Last year’s most curious list featured some positive surprises (Arturs Silovs, Tommy Novak) and some running in place (Owen Pickering, Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz) and a little of both (Avery Hayes). That didn’t even include some of the most curious seasons in store for people like Justin Brazeau, Ryan Shea, Parker Wotherspoon and Anthony Mantha, among many others.
There’s no shortage of new faces and fresh angles to tackle. There could be as many as 10 players on the roster at the start of 2026-27 that weren’t in the opening night lineup last season. The Penguins have an incredibly stable core at the top with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang starting their 21st season together as NHL teammates (it’s Crosby’s 22nd year individually), but a layer below that there is always a flurry of movement.
From those numbers, it’s a challenge to whittle down to just five players, even before getting to returning veterans and the hope for ascending youngsters. There should be no shortage of curiosity, especially given how in recent years that the Pens have had bad seasons when they mostly expected to be good and then finished second place in their division when almost no one would have seen that coming. The overarching curiosity on just how this mix will gel as a team is naturally the biggest and most interesting angle to watch how it unfolds over the fall and winter, here’s some individuals.
Nick Robertson
Robertson has scored 45 total goals in the last three seasons and will only turn 25 just before training camp. By contrast, Egor Chinakhov scored 37 career goals in about 2.5 season’s worth of games before joining the Pens. Can Pittsburgh get a Chinakhov-esque glow up out of Robertson to truly establish himself as a core player? He never quite got there in Toronto, averaging between 11-12 minutes per game in his three full seasons with the Maple Leafs. The finishing talent is there, this could be another big win in Pittsburgh’s strategy of targeting young players who need a change of scenery and new start to reach their potential.
Declan Carlile
Carlile is in that mold of a young player looking for opportunity too. The undrafted free agent spent three seasons mostly in the AHL from 2022-25 with Tampa. Due mostly to other players suffering injuries, Carlile got 42 games in the NHL last season and has 46 in his career. He just turned 26 years old but has the profile the Pens like for his size (6’3”, 190) and puck-moving ability that should make him a nice, younger, cheaper replacement to Ryan Shea. Considering the mess on the left side of the defense, if Carlile turns out to be an instant hit then suddenly things look a lot better on the depth chart. If he doesn’t, well, then the situation grows even more dire. With such little experience it’s anyone’s guess on just how this is going to play out.
Ville Koivunen
Koivunen’s massive eight year contract and $4 million cap hit instantly made him one of the most intriguing storylines for training camp. Last year’s camp ended with Koivunen briefly being on Crosby’s line at the start of the season. This year, who knows what could happen with a very crowded field of forwards competing for a seemingly limited amount of spots. Is Koivunen going to earn a spot in the opening night lineup? Hit waivers? Be stuck as a healthy scratch? Any outcome at this point is as likely as any other which makes Koivunen a central figure to be curious about seeing what happens.
Andrey Kuzmenko
In general, Kuzmenko is a curious player. He stuck around in Russia until age 26, joining up with Vancouver to a tremendous first NHL season in 2022-23 (39 goals and 74 points in 81 games). What looked like the possible next Artemi Panarin as a late-blooming import hasn’t stayed on track, shuttling between three teams since 2024 and seeing his spot in the lineup and point total on a consistent downward slope from 74 to 46 to 37 to 25 last season (albeit in just 52 games). The talent might still be there, Kuzmenko did record six points in six playoff games in 2025, but the ability to get there consistently remains in question. Kuzmenko hangs out in the offseason in the same orbit socially as players like Evgeni Malkin and Ilya Kovalchuk, the familiarity angle with Malkin could be something the Pens are hoping can provide a boost and get Kuzmenko back on track to his more productive and effective days. Just how far he goes will be one of the biggest curiosities this year.
Sergei Murashov
Last on the list, but certainly not least, is a player that could have the biggest influence on the season. Tristan Jarry didn’t work out following his 2023 contract and the Pens have taken the step to clear Jarry out and open up the runway for Murashov to take off as potentially the next No. 1 goalie for the franchise. Murashov at 22 is still incredibly young for an NHL goalie. Of the 59 goalies to appear in 25+ games last year, only two (Jesper Wallstedt and Yarsoslav Askarov, both in age-23 seasons) were under 24 years old and Murashov is nearly a year younger now than those two were last year. Despite that, it looks like Murashov is ready for the next step after a tremendous year in the AHL in 2025-26. Goalie trajectory can be notoriously finicky, even for top prospects like Askarov who had some stops and starts before fully growing into handling the world’s toughest hockey league. The curiosity for Murashov will be seeing just how ready for prime time he is at this point and how he can hold up in net. It’s a tough spot for a team defense that doesn’t usually do their goalies a lot of favors in keeping shots and chances down, yet the talent and upside are undeniable. It’s just a matter of seeing if the future is now or just how much growing pains will be involved.