The Penguins’ list of possible NHL debutants for 2026-27 is a short one, and that’s the story in itself. After last season’s group of projected first-timers all ended up getting their shot - including Ben Kindel, plus Jake Livanavage and Sergei Murashov, with Taylor Gauthier also dressing as a backup without seeing game action - this year doesn’t have nearly as many obvious candidates.
That doesn’t mean there aren’t a few names worth watching. It just means the path is narrower, and in some cases a lot narrower.
Bill Zonnon is the most intriguing of the bunch. The 2025 first-round pick made an immediate impression by scoring in each of his first three pro games during the AHL playoffs this spring.
He won’t turn 20 until October, and the expectation is that he’ll spend most, if not all, of 2026-27 with Wilkes. Pittsburgh also added David Gustafsson for a Joona Koppanen-style swing role, while Tristan Broz remains in the mix, so Zonnon would need the right mix of injuries and strong play to crack the NHL center picture.
Still, with an 84-game schedule and the way he’s been trending, it wouldn’t be a shock if he gets there sooner rather than later.
Oliver Okuliar is a different kind of possibility. If the name doesn’t ring a bell, that’s understandable.
The 26-year-old winger was brought in over the summer after a strong 2024-25 AHL season in Charlotte, where he posted 41 points in 69 games. He also put up 29 points in 41 games in Sweden with Skelleftea the year before and scored a goal for Slovakia in the 2026 Olympics.
Okuliar brings a physical, hard-forechecking game, even if the skating and skill aren’t elite, and that profile can sometimes lead to a brief NHL look when injuries start stacking up. Right now the Penguins have plenty of forwards, but last season they still used seven players in NHL games who began the year in Wilkes-Barre.
Mikhail Ilyin belongs in the same general bucket as Zonnon, with 2027-28 probably feeling more natural as a debut window. Even so, the 21-year-old Russian has enough talent to stay on the radar.
He was one of the most productive teenage playmakers in KHL history, and he handled the AHL playoffs well with nine points in 15 games. There may be an adjustment period as he gets used to the North American game, but Pittsburgh has shown it will give AHL players a look over the course of a season, and Ilyin has the kind of skill that could earn him one sometime during 2026-27.
Beyond that, the options get pretty thin. Chase Pietila and Finn Harding are extreme longshots, especially with the depth at right-handed defense.
Gauthier would need a pileup of goalie injuries or illnesses to get back into backup duty, so an appearance this season looks unlikely. Tanner Howe and Melvin Fernstrom could be squinted at as possibilities, but both feel too far away right now based on where their games stand entering the season.
In Other News...
One NHL Trade Could Change Everything For The Penguins Market
With the NHL trade deadline set for March 1, the market is already starting to tilt toward bigger names and bigger ripple effects, and one of the most intriguing possibilities involves Kirill Marchenko. Reports have Columbus close to moving the winger, with Montreal among the teams mentioned in the chatter, a development that would immediately reshape the conversation around the leagues forward market.
For Penguins fans, the significance goes beyond one player changing teams. A move like this can alter the price tags, the urgency and the kind of assets available as contenders and retooling clubs jockey for position over the next stretch, and it comes at a time when John Tortorella is also said to be interested in getting back behind a bench after his departure from the Vegas Golden Knights. The next step in Marchenkos situation remains the one everyone is waiting on. [Read more 🡒]
Dubas May Have A Risky Answer To Pittsburghs Biggest Future Need
The Penguins have spent much of the summer looking for a way to shore up the middle of their lineup, and the latest chatter points to a name with plenty of pedigree. Shane Wright entered the league with enormous expectations as the fourth pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, and even with his development taking a less direct path than some expected, he still fits the profile of a young center teams covet when they are trying to build for both now and later.
For Pittsburgh, the appeal is obvious: a center in his early 20s would at least address a long-term need in a way the current roster cannot fully solve on its own. The question is whether Dubas is willing to pay the kind of price such a player would command, especially with Seattle not likely to move him cheaply and the Penguins weighing how much future capital they can afford to part with while trying to stay competitive. [Read more 🡒]
Kyle Dubas Left Penguins Fans Wondering What This Summer Was Missing
The Penguins went into the offseason with a clear mandate to get better around the edges and, ideally, land a premium piece or two for a roster that still needs help. Kyle Dubas explored the market for high-end names such as Bowen Byram, Darnell Nurse and Jason Robertson, but Pittsburghs actual business ended up being much quieter, with Hendrix Lapierre, Nicholas Robertson, Kaedan Korczak, Andrei Kuzmenko, Trevor van Riemsdyk and Declan Carlile among the additions.
What made the summer feel unfinished was the sense that Dubas was waiting for a market squeeze that never really arrived in Pittsburghs favor. The trade landscape stayed tight, the free-agent pool did not create the kind of urgency he may have expected, and the Penguins were left wondering whether this was the summer to press harder on the roster or even consider moving a veteran such as Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell or Erik Karlsson while the price was still there. [Read more 🡒]