Penguins Playoff Update: Rowney on the Rise

He leads the Penguins with 50 postseason hits. To put that in perspective, it’s one more than Washington bad boy Tom Wilson dished out over the same number of games (13).

For good measure, the sandy-haired winger with the ready smile registered three assists during Game Five last Sunday to earn the No. 1 star, an honor usually reserved for bluebloods like Sidney Crosby, Phil Kessel and Evgeni Malkin.

So who the heck is Carter Rowney? Where did he come from, and how did he become an NHL rookie at an age when a lot of players are hanging up their skates, not to mention an increasingly indispensable cog on the defending Stanley Cup champions?

In many ways, his career path has mimicked that of former Pen and fellow Alberta Junior Hockey League alum Mark Letestu, an undrafted free agent who worked his way up the hockey ladder to carve out a solid NHL career.

While Letestu made his NHL debut at the comparatively callow age of 24, Rowney didn’t arrive on the scene until he was 28. Sort of makes him a latter day version of Scorin’ Warren Young, the greybeard rookie who famously notched 40 goals skating alongside Mario Lemieux back in ’84-85.

In many ways, Carter’s story is even more remarkable. For starters, he didn’t play major junior hockey in his teens. Instead, he skated for his hometown Grande Prairie Storm of the AJHL—a Junior A (second tier) circuit based in Alberta.

Although hardly a prodigy, the rangy right wing developed into the Storms’ top scorer and best player by the 2008-09 season. While Crosby was leading the Pens to a Stanley Cup that spring, Rowney hoisted a trophy, too, pacing the Storm to the Centennial Cup.

With the aid of Grand Prairie coach, Mike Vandekamp, Carter enrolled at the University of North Dakota. He started in a support role with the Fighting Hawks, a pattern that would repeat throughout his hockey career. Gradually earning the trust of coach and current Flyers skipper Dave Hakstol, he blossomed into UND’s fourth-leading scorer by his junior and senior years.

“He was our style of player,” recalled UND associate coach Dane Jackson in an interview with Brad Elliot Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald. “He wasn’t flashy, but he had a lot of good habits. He could protect the puck, go to the net, stop and start—he did all the things we value in guys. He was not always the prettiest or most dynamic, but he was smart defensively and could make plays.”

Already a bit long in the tooth at age 23, Rowney signed a two-way deal with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in 2013. He spent the majority of his first pro season with Wheeling of the East Coast Hockey League, tallying 44 points in 39 games for the Nailers.

Proving too good for “The Coast,” the rawboned 6’2” 200-pounder earned a spot with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2014-15, where he established himself as a solid citizen if not a star. However, his stock took a noticeable jump midway through the ’15-16 season, when Baby Pens teammates Tom Kuhnhackl, Bryan Rust, Conor Sheary and Scott Wilson were summoned to the ’Burgh.

Pressed into front-line duty, Rowney’s latent offensive skills emerged. Over the final 31 games of the season, he erupted for 17 goals and 16 assists—including five goals in two games. His efforts grabbed the attention of Pens GM Jim Rutherford, who signed No. 37 to a two-year deal.

Rowney made his NHL debut against Nashville on January 31. Now he’s staking out a prominent role among the Pens’ bottom six at crunch time.

“I was very grateful to have that (chance) and be able to come out here and play in the Stanley Cup playoffs and have the opportunity to help the team out,” said Carter, who also became a first-time dad last week. “To be able to contribute on the scoreboard was surreal, something I’ve been working hard for.”

His success comes as no surprise to his teammates.

“He’s a real good player, really underrated,” said Matt Murray. “He’s solid and just does his job, but you also know he can produce. I think one of his best abilities is his ability to skate for such a big guy, and he can really hit, as well. He can create some energy and some momentum on the forecheck, and he can produce, too.”