Which player will round out the Penguins’ forward group?
Our mission to craft the best possible lineup heading into the 2024-25 season continues with the final non-depth forward spot—the fourth-line right-winger.
Drew O’Connor - Sidney Crosby - Bryan Rust
Michael Bunting - Evgeni Malkin - Rickard Rakell
Anthony Beauvillier - Kevin Hayes - Valtteri Puustinen
Blake Lizotte - Lars Eller - RW4
Depth forward
LD1 / Erik Karlsson
LD2 / Kris Letang
LD3 / RD3
Depth defender
Goalie 1
Goalie 2
Garnering 84% of the vote at the time of writing, Lars Eller is the fan pick to center the Pittsburgh Penguins’ fourth line.
That leaves the final right-wing spot up for grabs, and not many qualified names to take that spot.
Currently, the Penguins have four forwards on their NHL roster that are classified as right-wingers.
Noel Acciari would be the most logical answer to fill out the Penguins’ bottom-six unit.
Sure, he’s on the older side at 32, and one could argue that a younger, hungrier player would be better suited in the role, but with general manager Kyle Dubas mentioning Acciari by name during a recent media availability as a candidate for the wing, that tells me the Rhode Island native may be in pole position to take that spot.
Jesse Puljujarvi could latch on to the final roster spot or act as the 13th forward. There’s no real swing of the pendulum there.
Puljujarvi only dressed for 22 games last season, notching three goals and one assist. His skills and limited offensive upside throughout his career may leave him best suited for a bottom-six or depth role.
A wildcard could be Sam Poulin, who, at 23 years old with just six NHL games under his belt, is rapidly approaching “make or break” territory as a 2019 first-round pick.
Poulin does have experience as a winger and center. Offering the NHL team versatility is never a bad thing. He is left-handed, so I’m not sure how much impedance there would be playing on his off-wing.
I’ll throw the recently re-signed Emil Bemstrom into the hat as well. Recording three goals and five points after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets, he’s another right-handed center/winger who could give the Penguins some youthfulness, if nothing else.
That’s a whole lot of ‘meh’ there, folks. Take your pick.
