It was yet another predictably disappointing season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, who showed flashes without ever looking like a serious postseason contender.
There were some standouts, to be sure, but the Penguins never had a chance of reaching the Stanley Cup playoffs because so many of their big names were disappointing.
We grade by taking expectations into account. Just because someone might get a higher letter grade than Sidney Crosby, for example, doesn’t mean that player is better at the game of ice hockey than Crosby. It just means Crosby possesses an entirely different set of expectations.
Away we go …
Forwards
Sidney Crosby: A
That’s another classic Crosby season in the books. He produced 91 points in 80 games and, remarkably, played at a higher level after the 4 Nations Face-Off, when he was injured and surely fatigued.
We won’t give Crosby an A-plus because he wasn’t great, by his standards, in the first half of the season. Let’s not be picky, though. He was the best player in the league in the final two months of the season. He remains a top-10 player in the NHL, maybe closer to top five. Seriously, who is better at the moment? Connor McDavid, sure. Leon Draisaitl, yeah. Nathan MacKinnon and Cale Makar? That’s fair. Nikita Kucherov? I suppose so. To me, that’s it.
Those guys aren’t 37, going on 38. Crosby is. The man is remarkable.
Rickard Rakell: A
Talk about rebounding nicely. Rakell struggled badly in the 2023-24 campaign. One season later, he produced career highs with 35 goals and 70 points. He was so very consistently good all season.
Bryan Rust had five game-winning goals this season. (Justin Berl / Getty Images)
Bryan Rust: A
Rust managed a career high with 31 goals. He’s a great penalty killer, and he and Crosby are the team’s greatest leaders.
The veteran loses his no-trade clause July 1. He doesn’t have anything to worry about.
Rutger McGroarty: B+
He played only a few games, but I’m giving him this grade on account of the stunning improvement we saw from October until now. He’s going to be a good one.
Ville Koivunen: B+
Speaking of which, how can you not like this kid? His playmaking ability really sticks out. The way he reads plays and sees the ice is extremely impressive. He’s going to be, at worst, a good middle-six winger, with the potential to be so much more.
Connor Dewar: B
The early returns are good. He fit in nicely with the Penguins. He seems to understand how to be a bottom-six player, which is rare on this team — and needed.
Boko Imama: B
Imama isn’t terribly talented, but you can’t deny the energy or physicality he brings to the lineup. I love him. He made a positive difference more than a negative one, as far as I’m concerned. Great dressing room guy, too.
Evgeni Malkin: B-
I had a difficult time with Malkin’s grade.
• He turns 39 in July, so we can’t grade him as though he were the Geno of old. Now he’s just old Geno.
• He largely cut down on the turnovers and bad penalties that often plague his otherwise brilliant game.
• Malkin’s linemates were poor most of the season. He didn’t have the luxury of playing with Rust or Rakell often.
So, on some level, we can feel sympathy for Malkin. Then again, he scored only 16 goals in 68 games. His 0.24 goals per game is by far the worst total of his career. Every once in a while, he flashes one of his trademark moves or an illustration of his greatness. But the truth is, though he’s still a perfectly fine No. 2 center, we’re watching a great player at the end.
Blake Lizotte: B-
Very solid first year in Pittsburgh. Surround him with better linemates and he’s a very good, albeit undersized, fourth-line center.
Philip Tomasino: C
He has talent. Almost all of his goals were of the pretty variety, and six of the 11 were game winners. But this is a player who needs to learn the finer aspects of the game. He’s a classic case of a skilled guy who doesn’t do the little things well enough.
He’s only 23, so he has time to figure it out.
Kevin Hayes: C
Hayes still has some offensive touch, but he didn’t help the Penguins much this season. His lack of foot speed isn’t going to improve and is a problem.
Danton Heinen: C
He doesn’t stink at all. He’s also not particularly good at anything. He’s the NHL’s most average player. He’s Danton Heinen.
Noel Acciari: C-
I admire his toughness and grit, but his horrible skating makes him a problem.
Matt Nieto: D
Great guy, nice career. He’s about done.
Tommy Novak: Incomplete
Novak played in five periods for the Penguins, so I can’t exactly gauge him yet. He has a pair of hands and some wheels. Is he willing to play a more physical game and go to the net with more regularity? That will determine how good a fit he is.
Defensemen
Ryan Shea: B
He’s a solid-looking player who keeps getting better every season. Nothing special, nothing flashy. But there’s some substance there. And that’s precisely what the Penguins need.
Matt Grzelcyk: C
Grzelcyk did a fine job on the power play (15 points) but otherwise isn’t overly valuable. He’s just kind of a guy who just kind of had a season.
Conor Timmins: C
What I’ve seen of him, I like. He’s a perfectly solid No. 3 pairing defenseman.
Erik Karlsson, left, and Evgeni Malkin have had better seasons. (Gary A. Vasquez / Imagn Images)
Erik Karlsson: D
The talent is so mesmerizing. So are the outrageous errors.
He’s a future Hall of Famer, an offensive savant. I’ll never take that away from him. But he’s not a winning player. His acquisition was a worthy experiment that has gone terribly wrong.
Kris Letang: D
I respectfully acknowledge Letang’s surgery earlier this week even though the Penguins have assured us he wasn’t plagued by health concerns this season. It wasn’t a good season for Letang. He’s still effective in certain roles, but he’s receiving too many minutes these days (23:32 per game), and his decision-making has probably never been worse. Father Time is methodically catching up with his unparalleled skating.
Ryan Graves: D
I would suggest he showed marginal improvement at times this season. That doesn’t mean the Penguins should play him next season if they’re serious about winning. He’s just not good. It’s the worst free-agent signing in Penguins history.
P.O Joseph: D
He’s just not physical enough to be a regular NHL defenseman. I’d be surprised if he’s back in Pittsburgh next season.
Jack St. Ivany: D
Majorly disappointing season for St. Ivany, who was so good down the stretch last April.
Vladislav Kolyachonok: Incomplete
There is talent there, but the coaching staff didn’t seem particularly enamored of him.
Owen Pickering: Incomplete
It was a solid trial run earlier this season, and his future looks bright at the NHL level.
Goaltenders
Alex Nedeljkovic: D
He was solid the season before, but this was a bad season in every way for the veteran.
Tristan Jarry: D+
It was a terrible season for Jarry, though he deserves credit for his performance during the past month. Still, the future seems awfully murky for him.
Joel Blomqvist: C
He has a future as an NHL goalie, but he’s not ready quite yet.
(Top photo of Sidney Crosby: Steph Chambers / Getty Images)