With the Stanley Cup Playoffs under way, it’s time to post my season ending Ex-Penguins Update.
The name topping the list probably comes as no surprise. Jake Guentzel thrived in his new digs in Tampa Bay, piling up 80 points while netting a career-best 41 goals. Jake’s a big reason why the Lightning have a legit shot at re-capturing the Cup.
Among the other top scorers, former Shark and current Star Mikael Granlund (22 goals, 66 points) continued his impressive resurgence. With 21 goals and 53 points, feisty Jason Zucker enjoyed a bounce-back season with the Sabres. While not as productive, Zach Aston-Reese (Blue Jackets) and Mark Jankowski (Preds and ‘Canes) experienced career revivals as well.
Proving that persistence pays, at age 31, Devils forward Stefan Noesen popped a career-high 22 goals. Jared McCann of the Kraken also potted 22 goals to go with a solid 61 points, but continues to regress as a goal-scorer following a breakout 40-goal season in 2022-23. Acquired by the Pens from Florida in the same 2019 trade as McCann, Nick Bjugstad likewise tumbled from 22 goals to eight for Utah.
Perhaps the biggest drop of all was experienced by erstwhile sniper Daniel Sprong, who managed just two goals while skating for three teams after scoring 39 over the previous two seasons.
Leading the point parade among expatriate defensemen, the Habs’ Mike Matheson produced six goals and 31 points. With 29 points split between the Pens and Canucks, Marcus Pettersson was runner-up.
Between the pipes, Wild starter Filip Gustavsson (2.56 GAA, .914 SV%) and Stars backup Casey DeSmith (2.59 GAA, .915 SV%) were the top performers. Gustavsson notched a goal as well.
A special call-out to Nathan Légaré, who made his NHL debut with the Devils, and Marc-André Fleury, who continued to wow ‘em and prank ‘em in his final NHL season.
Adieu, Flower, and thanks for all the marvelous memories…and the Cups!
Penguins This ‘n’ That
I was saddened to learn that Seattle fired former Pens’ coach Dan Bylsma after one season at the helm. Although extremely popular with his players and the media, the Kraken (35-41-6, 76 points) obviously didn’t get the results they’d hoped for under the upbeat skipper.
In other Kraken news, GM Ron Francis was booted upstairs to president, with former Pens associate GM (and Sabres GM) Jason Botterill stepping in as his replacement.
| SCORING | ||||||||
| Player | Team | Pos | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM | +/- |
| Guentzel | TBL | LW | 80 | 41 | 39 | 80 | 24 | 18 |
| Granlund | SJS-DAL | C | 83 | 22 | 44 | 66 | 28 | 0 |
| McCann | SEA | RW | 82 | 22 | 39 | 61 | 18 | 8 |
| Zucker | BUF | LW | 73 | 21 | 32 | 53 | 57 | 4 |
| Noesen | NJD | RW | 78 | 22 | 19 | 41 | 54 | -8 |
| Smith, R. | NYR-VEG | RW | 79 | 13 | 27 | 40 | 24 | 10 |
| Bunting | PIT-NSH | LW | 76 | 19 | 19 | 38 | 68 | -19 |
| Gaudreau | MIN | C | 82 | 18 | 19 | 37 | 8 | -2 |
| Staal | CAR | C | 75 | 13 | 23 | 36 | 16 | 15 |
| Rodrigues | FLA | C | 82 | 15 | 17 | 32 | 38 | -4 |
| Poehling | PHI | C | 68 | 12 | 19 | 31 | 16 | -4 |
| Matheson | MTL | D | 80 | 6 | 25 | 31 | 51 | -6 |
| Pettersson | PIT-VAN | D | 78 | 4 | 25 | 29 | 45 | 6 |
| Pearson | VEG | LW | 78 | 12 | 15 | 27 | 8 | 4 |
| Blueger | VAN | C | 82 | 8 | 18 | 26 | 39 | -7 |
| Beauvillier | PIT-WSH | LW | 81 | 15 | 10 | 25 | 14 | 2 |
| O’Connor | PIT-VAN | LW | 84 | 10 | 15 | 25 | 34 | -16 |
| Ceci | SJS-DAL | D | 85 | 4 | 20 | 24 | 24 | 6 |
| Eller | PIT-WSH | C | 80 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 36 | -5 |
| Tanev | SEA-WPG | LW | 79 | 10 | 12 | 22 | 16 | -12 |
| Glass | PIT-NJD | C | 65 | 6 | 16 | 22 | 16 | -5 |
| Dumoulin | ANA-NJD | D | 80 | 3 | 19 | 22 | 14 | -1 |
| Sundqvist | STL | C | 67 | 6 | 14 | 20 | 32 | -6 |
| Bjugstad | UTA | C | 66 | 8 | 11 | 19 | 16 | -2 |
| Määttä | DET-UTA | D | 77 | 2 | 16 | 18 | 16 | 7 |
| Jankowski | NSH-CAR | C | 60 | 12 | 5 | 17 | 33 | 4 |
| Aston-Reese | CBJ | RW | 79 | 6 | 11 | 17 | 27 | -15 |
| Oleksiak | SEA | D | 82 | 4 | 13 | 17 | 34 | -2 |
| Cole | UTA | D | 82 | 1 | 16 | 17 | 77 | -2 |
| Perron | OTT | LW | 43 | 9 | 7 | 16 | 12 | -7 |
| Kapanen | STL-EDM | RW | 67 | 6 | 8 | 14 | 16 | -22 |
| Marino | UTA | D | 35 | 1 | 13 | 14 | 2 | 1 |
| Kulikov | FLA | D | 70 | 4 | 9 | 13 | 38 | 12 |
| Hinostroza | NSH-MIN | C | 38 | 5 | 5 | 10 | 10 | 2 |
| Puljujärvi | PIT-FLA | RW | 31 | 4 | 6 | 10 | 25 | -1 |
| Rutta | SJS | D | 54 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 28 | -3 |
| McGinn | ANA | LW | 26 | 4 | 4 | 8 | 0 | 1 |
| Petry | DET | D | 44 | 1 | 7 | 8 | 16 | -2 |
| Lafferty | BUF | C | 60 | 4 | 3 | 7 | 28 | -15 |
| Sprong | VAN-SEA-NJD | RW | 30 | 2 | 5 | 7 | 2 | -1 |
| Harkins | ANA | C | 62 | 2 | 4 | 6 | 21 | -13 |
| Johnson | CBJ | D | 41 | 0 | 6 | 6 | 2 | -13 |
| Gudbranson | CBJ | D | 16 | 0 | 4 | 4 | 6 | 1 |
| Desharnais | VAN-PIT-SJS | D | 51 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 45 | -9 |
| Gustavsson | MIN | G | 58 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | |
| Smith, T. | CAR | D | 8 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 4 | 1 |
| Bortuzzo | UTA | D | 17 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 22 | -2 |
| Ludvig | COL | D | 8 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 6 | -4 |
| Reaves | TOR | RW | 35 | 0 | 2 | 2 | 28 | -2 |
| Caggiula | EDM | LW | 7 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 5 | 0 |
| DeSmith | DAL | G | 27 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Ruhwedel | NYR | D | 5 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| Domingue | NYR | G | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Fleury | MIN | G | 26 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | |
| Friedman | VAN-NSH | D | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 | -4 |
| Légaré | NJD | RW | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -1 |
| Murray | TOR | G | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| Nylander, A. | TOR | LW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -1 |
| Sheary | TBL | LW | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | -2 |
| Tokarski | CAR | G | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | |
| GOALTENDING | ||||||||
| Player | Team | Pos | GP | GA | SH | GAA | SV% | W-L-OT |
| Domingue | NYR | G | 1 | 2 | 0 | 2.00 | .926 | 1-0-0 |
| Tokarski | CAR | G | 6 | 13 | 1 | 2.18 | .902 | 4-2-0 |
| Gustavsson | MIN | G | 58 | 146 | 5 | 2.56 | .914 | 31-19-6 |
| DeSmith | DAL | G | 27 | 65 | 2 | 2.59 | .915 | 14-8-2 |
| Fleury | MIN | G | 26 | 68 | 1 | 2.93 | .899 | 14-9-1 |
| Murray | TOR | G | 2 | 7 | 0 | 3.54 | .879 | 1-1-0 |
| Italics indicates a Penguins draft pick or a free agent who began his career with the Penguins. | ||||||||
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