Pittsburgh Penguins sign defenseman Josh Maniscalco

For the second straight offseason, the Pittsburgh Penguins have added a collegiate right-handed defenseman. This time, it’s Josh Maniscalco.

Well, for the second consecutive offseason, the Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired another right-handed shooting collegiate defenseman. This time, they did not have to part with a 6th round draft pick to get their guy like they did last summer with John Marino.

Josh Maniscalco out of Arizona State signed an entry-level deal with the Penguins earlier this morning. It is a 3 year deal with an AAV of $925,000.

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Maniscalco is 6-2, 200 pounds, and 22 years old. He is originally from Perkiomenville, PA which is just outside of Philadelphia. Maniscalco was also teammates with Austin Lemieux at ASU.

GM Jim Rutherford describes Maniscalco’s as “Josh is a solid puck-moving, offensive defenseman. He jumps into the rush and plays a style that is complementary to our group. We think highly of his character and are happy to add Josh to the organization.”

Per the Sun Devils website, here is how Maniscalco faired as a sophomore.

Was on the ice for 46 of 94 (48.9%) of the Sun Devils goals last season. No player on their roster was on the ice for more goals for.
Was one of just 10 NCAA blueliners to register 30+ points.
Recorded 6 multi-point performances.
Had two 3 point games, with one coming against Robert Morris University.

As a Freshman, Maniscalco tallied 20 points. He also had a 4 game point streak in his first season as a Sun Devil. It is encouraging to see his performance and offensive production take a big step from his freshman to sophomore year.

Using the win shares statistic from Hockey U Analytics, Maniscalco had a win share total of 2.82. This stat attempts to estimate the number of wins created by each player.

Anyways, that was the second-highest total on the Sun Devils roster and 9th highest amongst all NCAA skaters. That is also a higher total than Pittsburgh prospects Drew O’Connor and Will Reilly, as well as Los Angeles Kings prospect Tyler Madden.

In terms of a value breakdown, Maniscalco added 1.69 wins offensively and 1.132 defensively to ASU. Per the same website, Maniscalco took 123 shot attempts, which was 8.3% of the Sun Devils total shots attempted last season. That mark was third on the ASU team. As his production indicates, he was very involved in the offense and was a key contributor from the backend.

Now, using just a few gifs to draw significant conclusions is a dangerous method of player evaluation. I’m just including these to get a better idea of Maniscalco’s style of play.

On this play, he does a nice job of walking the blue-line, keeping his head up, and getting his shot through for a deflection goal for ASU here.

This is not the best clip, but it is an indication of how involved Maniscalco was in ASU’s offensive zone. He begins the sequence deep in the offensive zone, along the left-wing wall next to the blue SRC signage. He dishes the puck down low to his teammate then cuts to the net. From there, Maniscalco peels up to the slot in an attempt to deflect the point shot. He does not get a stick on it, but his offensive awareness is a great attribute.

Maniscalco begins this sequence in the middle of the three ASU skaters in maroon. You’ll see him turn his head. The Quinnipiac forward took advantage of the lapse in coverage for a 2-0 lead. As you can see, ASU was getting peppered with shots against, so this could have been some fatigue setting in.

I’ll preface this next clip by knowing Arizona State has arguably the most unique arena and worst camera angle in all of Divison 1 hockey.

Maniscalco is #24 in white. He goes back for a loose puck, loses the battle, and gets beat to the net. The ability to handle an aggressive forecheck is huge for all defenders, and I suspect Maniscalco will improve defensively in due time.

This signing lessens the sting of the Penguins farm system moving Calen Addison in the Jason Zucker deal. I would reckon Maniscalco is already the second-best defense prospect in Pittsburgh’s system only to Pierre-Olivier Joseph. There is a relatively good chance that these two begin next season in Wilkes-Barre, perhaps on the same defense pair.

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Now, Maniscalco and John Marino share the same initials. Their physical statures are somewhat comparable. We shall see if Maniscalco can make an immediate impact similar to Marino in 2019-20. I certainly do not expect that. With Justin Schultz’s pending departure, there could be a spot to be won on the Penguins blueline whenever training camp begins. Thanks for reading!

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