Kaedan Korczak is entering his first season as a Pittsburgh Penguin. How will he do?
The Pittsburgh Penguins' trade for defenseman Kaedan Korczak took a lot of people by surprise when it first went down on Jun. 30.
They acquired Korczak for fellow defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, who had a very solid 2025-26 campaign with the Penguins. He played on the top pair alongside Erik Karlsson and formed some strong chemistry with him.
However, the Penguins likely felt that Wotherspoon wouldn't play above his level from last year in 2026-27, so they decided to move him for a younger, cost-controlled player who is good defensively.
Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza spoke glowingly about Korczak back in July.
"Korczak's a guy that we feel, with the age he's at, there's tons of upside there, a guy that fits in really well with that middle age group that we're really trying to acquire and has tons of potential," Spezza said. "Really solid defensively and lots of untapped potential."
The Penguins are definitely a bit worse on the left side (which is still a work in progress), but stronger on the right. They also still have Harrison Brunicke waiting in the wings, and it won't be long until he's fully NHL-ready.
Korczak made his NHL debut during the 2021-22 season, but didn't become more of a regular in the lineup until these last couple of seasons. He played in 40 games during the 2024-25 season before setting a career high in that category this past season, appearing in 78 games. He finished the year with three goals and 16 points.
He's now entering the first year of a four-year deal that's worth $3.25 million per year. He was steady as a rock in his own zone last season, and I expect that to carry over into this season.
He's really solid at breaking up plays and manages his gap extremely well. He's also good in transition and can win battles behind the net.
His underlying numbers were great last year, ranking in the 93rd percentile for 5v5 defense and being on the ice for 59.4% of the high-danger chances, 54.2% of the scoring chances, and 54.3% of the expected goals at 5v5. His 59.4% high-danger chances rate ranked first among all Golden Knights defensemen last season.
He's going to help the Penguins be less chaotic in their own zone, and there's a chance he gets some decent minutes on the penalty kill. He logged a little over 35 minutes on the PK this past season, which was a career high. Head coach Dan Muse is a PK aficionado and could find him a role on that unit.
Korczak will likely start on the third pair to start the year, but could have the chance to get some minutes on the second pair if the opportunity arises. I'd be super intrigued to see a third pair of Korczak and Declan Carlile, but Korczak and Girard is also super fascinating.
We all know that Girard and Letang didn't work last season since they were trying to do the same things, but that wouldn't be the case with Girard and Korczak. Girard is a lot more of an offensive defenseman than Korczak, and the latter would be able to cover for the former in the defensive zone.
Korczak may not compile a lot of points this season, but he will help the team in an assortment of ways.
(Data via Natural Stat Trick).
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