The Penguins scoring depth is becoming biggest surprise of season

The thing that stood out the most to me about the Pittsburgh Penguins 6-2 win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Thursday evening is not just the players that provided the offense. It is also the players that did not provide the offense. Consider these numbers.

Evgeni Malkin recorded one assist.

Sidney Crosby recorded zero points.

Erik Karlsson recorded zero points.

Kris Letang recorded zero points.

Bryan Rust recorded zero points because he is serving the first game of a three-game suspension.

Those are five of the Penguins highest paid players and five of their best players. They combined for one point. In a game the Penguins absolutely dominated for 50 minutes and scored six goals. That is significant.

This is continuing a trend and storyline that has perhaps become the biggest surprising development of the season. It is the scoring depth. It is the fact they have four balanced lines that can all provide offense, with more help waiting in the wings.

When the 2025-26 season began there was a belief that the forward group could be pretty good, at least as far as the top-six was concerned. Certainly good enough to keep the team competitive for a bit, especially if Crosby and Malkin continued to play like …. well …. Crosby and Malkin.

Then Ben Kindel showed up as an 18-year-old and immediately became an impact player.

Then free agent signings Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha showed up and became bargain addition free agent signings.

Tommy Novak started to figure things out and bounce back from a slow, frustrating start to the season.

Then the fourth line of Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte and Noel Acciari became a thing,

Then Egor Chinakhov arrived and just started scoring goals.

Now they four lines that can be rolled out evenly. In Thursday’s game no line played more than 11:14, and no line played less than 9:16. Everybody was involved. Everybody contributed. Everybody stayed fresh.

It also helped that for as deep as the NHL roster has become, they still have plenty of help waiting in the wings. Top prospect Rutger McGroarty was recalled for Thursday’s game and looked outstanding, recording a game-high five shots on goal and providing a physical presence. It may not have resulted in him recording any points, but he was noticeable and looked outstanding. He looks like an NHL player.

Ville Koivunen did not produce much in the way of offense at the NHL level to open the season, his line always pushed play and drove possession and you can still see the skill. He has been a point-per-game player in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He looks like an NHL player.

They have options.

The scoring depth is not just limited to the forwards, either. The defense is chipping in.

Erik Karlsson is on a 57-point pace over 82 games. Kris Letang is on a 41-point pace. Ryan Shea, who had a goal and an assist on Thursday and has now recorded a point in each of the past four games, has 21 points in 52 games, with all of them coming at even-strength. Entering this season he had just six points in 70 career games.

They are getting contributions from everybody.

It is a combination of new head coach Dan Muse getting the most out of everybody, the scouting staff and front office identifying talent — and in some cases undervalued talent — and the ability to put everybody into place. That does not even get into the fact the veteran players are still able to perform.

If you would have told me at the start of the season the Penguins’ top-six forward lines and the two two defensemen (Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang) were productive and everybody else around them struggled, that would have seemed reasonable. Not at all surprising. If you would have told me they would be able to go more than four lines deep and have three defensemen on pace for more than 30 points I would not have believed you.

They are doing it. It is really something to watch.