Last season, the Pittsburgh Penguins faced a series of difficulties with a second-to-last place finish in the Metropolitan Division. That included a hard time generating offense, finishing with a -50 goal differential, goalkeeper struggles, lack of trades and series of call-ups and waiver placements. Most people keeping track of the Penguins had written them off for some time.
After starting goaltender Tristan Jarry put up a .893 save percentage and a 3.12 goals against average in his 36 games last season, he was placed on waivers mid-season and it seemed as though management had given up on him. After no other club picked him up, Jarry spent some time with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins as Joel Blomqvist was recalled from their affiliate, battling it out with Alex Nedeljkovic in net. Yet all three goaltenders struggled, with none posting a save percentage over .900 last season. Jarry was recalled, Blomqvist sent down, and the Penguins struggled more and more.
This offseason, the Penguins traded away Nedeljkovic to the Sharks and 2 weeks later ended up acquiring the Vancouver Canucks third-stringer goalie, Arturs Silovs, who had some playing time last season after their starter Thatcher Demko struggled with injuries. Yet, through his 10 games played with the Canucks last season, Silovs had a worse save percentage than any of the three keepers that the Penguins rotated through last season as well.
In addition to the goalie swap this offseason, there were also the free agency signings of Anthony Mantha, Justin Brazeau, Parker Wotherspoon, and Caleb Jones. The Penguins didn't have a massive offseason that made people turn heads by any means, swapping one struggling goalie for another and some average player acquirements.
Despite the mess of last season and what seemed like a lackluster summer, the Penguins have come out hot this season, with them giving a shot to some rookies including Ben Kindel (11th overall pick in this year's draft) and Harrison Brunicke (44th overall in 2024). Kindel has played in 10 of the 12 Penguins games this season, posting 3 goals, while defenseman Brunicke has played 7 games and gotten one goal.
That's not all that's added to the Penguins start this season though, free agent signing Justin Brazeau has averaged 5.3 goals through his 3 seasons played in the league. This season with the Penguins he is averaging 0.5 goals and 1 point per game so far. Mantha has put up 11 points through 12 games and Wotherspoon has 5 points so far.
With rookies coming out hot, Jarry and Silovs have been splitting the games this season. Silovs has played 6 games, posting a .919 save percentage, and Jarry has a .923 through the other half. Both of these goalies have stepped up tremendously already this season.
With most people also attributing at an aging roster as a part of last season's downfall, with star players Sidney Crosby (38), Evgeni Malkin (39), Rickard Rakell (32), Bryan Rust (33), and Kris Letang (38). These veteran players have also been carrying a lot of weight this season and have generated most of the Penguins points alongside the younger players. Crosby has 15 points, Malkin has tallied 17, Rakell has put up 8, Rust with 10, and Letang posting 6 so far this season.
The Penguins were overlooked and written off for this season, yet with their goalies stepping up, rookies proving themselves and new acquirements adding a ton offensively, the Penguins have gathered 18 points in their 12 games played 1 month into the 2025-2026 season, with 8 wins, 2 losses and 2 overtime points. The Penguins sit 1st in not only the Metro division today, but the league.
Will the Penguins be able to keep this up by the end of next month? With their 12 games in November, 7 of them were playoff teams last year. While this will be a harder schedule than October's, the Penguins can keep proving themselves with their turnarounds they've already made this season. Between the mixture of rookies and veterans carrying some weight, their goalies standing firm in the crease and new coach Dan Muse leading the way, the Penguins might be back.