4 Penguins Who Could Surprise In 2025-26

It’s no secret that the expectations for the Pittsburgh Penguins aren’t exactly sky-high this season. The team is somewhere in the midst of a rebuild, and there is uncertainty regarding the futures of several players on the roster.

But even if much isn’t looking up for the Penguins this season, there could be a few players who could exceed expectations.

Here are four Penguins’ players who could surprise in 2025-26.

Novak, 28, was acquired from the Nashville Predators prior to the 2025 trade deadline as part of the deal that sent forward Michael Bunting the other way. Unfortunately, Novak only played in two games post-deadline for the Penguins until a lower-body injury ended his season.

Now, he has the chance to carve out a pretty important role in the lineup.

Novak has amassed 49 goals and 117 points in 203 career NHL games, and he is a reliable two-way presence. The Penguins have long-needed a third-line center, and Novak could fit that bill. He could even skate alongside Evgeni Malkin and bring some defensive conscientiousness to that line as well as some playmaking ability.

Either way, there is some potential for Novak to break out offensively in a bigger way this season. His best NHL season was 2023-24 with Nashville, when he recorded 18 goals and 45 points in 71 games. Don’t be too surprised to see Novak hit career-highs in production, especially if he skates alongside Malkin.

Under-The-Radar Penguins To Watch In 2025-26
The Pittsburgh Penguins enter the 2025-26 season having gone three straight seasons without qualifying for the playoffs, and it appears likely to become four unless they exceed expectations. 

Wotherspoon was signed to a two-year, $2 million free agent contract this summer. Previously with the Boston Bruins, the 28-year-old blueliner has done a fairly good job in a bottom pairing role through parts of three NHL seasons, routinely shutting down the opposition and occasionally throwing punches.

Yes, that has been in mostly bottom-pair, sheltered minutes. But Wotherspoon will have a real chance at fitting into a bigger role in Pittsburgh, which could help or hurt him.

Although it’s fair to wonder whether playing minutes that he’s not accustomed to or built for will minimize his effectiveness and expose flaws in his game, it’s just as fair to wonder whether he can take full advantage of icing those minutes and unlocking more from his game – especially if he is going to be playing alongside the likes of high-risk defensemen in Erik Karlsson or Kris Letang.

The 2025-26 season is a big test for Wotherspoon, so it will be interesting to see if he can take the reins and become a reliable top-four shutdown presence for the Penguins.

Penguins New Defenseman Is Intriguing Addition
The Pittsburgh Penguins have had themselves a busy 2025 NHL off-season. They have brought in several new players to their roster this summer as they continue their retool. 

Perhaps no battle in training camp – or during the regular season – will be quite as interesting as the one between the pipes.

With Alex Nedeljkovic traded to the San Jose Sharks this summer, it looked for a minute as if Tristan Jarry and rookie Joel Blomqvist would jockey for the NHL starting position. But then, the Penguins went out and acquired Arturs Silovs from the Vancouver Canucks, and all of that changed.

Up to this point, his NHL career has been a bit rocky. Silovs, 24, has appeared in 19 NHL games and has posted a 3.13 goals-against average and an .880 save percentage. He did have a gutsy run in the playoffs for the Canucks in 2023-24, though, but his 2025 Calder Cup run in the AHL is really what got people talking.

The 6-foot-4, 203-pound Latvian netminder went 16-7 with five shutouts, a 2.01 goals-against average, and a .931 save percentage to lead the Abbotsford Canucks to their first-ever Calder Cup this season. Silovs was dominant, and it continued the narrative of him being able to come up big when the games matter most.

And, boy, do the Penguins ever need that guy in net. Silovs may just be the starting goaltender by season’s end, and he has a chance to separate himself from everyone else for now – including some talent between the pipes in the Penguins’ farm system.

Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2025: New Penguins’ Goaltender On Verge Of Breakout
Heading into the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins have shifted the focus to youth and development.

Let’s not stretch the truth too much here. But Dewar could, potentially, be a really solid bottom-six player for the Penguins.

The 26-year-old left wing was brought over from the Toronto Maple Leafs – along with defenseman Conor Timmins, who was dealt to the Buffalo Sabres on draft day this summer – and did far more in 17 games with the Penguins last season than he did in 31 games with the Leafs.  He registered four goals and seven points after recording just three assists with the Leafs, and he found himself in different spots in the Penguins’ lineup.

Dewar isn’t going to be an overly productive player. That’s just not who he is. But Penguins’ fans were already a bit enamored with Dewar in a short sample size last season, and even if he doesn’t score at that same pace, he does a lot of other things away from the puck that make him valuable. And that’s why GM and POHO Kyle Dubas brought Dewar back after non-tendering him as an RFA.

He’s speedy, he’s tenacious, he’s relentless, and he drives the net. The Penguins need this kind of energy guy in their lineup, and he could very well attach a bit more offense to his already-strong defense this season depending on where he’s deployed.

What Will The Penguins’ Bottom-Six Look Like This Season?
If one thing is for certain when the Pittsburgh Penguins open training camp a month from now, it’s that they have a whole lot of players in the mix for precious few spots on the roster.

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