs with it,” Dubas said. “He’s zero maintenance for anybody, especially for me or for the coaching staff, like Blake. And it’s great to be low maintenance, but it’s especially great when you have low maintenance players that have a great impact on the team.”
And now, at just 26 years old, the Penguins are looking forward to Dewar’s continued growth and development.
“We were excited to bring him back, and look forward to having him here for another two years, at least,” Dubas said.
