The Penguins may have found a worthwhile bet in Jake Livanavage, the undrafted defenseman they added late in the 2025-26 season after he wrapped up his career at North Dakota.
At 22 years old, Livanavage brings a 5-foot-10, 185-pound frame and the kind of profile that makes teams keep reaching for the upside bucket. He wasn’t drafted, but he was one of the more sought-after free agents available, and Pittsburgh clearly saw enough skill to move quickly. That sort of move rarely guarantees anything, but it can pay off if the player develops the right way.
For the Penguins, the appeal is easy to see. They need help on the left side of the blue line, and they don’t have a loaded pipeline there either.
On the NHL roster, the left-shot group includes Sam Girard, free agent acquisition Declan Carlile, Ilya Solovyov and Ryan Graves. Trevor van Riemsdyk can play the left side, but he shoots right.
Down in the system, Owen Pickering is on the left side but has stalled a bit for now, while Tomas Galvas is still a long way off after being drafted this year and not yet playing a game in North America.
That opens a door. Livanavage likely noticed it.
He arrives with a reputation as a dependable two-way defenseman who can handle his own end and still help push the puck the other way. His North Dakota production backed that up, as he put up at least 25 points in each of his three full seasons there. His skating stands out as one of his best tools.
The question, as it often is with Penguins defensemen, comes back to size and strength. Livanavage has already started addressing that. At prospect development camp, he said he spent the summer focused on getting bigger and stronger, and noted that he had added 15 pounds.
“This summer it’s just been getting bigger and stronger - being able to play against men,” Livanavage said. “Coming out and working as hard as I can, being ready for a training camp from the first day.
I feel good right now. Super excited to get going.”
After signing, he got a first taste of NHL action, appearing in one game and logging more than 25 minutes in the Penguins’ meaningless regular-season finale. The outing came with its share of growing pains, which was hardly surprising in that spot.
He’ll have a real shot to be around the opening night conversation, especially with the left side looking thin, but the more likely path is a season start in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Even so, a Pittsburgh look feels very possible at some point.
The Penguins used 15 different defensemen last season, 13 the year before, and nine the year before that, and there’s every reason to think opportunities will come again. Injuries happen.
Trades happen. Depth charts shift.
Not everyone holds up the way teams hope.
That’s part of why Livanavage is such an intriguing pickup. The Penguins have loaded up on draft capital, with 25 picks over the past three years, including nine in the first two rounds, and 23 more over the next three years, including 10 in the first two rounds.
They’ve also looked for help in the early-to-mid-20s through trades. Those are the obvious routes.
The undrafted free-agent route is a longer shot, but every now and then it yields a player who sticks. Livanavage still has plenty to prove before he gets there, but he stands out as one of the more interesting undrafted additions Pittsburgh has made in recent seasons.
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Novak adds another wrinkle as a middle-six forward whose role could swing depending on how the rest of the group settles in. The projections around these players are less about certainty than about range, with goal totals and ice time both open to some combination of growth and regression. For a Penguins team trying to map out its next phase, the real debate is not whether secondary scoring matters, but which of these players can turn a useful run into something more dependable when the season actually arrives. [Read more 🡒]