A Pittsburgh Penguins Guide to the 2023-24 NHL Playoff Teams

For the second consecutive year, the Stanley Cup Playoffs will not include the Pittsburgh Penguins. However, while Pittsburgh may have missed the cut, there are 21 former Penguins in the postseason. So, without further ado, here is a ranking of all 16 playoff teams... based on how many former Penguins they have on their active roster. In the case of a tie, GPwP (Games Played with Pittsburgh) will be the tie breaker.

16-12: No Penguins

There are five playoff teams with no former Penguins on their active roster: the Dallas Stars, Los Angeles Kings, Vegas Golden Knights, Washington Capitals, and the Winnipeg Jets.

11. Edmonton Oilers

The one former Penguin with the Edmonton Oilers is defenseman Cody Ceci. Ceci played 53 games with Pittsburgh, and had 17 points— four goals and 13 assists. He also played in six playoff games, and recorded two assists.

10. New York Islanders

In 2007, the Pittsburgh Penguins drafted defenseman Robert Bortuzzo with the 17th pick in the 3rd round (78th overall). Bortuzzo played 113 regular season games in a Penguins uniform, and recorded 20 points— four goals and 16 assists. He also appeared in 13 playoff games, and provided two assists. On March 2nd, 2015, Pittsburgh sent Bortuzzo to the St. Louis Blues along with their 7th round pick in 2016 for defenseman Ian Cole.

9. Boston Bruins

Winger Danton Heinen is the only Boston Bruin who has previously played in Pittsburgh. Heinen suited up in 141 games for Pittsburgh, scored 26 goals and provided 29 assists. He also appeared in seven playoff games, and scored three goals.

There is one more slight Boston/Pittsburgh connection: Penguins Head Coach Mike Sullivan's daughter is married to Bruins star defenseman Charlie McAvoy.

8. Colorado Avanalche

The Colorado Avalanche have one former Penguin, defenseman Jack Johnson. Johnson played 149 games for Pittsburgh, scored four goals and recorded 20 assists. He also played in seven playoff games. Johnson's contract was bought out on October 5th, 2020.

7. Tampa Bay Lightning

The only former Penguin on the Tampa Bay Lightning roster is Conor Sheary. In his two stints with the Pittsburgh, Sheary played a total of 192 games and recorded 97 points: 49 goals and 48 assists. He appeared in 61 playoff games, scored six goals and provided 15 assists. Sheary was a part of the back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning teams, and scored the overtime winner in Game 2 of the 2015-16 Stanley Cup Finals.

6. New York Rangers

Defenseman Chad Ruhwedel was sent to the New York Rangers for a 4th round pick at this year’s trade deadline, and is the only former Penguin on their roster. Ruhwedel was a Penguin for eight years, played in 326 games, and recorded 47 points— 13 goals and 34 assists. He also suited up for 25 playoff games, and was part of the 2016-17 Stanley Cup winning team.

5. Florida Panthers

The Florida Panthers have two former Penguins on their roster; the first is swiss army knife forward Evan Rodrigues. Rodrigues played 124 games for the Penguins, scored 27 goals, and provided 31 assists. Rodrigues played in nine playoff games and put up six points: three goals and three assists.

Defenseman Dmitry Kulikov is the second former Penguin playing for the Panthers. Kulikov was part of the cap dump trade that sent Brock McGinn to Anaheim at the 2022-23 trade deadline. He played all of six games in a Penguins sweater, and recorded one assist.

4. Nashville Predators

The Nashville Predators have two former Penguins on their roster: Jason Zucker and Mark Jankowski. Zucker played 172 regular season games in a Penguins sweater and put up 95 points— 50 goals and 45 assists. He appeared in 15 playoff games, scored four goals, and provided three assists.

Jankowski— the second and final former Penguin playing in Nashville— suited up for 45 games with Pittsburgh. He scored four goals, and recorded seven assists.

3. Toronto Maple Leafs

The Toronto Maple Leafs have three players on their roster with ties to the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. The first is goaltender Matt Murray, who the Penguins drafted in the 3rd round of the 2012 draft at 83rd overall. Murray played 199 games in Pittsburgh, posting a record of 117-53-19, with 2.67 GAA and a .914 SV%. Murray played in 51 playoff games, with a record of 29-21, 2.18 GAA, a .921 SV%, and was crucial to their back-to-back cups. The Penguins traded Murray to Ottawa on October 7th, 2020, Jonathan Gruden and a 2nd round pick in the 2020 draft (Joel Blomqvist). Murray underwent bilateral hip surgery prior to the 2023-24 season, and has not since been activated from Long-Term Injured Reserve.

The second former Penguin in Toronto is forward Ryan Reaves, who played 58 games with Pittsburgh, and had four goals and four assists. Reaves was dealt to Vegas as part of the three team trade at the 2017-18 trade deadline that sent Derrick Brassard to Pittsurgh.

The final former Penguin in Toronto never played a game in Pittsburgh. The Penguins selected defenseman Jake Muzzin with their 5th round pick in 2007 (141st overall), but he went unsigned, and re-entered the 2009 draft. He wasn’t selected, but later signed his entry-level contract with the Los Angeles Kings. Muzzin played eight seasons in Los Angeles before being traded to Toronto.

2. Carolina Hurricanes

The Carolina Hurricanes have three former Penguins on their roster, the first being center Jordan Staal. Pittsburgh drafted Staal 2nd overall in the 2006 NHL draft, and that 1-2-3 punch of Crosby, Malkin, and Staal down the middle was what lead them to win the Stanley Cup in 2009. Staal played 431 games in a Penguins uniform, and recorded 248 points- 120 goals and 128 assists. He played in 73 playoff games, recording 23 goals and 13 assists. Staal was traded to Carolina at the 2012 NHL draft for defenseman Brian Dumuolin, forward Brandon Sutter, and the 8th pick overall pick (Derrick Pouliot).

The second former Penguin playing in a Hurricanes sweater is winger Stefan Noesen. Noesen scored 22 points in 22 games for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins before signing a two-way contract with the Penguins. He scored a goal in his Penguins debut on 12/4/2019, and was placed on waivers five games later.

The third former Penguin in Carolina is winger Jake Guentzel. Guentzel was drafted in the 3rd round (77th overall) by the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2013. He played 503 games in a Penguins sweater, scoring 219 goals and providing 247 assists. More impressive, however, are his postseason stats. In the playoffs, Guentzel is a point-per-game player; in 58 games, he has 34 goals and 24 assists. Guentzel was traded to the Hurricanes at this year’s trade deadline for Michael Bunting, three prospects, and two conditional 2024 draft picks.

1. Vancouver Canucks

The Vancouver Canucks have five former Penguins on their roster. The first former Penguin playing in Vancouver is forward Sam Lafferty. Lafferty was drafted by Pittsburgh in the 4th round with the 23rd pick (113th overall). He played 94 games for the Penguins, with six goals and 15 assists. He also played in one playoff game. Lafferty was traded to Chicago on January 5th, 2022, for forward Alex Nylander.

The second Vancouver Canuck who played in Pittsburgh is center Teddy Blueger, who Pittsburgh drafted in 2012 with the 22nd pick in the 2nd round (52nd overall). Blueger played an even 250 games with Pittsburgh, with 33 goals and 59 assists. He also had a goal and an assist in 18 playoff games. Blueger was traded to Vegas at the 2023 trade deadline for a 3rd round pick in the 2024 NHL draft.

Vancouver’s third former Penguin is defenseman Ian Cole. Cole played 218 games for the Penguins, scored nine goals, and notched 50 assists. Cole was a crucial part of the back-to-back Stanley Cup wins, and played in 54 playoff games, recording 14 points— a goal and 13 assists. He was traded to the Ottawa Senators at the 2017-18 NHL trade deadline in a three team deal for Derick Brassard.

The fourth former Penguin in Vancouver is goaltender Casey DeSmith. DeSmith came to Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent and appeared in 134 games. He had a .912 SV%, a 2.81 GAA, and pitched nine shutouts. DeSmith was sent to Montreal in the three-team Erik Karlsson deal on August 6, 2023, before being traded to Vancouver in September.

Defenseman Mark Friedman is the fifth and final former Penguin on the Canucks roster. Friedman played three seasons in Pittsburgh, suiting up in 54 games. He scored four goals and provided seven assists. Friedman was traded to Vancouver on October 17, 2023, along with Ty Glover for prospects Jack Rathbone and Karel Plasek.

In addition to those five former Penguins, Rick Tocchet is Vancouver’s head coach. Tocchet played 150 games in Pittsburgh across three seasons, and recorded 179 points: 76 goals and 103 assists. He appeared in 32 playoff games, scored 15 goals, provided 22 assists, and was part of Pittsburgh’s second Stanley Cup-winning team in 1991-92. In June of 2014, the Pittsburgh Penguins hired Tocchet as an assistant coach, and he was part of both back-to-back Stanley Cup-winning teams in 2015-16 and 2016-17.