Apr 3, 2025; St. Louis, Missouri, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Rutger McGroarty (2) is congratulated by right wing Rickard Rakell (67) and right wing Ville Koivunen (41) after scoring his first NHL goal to tie the game against the St. Louis Blues during the third period at Enterprise Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images Several players exploding for career years helped last season’s Pittsburgh Penguins lay waste to low expectations and the expectation of irrelevance.
Anthony Mantha filled the net like the big winger scouts and many general managers of the past had hoped. Connor Dewar stepped from the low-scoring fourth-liner shadows to help create one of the best penalty-killing units in the league and light the lamp 13 times.
Egor Chinakhov served Columbus doubters a buffet of crow, with 18 goals and 36 points in 41 games. Defensemen Ryan Shea and Parker Wotherspoon also planted their flags, earning steady NHL work after toiling on the periphery for most of their prior careers.
While Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas flashed the Midas touch and the Penguins made the playoffs, he also turned over many of the role players surrounding the Penguins’ firmly established core. This season the Penguins are again a longer shot to make the Stanely Cup Playoffs, and to win the Cup, but last year’s surprise has also raised betting expecations that Dubas can do it again Keeping the playbook, Dubas is giving another handful of players a chance to breakout just as Mantha and others did.
But like the eve of last season, there is little expected of many of the new Penguins. So which have the best chance of shedding the shackles of past limitations and seizing their opportunity?
3 Penguins Second-Chance Bets 1. Nick Robertson Robertson, 24, set the Toronto Maple Leafs’ COVID camp on its ear and excited the entire fanbase.
He was a prospect inclusion to get some experience and inclusion, but forced his way onto the team for their bubble playoff run. The spunky, aggressive winger played in four playoff games, scoring one goal, but became a captive of the stacked Maple Leafs roster, which offered little opportunity in a scoring role, and was shuttled between the AHL and NHL for the next three seasons, often relegated to bottom-six duty.
He’s got a good short, great hands, and a scoring touch, scoring 14, 15, and 16 goals in his last three seasons, respectively, though his points per game fell from .5 points per game in 2023-24, to .32 in 2024-25 and .41 last season. Toronto offered him up to the Penguins on the morning of the July 1 free-agent frenzy for a mere fourth-rounder.
His perseverance and the sunshine of a new opportunity with talented players around him make him the odds-on favorite to be the breakout newbie. Twenty goals seem quite possible, especially if he plays beside Ben Kindel.
2. Declan Carlile Much like Wotherspoon a year ago, the Penguins staff identified a lefty defenseman buried on a talented depth chart who was rock solid in limited time, but would go no further with his team.
Carlile played 42 games for Tampa Bay last season, but also spent time in the AHL before injuries created ice time for him at the NHL level. He’s not a point producer, as he had only three points (1-2-3), or a ferocious hitter, but he showed his D-zone presence with 51 hits and 38 blocks in his 42 games.
He’s also a large D-man at 6-foot-3, 190 pounds. The stat sheets might not sing his praises, but there’s a good bet his impact is felt more in team success.
3. Ville Koivunen Not every second chance needs to be from an external source.
The Penguins are not only giving Koivunen a second chance after a lost year of development last season, but they are prepared to give him eight more chances by virtue of a trend-setting eight-year, $32 million deal. The eye-popping deal was made possible by Koivunen’s offseason work.
He admitted to PHN last spring that he thought he worked hard last summer, but quickly realized that he didn’t work hard enough—and the results were sometimes painfully obvious as he was knocked around at the NHL level, scoring just two goals with seven points in 39 games. When explaining their rationale for such a surprising contract, Dubas affirmed the team was much happier with Koivunen’s summer regimen.
There is little doubt about Koivunen’s playmaking acumen, as he registered seven assists in his first eight NHL games. His offensive game is crafty and shifty, and he can be a feisty agitator who infuriates opponents.
Unfortunately, Koivunen has not yet brought that physicality to the big show. Perhaps an eight-year deal will give him the confidence to make Metro opponents seethe, or playoff rivals plot his pain.
But it is that new contract that gives Koivunen the inside track to be one of the second-chance players who claim a spot. In fact, the Penguins severely need Koivunen to break through the suffocating gaggle of NHL-worthy forwards destined for bottom-six duty because he is one of the few with genuine top-six potential.
And it would be an absolutely horrendous look to waive a player at the front end of an eight-year contract.
