Pittsburgh Penguins roster: Projecting the full roster for the 2023/24 NHL season

By Cole Shelton

Modified Aug 07, 2023 13:15 GMT

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The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the playoffs last season and made some big changes in the front office as former Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas is now the Penguins GM and president.

The Penguins have an old core with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, but all three still play at a high level so they could go on one more run for a Cup.

On Sunday, Pittsburgh acquired Erik Karlsson, among some other pieces, to really strengthen its team even more. Now, it's likely that the Penguins' roster is set. NHL teams usually carry 23 players on a roster and usually split up with 13 or 14 forwards, seven or eight defensemen and two goalies.

Pittsburgh Penguins 2023-24 roster: Fowards (13)

The Pittsburgh Penguins are built around Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Jake Guentzel up front.

However, for a while, the knock on Pittsburgh was the secondary players as outside the top two lines, the Penguins have been a revolving door in trying to find the right players to play in the bottom six.

Currently, the Penguins are expected to have 13 forwards, while Guentzel will miss the start of the season due to an ankle injury. But, he will be listed here as he will immediately jump into the top six when he's back.

The 13 forwards that will most likely be on Pittsburgh's opening-night roster are as follows:

1. Sidney Crosby
2. Evgeni Malkin
3. Bryan Rust
4. Jake Guentzel
5. Rickard Rakell
6. Reilly Smith
7. Jeff Carter
8. Lars Eller
9. Noel Acciari
10. Rem Pitlick
11. Drew O'Connor
12. Alexander Nylander
13. Matt Nieto

Pittsburgh Penguins roster: Defensemen (7)

Erik Karlsson was acquired by Pittsburgh

The Pittsburgh Penguins likely won't be able to carry the full 23 players, as due to the cap they will have to play one short. Hence, Pittsburgh will only carry one extra defenseman.

The Penguins strengthened their D-Core by adding Erik Karlsson in a trade with the Sharks to make their defense much better. Along with Karlsson, Pittsburgh will also be led by Kris Letang.

The seven defensemen who will likely be on Pittsburgh's roster are as follows:

1. Erik Karlsson
2. Kris Letang
3. Ryan Graves
4. Marcus Pettersson
5. Pierre-Olivier Joseph
6. Ty Smith
7. Chad Ruhwedel

Pittsburgh Penguins 2023-24 roster: Goalies (2)

The Penguins did have three goalies under NHL contracts but were able to trade Casey DeSmith in the Karlsson deal.

Pittsburgh signed Tristan Jarry to a contract extension to be the starter and added Alex Nedeljkovic to be the backup.

Here are the two goalies who will make Pittsburgh's roster:

1. Tristan Jarry
2. Alex Nedeljkovic