Three Breakout Candidates for the Penguins Next Season

Role players are as much of a key to a successful team in the NHL as top-tier talent. It's a long season, and stars like Sidney Crosby and Jake Guentzel can't win every game for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Last season, Evan Rodrigues stepped up early in the year to lead the Penguins while Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were on the shelf with injuries. Who could be looking at a similar breakout performance next season?

Valtteri Puustinen

Valtteri Puustinen quickly has risen through the ranks of Penguins prospects and is now in a position to vie for a roster spot during next year's training camp. A seventh-round pick of the Penguins in 2019, Puustinen concluded his first season in North America with 20 goals and 42 points for the AHL Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins.

Puustinen made his NHL debut this past season and was credited with one assist in a Penguins 5-2 victory over the Vegas Golden Knights. It was a brief showing at the NHL level, but you could see glimpses of what the future holds for Puustinen.

His ability to find the soft spots in the offensive zone replicates that of Jake Guentzel, and so does his small frame (5'9" 185lbs). Penguins general manager Ron Hextall spoke on the importance of young players to next season's team last month, and with multiple lineup spots potentially being up for grabs, Puustinen has a chance to crack the Penguins roster to start the season.

While he doesn't project to be as successful as Guentzel was upon entering the league, Puustinen has adapted quickly at every level in his career and could become a steady scoring presence in the Penguins' bottom-six next season, and could even see him start out on the Penguins' third line.

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Teddy Blueger

Speaking of third-line minutes, that is what we need to see from Teddy Blueger next season. Blueger has been a phenomenal fourth-line center for the Penguins for the past three seasons. His work on the penalty kill is integral to the team, and his line always controls puck possession no matter who lines up on his wings.

The 27-year-old center is coming off a career season in which he tied his career goals total (9) and surpassed his career-best in points (28). With Blueger heading into the final year of his current contract and the prime of his career, there is reason to believe he is ready to take on an increased role with the Penguins.

Blueger has shown the ability to create offense with less than lethal options on his wings. He played most of the past three seasons with players like Zach Aston-Reese and Brandon Tanev, who can score their share of goals but not enough to warrant promotion in the lineup.

Despite starting 72 percent of his shifts in the defensive zone the past three seasons, Blueger has averaged 49.17 percent of the expected goals share on the ice at even strength. He has also accounted for 49.33 percent of the high-danger scoring chances in that same period.

With Jeff Carter showing signs of fatigue late this past season and into the playoffs, the time is right to switch these two centers and allow Blueger a higher offensive responsibility. If Blueger receives that bump in ice time and plays with more offensively capable wingers, we could see the emergence of the Penguins' next great third-line center.

Alex Nylander

Currently a restricted free agent, Alex Nylander is the Penguins' best kept secret. Sure he hasn't done much at the NHL level and has underperformed after being selected eighth overall by the Buffalo Sabres in the 2016 NHL Draft. However, it wouldn't be the first time the Sabres mishandled a prospect. Similarly, the Chicago Blackhawks blatantly mishandled Nylander's progress by forcing him onto their top line in 2019.

Nylander scored ten goals and 26 points that season for the Blackhawks but missed the entirety of the following season due to knee surgery and never got another chance in Chicago.

Nylander scorched the AHL last season, finishing the year with 22 goals and 42 points between the Rockford Ice Hogs and the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. He picked up his game considerably after being acquired by the Penguins and should be a frontrunner for a bottom-six roster spot heading into training camp next season.

Every year the Penguins have a "prove it player", who takes a one-year deal in Pittsburgh to show that they still have what it takes to perform in this league. It is a necessity for the Penguins brought on by their salary cap situation but has produced great stories like Cody Ceci, Frederick Gaudreau, and most recently, Danton Heinen. Nylander checks all the boxes to be the next "prove it player" for the Penguins, and that position has been kind to the players and team alike.

If given the opportunity, Alex Nylander could become a steady scoring force in the Penguins' bottom six and has the previous experience of playing with top talent if the injury bug catches the top of the Penguins lineup. 

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