As NHL lineups continue to come together, will the Pittsburgh Penguins remain the league's oldest team?
Bleacher Report has had a busy summer crunching numbers to sort out the youngest and oldest projected NHL lineups for opening night in October.
Like the 2023-24 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins are looking to defend their title as the league's oldest team, with a projected lineup around 30.9 years old.
Because future Hall of Famers like Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are a year older, the Penguins had an average age of 30.8 last season and saw a slight uptick to 30.9 for the upcoming campaign.
According to the contracts listed on PuckPedia, Pittsburgh will have 11 players over 30 in the lineup, with Malkin the oldest at 37.
Netminder Tristan Jarry (29) is playing out his final season in his 20s, while Alex Nedeljkovic is right behind him at 28. Regarding defensemen, Ryan Shea is the youngest defenseman at 27, and Kris Letang is the oldest at 37.
No one with an NHL-level contract is under 25, with Emil Bemstrom, the youngest player at 25. He's joined by Jesse Puljujarvi (26), Drew O'Connor (26), and Blake Lizotte (26) as the youngest skaters in the lineup.