Healthy Novak Looking to Carve Out Role with Penguins

Dan Muse and Tommy Novak actually go way back, to the forward’s days playing high school hockey at St. Thomas Academy in Minnesota.

“There was a year with USA Hockey, at the summer festivals, I had actually coached him one summer for a week when he was young,” Muse recalled with a laugh.

At the time, Muse - named Pittsburgh's head coach in June - was on Yale’s coaching staff.

“At that time, it was just cool, college coaches were around us and stuff,” Novak said. “So, I remember him, like, oh, the Yale coach is here. So, I vaguely remember that. I also remember he had a distinct voice on him. So, I remember him fairly well from those days, which is kind of funny.”

Muse said the throughline of Novak’s game from then to now is hockey sense, ability to read plays, and versatility.

“He's a player that I don't think there's any kind of a panic threshold,” Muse said. “There’s just great poise when he has the puck, and he can make things happen in tight spaces. He's got a great defensive stick. He puts himself in good positions there defensively and is in a position there not just on offense, but also on defense, be able to be really dangerous in transition.”

Those are big reasons the Penguins acquired Novak from Nashville at last year’s trade deadline, along with his overall ability to create offense, which he called his strongest asset. Before coming to Pittsburgh, Novak recorded 49 goals, 68 assists and 117 points in 201 career games with Nashville after debuting in 2021. He set career highs in goals (18), assists (27) and points (45) in 2023-24.

The original plan, said Penguins President of Hockey Operations and GM Kyle Dubas, was to play Novak with Evgeni Malkin. Unfortunately, Novak got injured after playing just two games in black and gold, and missed the remainder of the season.

“It was a bit of a whirlwind, finding out I got traded and then I joined the team on the road, and I ended up being hurt by the time we came back to Pittsburgh,” Novak said. “It was a little bit frustrating, for sure, just wanting to get off to a good start with the organization. This summer was a good time for me to reset and get ready.”

Novak was on crutches for the first part of the offseason before returning to skating, training, and taking care of his new dog.

“Me and my girlfriend got a new puppy,” Novak said with a smile. “His name is Manny. He’s a Golden Retriever puppy, he’s four and a half months now. Taking care of him, got him in July. So yeah, that was the big thing this summer, for sure.”

Going into the final game of the preseason, Novak had picked up a goal and an assist in three appearances. While he feels okay, there is still work to do.

“I think I'm just getting my legs under me every game a little bit more,” Novak said. “I think it can be hard, just haven’t played hockey in quite a while with the injury last year. So, I think it's getting better every game. I'm trying to just put a full 60 together. And yeah, I think there's been progress. So, I think it's on the uptrend.”

His mindset for this season overall is continuing to work on his overall game, carve out a role and keep pushing forward.

“I have had stretches in this league where I’ve been really good and maybe had some stretches where it’s not gone my way,” Novak said. “But I’ll just try to stay consistent every day and try to carve out a role where they can rely on me and I can be here for a while.”