Ex-Penguins Update: Final 2023-24

With the 2023-24 campaign in the books and not much else to report, I thought it would be an opportune time to publish my season-ending Ex-Penguins Update.

The player topping the list hardly comes as a surprise. Thanks to an extraordinary finish following his trade to Carolina (a whopping eight goals and 25 points in only 17 games) Jake Guentzel led all ex-Pens with 30 goals and 77 points.

Seattle sharpshooter Jared McCann was second in both goals (29) and points (62). Quickie quiz. Which Penguins GM past or present actually left McCann unprotected in the 2021 Expansion Draft? If you answered Kyle Dubas, then with Toronto, you’re correct.

Sharing the runner-up spot in points? The Canadiens’ fleet defenseman Mike Matheson amassed 11 goals and an ex-Pen leading 51 assists, good for 62 points. He also had the second-worst plus-minus (minus-24) among the expatriates. Well behind fellow rearguard and former second-round pick Calen Addison (minus-38), who split the season with the Wild and Sharks.

The next player listed I confess brings a smile to my face. Excoriated during his brief stay in the ‘Burgh, Mikael Granlund tallied a highly respectable 60 points in 69 games for a woeful Sharks squad, including 48 assists. Perhaps former GM Ron Hextall wasn’t totally off his rocker for acquiring “Granny” after all.

Another feel-good story? Defenseman Jack Johnson (pictured) enjoyed a solid season for the Avs (plus-15) while resurrecting his career and reputation at age 37.

Other notable performers included the Coyotes’ Nick Bjugstad (22 goals, 45 points) and Danton Heinen, who parlayed a PTO into a 17-goal season and middle-six duty with the Bruins. Evan Rodrigues didn’t score a ton for the Panthers (a dozen goals), but he provided his trademark speed, hustle and versatility, not to mention 39 points and a 58.27 Corsi. E-Rod led all former Pens with a plus-26.

Mark Jankowski revived his career with the Predators thanks to his solid two-way play. Speedy Ryan Poehling likewise did a decent job centering the Flyers’ fourth line.

Trending downward? Jason Zucker plummeted from 27 goals to 14 while splitting time with the Coyotes and Preds. (Still love ya’ “Zucks.”) Devils’ defender John Marino was among the league-leaders in 5v5 goals against (71). Ever the enigmatic underachiever, Kasperi Kapanen managed just six goals for the Blues, Frédérick Gaudreau five following two strong seasons with the Wild. Conor Sheary (four goals) struggled to produce for the Lightning.

Between the pipes, a triumvirate of former Pens goalies…the Canucks’ Casey DeSmith and Marc-Andre Fleury and Filip Gustavsson of the Wild…each posted a sub-.900 save percentage.

SCORING
Player	Team	Pos	GP	G	A	PTS	PIM	+/-
Guentzel	PIT-CAR	LW	67	30	47	77	22	25
McCann	SEA	LW/C	80	29	33	62	31	-10
Matheson	MTL	D	82	11	51	62	58	-24
Granlund	SJS	C	69	12	48	60	32	-23
Perron	DET	LW	76	17	30	47	55	-12
Bjugstad	ARI	C	76	22	23	45	59	11
Sprong	DET	RW	76	18	25	43	22	-5
Rodrigues	FLA	C	80	12	27	39	34	26
Noesen	CAR	RW	81	14	23	37	33	11
Heinen	BOS	LW	74	17	19	36	28	16
Zucker	ARI-NSH	LW	69	14	18	32	81	-9
Staal	CAR	C	80	10	20	30	44	-14
Poehling	PHI	C	77	11	17	28	6	-11
Blueger	VAN	C	68	6	22	28	31	4
Schultz	SEA	D	70	7	19	26	22	-23
Gudbranson	CBJ	D	78	6	20	26	74	-14
Ceci	EDM	D	79	5	20	25	14	12
Marino	NJD	D	75	4	21	25	41	-6
Lafferty	VAN	LW/C	79	13	11	24	32	4
Petry	DET	D	73	3	21	24	39	-7
Kapanen	STL	RW	73	6	16	22	14	-5
Sundqvist	STL	C	71	6	15	21	32	-6
Kulikov	FLA	D	76	1	19	20	63	15
Rutta	SJS	D	69	5	14	19	38	-21
Määttä	DET	D	72	4	14	18	14	14
Addison	MIN-SJS	D	72	1	16	17	72	-38
Tanev	SEA	LW	66	7	9	16	51	2
Dumoulin	SEA	D	80	6	10	16	20	3
Johnson	COL	D	80	3	13	16	38	15
Nylander	PIT-CBJ	LW	28	11	4	15	6	-1
Jankowski	NASH	C	32	7	8	15	8	11
Gaudreau	MIN	C	67	5	10	15	12	-23
Sheary	TBL	LW	57	4	11	15	12	-3
Oleksiak	SEA	D	82	2	13	15	37	-2
Pearson	MTL	LW	54	5	8	13	21	-12
Cole	VAN	D	78	2	9	11	61	10
Goligoski	MIN	D	36	0	10	10	18	-8
Reaves	TOR	RW	49	4	2	6	49	-13
Bonino	NYR	C	45	1	4	5	8	-12
Phillips	PIT-WSH	RW	31	1	4	5	0	-3
Ruhwedel	PIT-NYR	D	52	1	3	4	4	-6
McGinn	ANA	LW	24	1	2	3	4	-5
DeSmith	VAN	G	29	0	1	1	0
Fleury	MIN	G	40	0	1	1	4
Friedman	VAN	D	23	0	1	1	21	4
Gustavsson	MIN	G	45	0	1	1	0
Aston-Reese	DET	LW	3	0	0	0	2	0
Bortuzzo	STL-NYI	D	27	0	0	0	27	0
Domingue	NYR	G	1	0	0	0	0
Hellberg	PIT-FLA	G	3	0	0	0	0
Megna	BOS	C	1	0	0	0	0	0
Pouliot	DAL	D	5	0	0	0	0	-1
White	PIT-MTL	C	28	0	0	0	4	-5
GOALTENDING
Player	Team	Pos	GP	GA	SH	GAA	SV%	W-L-OT
Domingue	NYR	G	1	1	0	1.00	.962	1-0-0
Hellberg	PIT-FLA	G	3	5	0	2.50	.922	1-0-0
DeSmith	VAN	G	29	80	1	2.89	.895	12-9-6
Fleury	MIN	G	40	111	2	2.98	.895	17-15-5
Gustavsson	MIN	G	45	129	3	3.06	.899	20-18-4
Italics indicates a Penguins draft pick or a free agent who began his career with the Penguins.