There is never too much talent.
There are never too many players.
Especially too many useful players, or good players.
Among the talking points surrounding the 2026-27 Pittsburgh Penguins, one of the biggest was the number of forwards they have that are capable of playing in the NHL, and just what in the heck they are going to do with all of them. There was always going to be the possibility that some NHL-caliber players are going to be forced into AHL duty just based on a numbers game. Perhaps some young players.
The thing is, weird stuff happens in the NHL. Sometimes people get hurt. Sometimes people are not available. That is where that depth really starts to matter.
The Penguins found that out going into the 2026-27 season opener when Ben Kindel, Bryan Rust and Justin Brazeau were all absent due to injuries, and after Andrei Kuzmenko had to travel back home. That is four NHL-caliber forwards. That is also four pretty good NHL-caliber forwards. It is, quite literally, your entire third line, and what could be a really good third line.
That opened the door for a lot of players that may not have been in the opening night lineup.
Ville Koivunen, the new $32 million man.
Hendrix Lapierre.
Fillip Hallander.
Maybe even Elmer Soderblom depending on what role you see for him vs. Justin Brazeau (I would go with Soderblom, but we can discuss that at another time).
Opportunity knocked for them, and they answered. Significantly in a 7-0 win over the Philadelphia Flyers.
There is no better example of that than the makeshift third line of Koivunen, Lapierre and Hallander. Statistically speaking, they were the Penguins best line of the night. Each player scored a goal. The Penguins outscored the Flyers 3-0 when that trio was on the ice. They had a 96.8 expected goal share. On a night where the Penguins came out the Flyers in waves and completely dominated every aspect of the game, and in every situation, those three stood out.
In Hallander’s case, it’s just an incredible story because there was good reason to believe his career might be over. But he worked his way back, earned an opportunity, and ran with it.
In Lapierre’s case, it’s encouraging because he is one of those early-to-mid-20s forwards the Penguins keep gambling on in the hopes they can catch lightning in a bottle. Lapierre had fantastic defensive and possession metrics this past season with the Washington Capitals, and delivered on that with a goal and an assist.
In Koivunen’s case, it is really encouraging because all of the possession numbers and analytics that have defined his young NHL career were still there (a great combination with Lapierre), while he also did something he has not yet done a lot of — he finished a prime scoring chance. I still think a lot of his problems at the NHL level come from a lack of confidence at times. There is always that split second of hesitation when he is in a good spot with the puck. It either leads to a blocked or deflected shot, or an easier save for the goalie. Having a couple of pucks go in the net for him early on might really spark something for him.
That is the hope, anyway.
It was also a big night for a lot new players that knew they were going to get opportunities, and simply took advantage of them.
Nicholas Robertson is another one of the younger players acquired in a trade that the Penguins are hoping can break out offensively. He looked incredible on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell, immediately scoring two goals.
Defenseman Kaedan Korczak, who always excelled in smaller roles in Vegas, showed up and played a rock solid game with Sam Girard and contributed two assists.
It is only one game. There are still 83 more games to go, and at some point some of the flaws this team has are going to surface and show themselves a little bit. But it is still an extremely deep team at forward, and a team that has a lot of options. And that is only going to be a positive. Not just because it gives you playable options when you need them, but because competition makes people better, and makes your team better. You can not just throw young players into the lineup “because it is time to get young” when they have not earned it, or are not ready for it. That does not help development of the player or the team. Create competition. Create incentive. Make people earn it.
You saw a lot of that play out on Wednesday night. It is just the start of the season. It is still an encouraging start of the season.
