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Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Despite a step back offensively, Heinen was one of the bright spots on a beleaguered Penguins bottom-six. Vitals Player: Danton HeinenBorn: July 5, 1998 (Age 27 season)Height: 6’ 1”Weight: 188 poundsHometown: Langley, British Columbia, CanadaShoots: LeftDraft: 2014 NHL Draft, 4th round (116th overall) by the Boston Bruins2022-23 Statistics: 65 games played, 8 goals, 14 assists = 22 pointsContract Status: Heinen is set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st.Fun fact: Not exactly a “fun fact,” but after scoring two goals...

Photo by Bruce Bennett/ The Athletic pulls back the curtain on the Burke/Hextall era and details the failures that led the Penguins franchise to its breaking point. On Wednesday morning, Rob Rossi and Josh Yohe of The Athletic published a detailed account of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise under the front office leadership of Brian Burke and Ron Hextall. Much of the focus is placed on the last year of their tenure, beginning with near break up the Penguins ‘Big Three’ and culminating with the Penguins missing the playoffs for the first time in 17 years, leading to...

James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports Good health finally came for Bryan Rust but inconsistency plagued his season from the start. Vitals Player: Bryan RustBorn: May 11, 1992 (Age 30 season)Height: 5’ 11”Weight: 192 poundsHometown: Pontiac, MichiganShoots: RightDraft: 2010 NHL Draft 3rd round (80th overall) by the Pittsburgh Penguins2022-23 Statistics: 81 games played, 20 goals, 26 assists = 46 pointsContract Status: Rust completed the first year of a six year contract that was signed in May 2022. There are now five years remaining on the deal that will run through the...

Photo by Justin K. Aller/ After years of uncertainty, the Penguins secure a long term future in Pittsburgh. **time machine noises** It’s October 2006 and the Pittsburgh Penguins are preparing to begin the 2006-07 season and expectations are high with Sidney Crosby coming off a 102 point rookie season and Evgeni Malkin in town for his rookie campaign after absconding from Russia to join the team. Throw in No. 2 overall pick Jordan Staal making the team out of training camp and Marc-Andre Fleury between the pipes and fans were feeling pretty good about the Penguins...

Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports Pens Points returns with a little headline round up of news you may have missed. Even with the Pittsburgh Penguins season long behind us and the news mill slowly working its way to a stop for the time being, it’s still good to sit down and catch up on what has been going on so as to not get too far behind on the team news. In the past few days, there has been a splash of headlines ranging from award nominations to the latest on the general manager search and you can find it all here in Pens Points for your reading pleasure. Pens...

Jerome Miron-USA TODAY Sports Finding a third line center will be of high importance for the new general manager this summer. One need that was a glaring issue for the Pittsburgh Penguins this season and played a significant role in their failure to make the playoffs was a constant black hole at third line center. Whether it was Jeff Carter, Mikael Granlund, or anyone else who was plugged into the role, the results were simply not good enough and in dire need of correcting. How the Penguins go about filling this void in the lineup will be entirely up to the new front...

Photo by Gregory Shamus/NHLI via A botched trade report and some late night Shero magic brought the future Hall of Famer to Pittsburgh. It’s been three weeks since the Pittsburgh Penguins season has come to an end and news surrounding the team has mostly ground to a halt and will likely remain that way until a new front office staff is hired and the offseason can move forward. To pass the time until then, I’m brining back the Remembering a Penguins Moment series that began last summer for times just like these when content is needed but the usual well of content...

Photo by Bruce Bennett/ The Stanley Cup playoffs put a bow on first round action while news remains mostly quiet on the Penguins front. Round one of the 2023 Stanley Cup playoffs is in the books and round two begins this evening with a pair of games to get the conference semifinals underway. For the Pittsburgh Penguins, everything remains status quo as a few more teams join them for an early offseason. Pens Points... From posting the greatest regular season in NHL history to being eliminated in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Boston Bruins are Exhibit A...