There will be plenty to watch even if the Pittsburgh Penguins are done playing hockey for the season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins may not be participating in the 2023 NHL Playoffs, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t plenty of names for fans to keep an eye on.

Across all 16 teams competing for the Stanley Cup, there are 23 former Penguins on 11 different teams.

Among the players still in the running are some fan favorites, a couple of unfortunate tenures, and a few you may have forgotten about.

Here is each former Penguin to watch as the NHL playoffs commence.

Teams Without Former Penguins

Boston Bruins, Dallas Stars, Winnipeg Jets, Los Angeles Kings, New York Islanders

Former Penguins on LTIR

Patric Hornqvist: Florida Panthers

Vegas Golden Knights

Teddy Blueger, Phil Kessel

One’s a two-time Stanley Cup champion, the other is a recently departed Penguin with a lot to prove.

The Golden Knights enter the postseason as the top seed in the Western Conference after missing last year’s playoffs all together.

Blueger was traded to Vegas just prior to the trade deadline and picked up six points (2G-4A) in 18 games.

Kessel found his way to Vegas over the offseason and for the 13^th straight season, appeared in every game; he scored 14 goals and 22 assists in his first season with the Golden Knights.

Colorado Avalanche

Evan Rodrigues, Jack Johnson

The defending champions are back in the postseason after a string of injuries put a real threat to their chances.

The Avalanche fly in as the Central Division leaders and a pair of former Penguins hoping their team can repeat.

Rodrigues penned a one-year deal in Colorado after being left out to dry by the Penguins during the offseason; he had a productive 2022-23 with 39 points (16G-23A) in 69 games.

Johnson, on the other hand, didn’t start the season with the Avalanche, but found his way back before the trade deadline.

Already a Cup champion with the Avalanche, Johnson has scored four points (2G-2A) since getting back to Colorado.

Edmonton Oilers

Cody Ceci, Nick Bjugstad

An odds-on favorite to win the Stanley Cup this year, there are a couple of former Penguins who might be key contributors to the Oilers run.

Ceci struck gold during his single season in Pittsburgh and has parlayed that into a respectable tenure in Edmonton; this year he’s recorded 15 points (1G-14A) in 80 games.

Bjugstad’s time in Pittsburgh was largely forgettable, but he turned into one of the hottest trade targets of the 2022-23 season.

In 19 games following the trade deadline, Bjugstad racked up four goals and two assists for six points.

Minnesota Wild

Ryan Reaves, Frederick Gaudreau, Marc-Andre Fleury

One of the Penguins’ franchise greats and a pair of players with short and sweet runs in Pittsburgh.

Fleury, a three-time champion, is searching for his fourth title despite it not yet being clear if he’s the starting netminder.

Reaves and Gaudreau combined for 77 regular season games with the Penguins but have found a good deal of success with the Wild.

More recently, Gaudreau earned himself a solid five-year contract extension to stay in Minnesota.

Seattle Kraken

Jared McCann, Brandon Tanev, Daniel Sprong, Jamie Oleksiak, Justin Schultz

The team with the most Penguins’ representation, the Kraken are the plucky new guys who outdid themselves in the 2022-23 season.

Led by 70-point McCann (40G-30A), the Kraken turned their fortunes around in their sophomore season.

Sprong finally found success at the NHL level with 46 points (21G-25A) while riding the fourth line.

It’s not that the Kraken were built on former Penguins, but each of those five players recorded 25 points or more this season.

Shultz carries the distinction as not just being a former Penguin, but a former Penguins with a pair of Stanley Cup rings.

Carolina Hurricanes

Jordan Staal, Stefan Noesen

Everyone in Pittsburgh remembers what Staal brought to the table and the success he had, but does anyone recall Noesen?

In six games with the Penguins Noesen scored a single goal, but exploded as a quality depth forward with the Hurricanes.

In 78 games, Noesen picked up 13 goals and 23 assists for 36 points.

New Jersey Devils

John Marino

The Devils really turned themselves around in the 2022-23 season and they didn’t get much help from the Penguins.

Marino is the sole former Penguin, and missed some of the season, but still put together a decent season from the blue line.

In 64 games, Marino scored four goals and 14 assists for 14 points on the Devils’ second defensive pairing.

Toronto Maple Leafs

Sam Lafferty, Zach Aston-Reese, Matt Murray

The Maple Leafs are looking to make it out of the first round for the first time since 2004, and will have a fait amount of help from former Penguins.

While Murray will likely miss out on getting playing time, he does bring the most postseason pedigree in the Leafs goalie room.

Lafferty and Aston-Reese both aren’t guaranteed to make the lineup as depth options in Toronto, but they made real names for themselves this season.

Lafferty turned into one of the biggest names at the trade deadline and Aston-Reese notched his first career 10-goal season.

New York Rangers

Louis Domingue

He’ll be a third string option for the Rangers, but it’s hard to forget where the Penguins might have ended up last year if it wasn’t Domingue in net.

Domingue spent all season with the Rangers’ AHL affiliate, the Hartford Wolfpack, and picked up a record of 22-12-8.

Tampa Bay Lightning

Ian Cole

The final former Penguin looking to add to his trophy room, Cole is winding down his career as a depth defender on the Lightning roster.

Cole spent a lot of time on Tampa Bay’s third line while picking up 17 points (3G-14A) in 78 games.

The Lightning are hoping to reach the Stanley Cup Final for the fourth straight season, but will have a tough run as the Eastern Conference is going to be a dog fight.

The Penguins may not be competing, but there is plenty to watch in the 2023 NHL Postseason.

Make sure you bookmark Inside the Penguins for the latest news, exclusive interviews, breakdowns and so much more!

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