Looking at Pittsburgh's 2025.26 Opening-Night Roster

The Penguins made their opening-night roster official on Monday going into the 2025.26 season opener on Tuesday against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden (**see it here**).

"I think everybody is well prepared. Everybody's ready to go," Erik Karlsson said. "Obviously, the guys you haven't seen that much have obviously done a good job and deserve to be here, because it's been a very competitive camp. And I know that the coaching staff has been working hard in getting to know everybody and watch everybody and give everybody an opportunity to showcase their skillset. I think everybody's excited that we're finally playing tomorrow, and no better place to do it than at MSG."

The other day, we went in-depth on some of the roster decisions, including teenagers Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke being in the mix, the group of young players reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and Ryan Graves being placed on waivers. Now, we're examining how this group of 23 has shaped up.

LINES

These are the forward trios and D-pairings the Penguins used at practice on Monday:

Rakell-Crosby-Koivunen

Mantha-Malkin-Brazeau

Novak-Kindel-Tomasino

Dewar-Lizotte-Acciari

(Hallander)

Wotherspoon-Karlsson

Shea-Letang

Jones-Brunicke

(Clifton-Dumba)

INJURIES

First, we should note who is currently sidelined. The team announced on Oct. 2 that star winger Bryan Rust, who recorded a career-high 31 goals last season, will miss a minimum of two weeks. Promising young forward Rutger McGroarty is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury, but did recently start skating on his own. Forward Kevin Hayes, defenseman Jack St. Ivany, and goaltender Joel Blomqvist are also unavailable due to injury.

FORWARDS

Dubas felt this group, headlined by Hall of Famers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, was in a good spot – particularly after calling up McGroarty and Ville Koivunen at the end of last year. Koivunen finished with seven assists in his first eight NHL games, and will likely start this one alongside the captain and Rickard Rakell – who led the team with 35 goals last season. He’s a veteran who has plenty of jump under this new coaching staff, as does Noel Acciari, who appears to have lost some weight over the summer and looks good.

Koivunen is one of three rookies in this group, along with 11^th overall pick Ben Kindel (more on his training camp here) and Filip Hallander. Originally a 2018 second-round pick of the Penguins, Hallander played in three NHL games with Pittsburgh between 2021-23 before ultimately returning home to Sweden for family reasons. He is coming off an excellent season with Timra IK of the Swedish Hockey League. The 24-year-old established career highs in goals (26), assists (27) and points (53) and was plus-16. Hallander’s 26 goals and 53 points both ranked second in the entire SHL.

The Penguins did add some size. Anthony Mantha, 6-5 and 240 pounds, has been feeling good after missing most of last season with a knee injury. “He’s a great player. He’s fast and has long stick. He’s physical, he can score, he can do everything,” Malkin said. “I’m glad we signed him. I think he not have confidence last couple of years, as well. I hope we all better here, and if we play same line, I do my best to help him and I hope we have good chemistry together.”

Mantha has been lining up on Malkin’s left, while Justin Brazeau (6-6, 232 pounds) has seen time on his right. Brazeau’s confidence is high after starting to take his game to the next level.

As for the players who are more in between, Phil Tomasino had an excellent preseason, finishing with five points in five games. The 24-year-old has plenty of talent and potential, and looks primed to have a good year. He came over from Nashville last November, while Tommy Novak arrived at the deadline. He got injured after playing just two games in black and gold, and missed the remainder of the season. “I’ll just try to stay consistent every day and try to carve out a role where they can rely on me,” Novak said. Finally, it will be exciting to see what Connor Dewar, another trade deadline acquisition, can do over the course of a full season.

DEFENSE

At the end of last year, Dubas said that improving the team’s defense, specifically on the left side, was a major focus.

“We’ll be very active in terms of giving guys an opportunity that maybe haven’t got it elsewhere and maybe giving a bunch of guys a good opportunity instead of going after one big fish,” Dubas said. “As we’ve talked about and gone through what’s going to be available during our pro scouting meetings, that’s sort of the route we feel is smartest for us to take right now. That will be our focus.”

That has resulted in a number of new faces joining returnees Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson and Ryan Shea on the blue line going into the season opener, with Ryan Graves being re-assigned to WBS.

“It was competitive, and we just felt like the eight that are with us, this is the group that we feel like is going to give us the best opportunity to start the season the way we want to,” Muse said.

Since there are many, here is a brief overview of each one.

Parker Wotherspoon

After spending the last two seasons with the Boston Bruins, he signed a two-year contract with the team and played alongside Karlsson throughout training camp.

“We've been working together. He's been helping me a lot along the way, just talking to me, telling me what he wants, and how we can work together better,” Wotherspoon said. “That's what's nice about Karl. He’s super easy to talk to, which is huge.”

The 6-1 defenseman said he plays aggressive, plays hard, and tries to be as physical as possible. He is hoping to build on how he finished last season.

READ: Parker Wotherspoon Ready to Bolster Blue Line

Caleb Jones

The younger brother of Seth Jones was maybe more of an under-the-radar signing, and has quietly earned a spot with Pittsburgh to start this season, just as he had hoped.

“I just felt like the opportunity to go in and kind of be a regular guy every night and really fully be established was something too good to pass up,” said Caleb, who has 248 games of NHL experience and 181 games of AHL experience. “I had a lot of communication with management and the coaches, and I just felt really good about the opportunity I was going to have.”

He has been paired with Kris Letang, who said Jones’ skating is what stands out the most.

“I can just play a good 200-foot game, move pucks well, defend hard, be physical, and chip in on offense every once in a while,” Jones said. “Just try to really push the pace and speed up our game as a two-way defenseman.”

READ: A Family Built for Pro Sports

Connor Clifton

Listed at 5-11 and 192 pounds, Clifton has always played bigger than his size. The New Jersey native has skated in parts of seven NHL seasons split between Buffalo and Boston since 2019, and led his team in hits each of the last three campaigns.

“That's kind of how I've always played. And working to get to the next level, it was always a big part of my game,” Clifton said. “I feel like I outcompeted my way to the NHL with that sort of style, and that’s what's going to keep me there.”

However, Clifton is the first to say that the last two seasons have been a struggle. He hasn’t been satisfied with his play, and is looking to rediscover what makes him successful.

“I think my game, it's kind of been at a standstill. It was a lot of mental battles along the way, healthy scratches... I got that call that I'm going to be a Pittsburgh Penguin, I was really excited for the change of scenery,” Clifton said. “I want to get back to my old self and how I play, and the impact that I have on the game... you just try to simplify and be who you are.”

READ: Clifton Looking to Rediscover His Best Game in Pittsburgh

Harrison Brunicke

He was right on the cusp of making the team as an 18-year-old. After one more season of growth and development, he has earned the right to be on this roster.

For Brunicke, his mindset has been simple in taking each day as it comes. While his offensive skills and instincts have always been there, the rangy defenseman has seen improvement in his 200-foot play.

“I’m kind of changing that into more of a pro style instead of taking more risks or holding onto the puck too long, things like that,” Brunicke said. “It’s really just playing more of a pro game, keeping it more simple, and taking opportunities when I can.”

READ: Harrison Brunicke Balances Confidence, Growth in Big Year

Matt Dumba

Dumba was selected by Minnesota with the seventh overall pick in 2012, when Pittsburgh hosted the draft. After being traded to the Penguins from Dallas over the summer, Dumba is excited to be back where it all started.

“It's kind of crazy to think that it was that many years ago,” he said. “I think my family actually did a segway tour, but I wasn't a part of that. I remember seeing the pictures. We also went on the ferry, which is really cool just to see the skyline of the city and pass through the yellow bridges. I thought that was really cool. It was my first experience in Pittsburgh. Even the drive in, you get onto that bridge and come into the city, I just think that's pretty special every time I come to the city. Now I kind of think back to that, and how it’s pretty cool being here and playing here.

Dumba, now a veteran of over 700 NHL games, is an offensively gifted blueliner that can contribute on the power play. Dumba has hit the 10-goal plateau four times and the 30-point plateau twice.

“I just want to bring a lot of intensity, the passion I have for the game, intangibles, and show that I trust my instincts, my skills, and that I can make plays, too,” Dumba said. “I think we are such a skilled group, and we need players who have a lot of poise.”

GOALTENDING

The Penguins will start the season with a tandem of Tristan Jarry and Arturs Silovs, with Sergei Murashov being assigned to WBS.

Jarry, a two-time NHL All-Star entering his 11^th season in black and gold, is coming off the most difficult campaign of his pro career. After two stints in WBS, he returned to the NHL in early March and finished on a high note: putting up an 8-4-2 record and securing two shutouts. He stumbled out of the gate, so, “I think just having a better start and kind of growing from that momentum,” Jarry said.

Meanwhile, Silovs is thrilled to have an opportunity to play after being part of a three-goalie rotation in Vancouver. The Penguins acquired the 24-year-old goalie, still technically a rookie, after he led Abbotsford to a Calder Cup championship and was named Playoff MVP. He’s shown the ability to rise in big moments, and now, it’s about finding consistency throughout the course of a season.

READ: Following Setbacks, Jarry Focused on Growth

READ: Silovs Built for Big Moments

This feature was written by Michelle Crechiolo and Brandon Karafilis