The Pittsburgh Penguins announced their 2024-25 lineup. Here's a look at the team's demographics.
According to Elite Prospects, the 2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins are the second-oldest team in the NHL, with an average age of 29.27, just below the Edmonton Oilers' 29.54.
However, as old as the Penguins are, they are a multi-nation lineup with players from six different countries. Unlike many franchises in the league, they are not dominated by Canadian-born skaters.
The Penguins are loaded with American-born players (11), and when we combine skaters from Russia, Denmark, Sweden, and Finland, those four countries outrank Canada.
Here's a breakdown of the Penguins lineup based on their nationalities.
Russia - One player (3.8%)
- Evgeni Malkin (38) - Magnitogorsk, Russia
Denmark - One player (3.8%)
- Lars Eller (35) - Rødovre, Denmark
Sweden - Three players (11.5%)
- Erik Karlsson (34) - Landsbro, Sweden
- Marcus Pettersson (28) - Skelleftea, Sweden
- Rickard Rakell (31) - Sundbyberg, Sweden
Finland - Three players (11.5%)
- Joel Blomqvist (22) - Uusikaarlepyy, Finland
- Jesse Puljujarvi* (26) - Alvkarleby, Sweden
- Valtteri Puustinen (25) - Kuopio, Finland
Canada - Seven players (26.9%)
- Anthony Beauvillier (27) - Sorel-Tracy, QC
- Michael Bunting (29) - Scarborough, QC
- Sidney Crosby (37) - Cole Harbour, NS
- Cody Glass (25) - Winnipeg, MB
- Tristan Jarry (29) - Surrey, BC
- Kris Letang (37) - Montreal, QC
United States - 11 players (42.3%)
- Noel Acciari (32) - Johnston, RI
- Matt Grzelcyk (30) - Charlestown, MA
- Kevin Hayes (32) - Dorchester, MA
- Blake Lizotte (26) - Lindstrom, MN
- Rutger McGroarty (20) - Lincoln, NE
- Alex Nedeljkovic (28) - Parma, OH
- Matt Nieto (31) - Long Beach, CA
- Drew O'Connor (26) - Wayne, NJ
- Bryan Rust (32) - Pontiac, MI
- Ryan Shea (27) - Milton, MA
- Jack St. Ivany (25) - Manhattan Beach, CA
The last time Canadian-born skaters ate up most of the Penguins' nationality pie chart was 2022-23, when they outranked their southern neighbors by three percentage points, 37.1% to 34.3%.
Interestingly, the last time American-born players made up precisely 42% of the demographics, 2015-16, Pittsburgh would go on to win the first of back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
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