The Penguins’ list of possible surprise contributors for 2026-27 starts with a simple idea: the best breakouts are usually the ones nobody saw coming.
Last summer’s guesses produced a mixed bag. Filip Hallander missed, Harrison Brunicke was only kind of close, Alex Alexeyev didn’t land, and Arturs Silovs did.
That left a 1.5-for-4 hit rate, which would be a fine batting average in baseball. But the bigger lesson was that the real surprises often come from players who weren’t even on the radar.
Kindel, Parker Wotherspoon, Anthony Mantha, Justin Brazeau and Ryan Shea all popped in ways that outpaced expectations, and Egor Chinakhov turned into a near point-per-game winger that few had circled at this stage a year ago.
So who might do that next season? Sergei Murashov is left out of the conversation because most people already expect him to be in the NHL, and while a high-level season from him would count as a surprise, it’s not the kind that feels impossible to see coming.
Andrei Kuzmenko is also excluded for similar reasons. He has a 39-goal, 74-point NHL season on his résumé, so production from him would be more of a welcome outcome than a true shock.
Declan Carlile is the clearest candidate to become the kind of player casual fans notice halfway through the year and suddenly ask about. Pittsburgh has had success finding defenders who arrive with little fanfare and then raise their stock, with Wotherspoon and Shea standing out as recent examples.
Carlile, one of the organization’s few NHL-caliber left defensemen, should get a chance to handle a meaningful role. His underlying numbers suggest there may be something more there, and for him to qualify as a real surprise, he’d need to become a top-four matchup defender and hold up in that job.
That is far from guaranteed, but he does have some buzz around him, and he could be in the mix with Erik Karlsson in September and keep that spot all season.
Hendrix Lapierre feels like a player who has slipped well down the list in the eyes of many. A surprise from him would be simple: earn a regular jersey and make a positive impact.
He has done that at points before, and he can play center, which matters on a team where that position is not exactly settled. This is less about projecting a breakout star and more about betting that the bar for him is low enough that he can clear it.
A season where he gets into 60-plus games and chips in a few useful plays would probably count as a win, even if it doesn’t sound flashy.
Nick Robertson fits a similar lane, though with a little more offensive upside. The Penguins did not get the Robertson brother who carries the bigger name, but they may have gotten one who is still being undersold.
He has scored 31 goals over the last two seasons despite limited ice time and uneven progression in Toronto, which suggests there’s real scoring ability there. Pittsburgh’s wing group is crowded at the moment, with Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Chinakhov and Evgeni Malkin all in the mix, so the question is where Robertson fits.
Injuries, performance, trades or something else could open the door. If that happens, a 20-goal, 40-point season without much power-play time would be enough to catch people off guard.
Bill Zonnon is more of a swing-for-the-fences pick. He turns 20 in October and will be in his first pro season next year, so this may be early.
In truth, 2027-28 might be the more realistic window. But the Penguins are heading into an 84-game season, and they used 25 different forwards last year, so opportunities do appear.
Zonnon made a strong first impression in the AHL playoffs by scoring in each of his first three games as a pro this spring. He has speed, he goes to the net, and he plays center.
He’ll need to earn his way through Wilkes first, and any NHL opening would probably come because of injuries, but Pittsburgh has shown it will give young players a look if they force the issue. Ben Kindel did that last year, and Zonnon has enough tools to make himself part of that conversation.
Mikhail Ilyin is in a similar bucket. A 2026-27 NHL impact would be a stretch, but he already flashed in the AHL playoffs with nine points in 15 games after playing just five regular-season AHL games, which came after his first taste of North American hockey.
The 21-year-old was a historically strong point producer at a young age in the KHL and has built his reputation on playmaking and hockey sense. He should be a good AHL player next season, and if things break right, there’s at least a path to him becoming more than that.
In Other News...
Penguins May Have Finally Found The Edge They Were Missing
The Penguins spent much of the offseason watching some of their more rugged pieces walk out the door, a shift that left the roster looking a little lighter than it has been in the past. For a team that has long understood the value of size, edge and the willingness to answer the bell, that kind of turnover matters, especially when the league still rewards clubs that can win the hard minutes as much as the highlight-reel ones.
One move did give the organization a different kind of look, though, with a young defenseman coming in on a one-year deal after showing he can bring both bite and a little offense from the blue line. He played a physical game in the OHL, produced enough to stand out there and fits the sort of profile Pittsburgh has been missing, which is why this addition feels less like a depth flier and more like a test of whether the Penguins can restore some of the sandpaper they lost. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Suddenly Have A Camp Battle Dubas Cant Avoid
The Penguins spent the offseason trying to give themselves more options, not fewer, and that has left training camp with a few real decisions instead of a tidy depth chart. After adding six draft picks, making key free-agent moves and bringing in players like Nick Robertson, Kaeden Korczak, David Gustafsson and Hendrix Lapierre, Pittsburgh also kept some of its own restricted free agents in the fold, including Joel Blomqvist and Arturs Silovs, as it continues shaping a roster aimed at the 2026-27 season.
Now the challenge is sorting out who actually fits where once the games start counting for roster spots. The top six has a particularly interesting opening, while the bottom of the lineup is crowded enough that even a seemingly settled wing role could be pushed by a player coming off a strong run last season. Add in a group of young forwards such as Rutger McGroarty, Avery Hayes, Ville Koivunen and Tristan Broz, and Dubas has a camp puzzle that may not sort itself out quickly. [Read more 🡒]