The Pittsburgh Penguins have finalized their opening night roster for the 2023-24 season, it was announced today by President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas.
Pittsburgh will enter the season with 22 players on the roster which includes 12 forwards (Noel Acciari, Jeff Carter, Sidney Crosby, Lars Eller, Jake Guentzel, Jansen Harkins, Evgeni Malkin, Matt Nieto, Drew O’Connor, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust and Reilly Smith), eight defensemen (Ryan Graves, P.O Joseph, Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, John Ludvig, Marcus Pettersson, Chad Ruhwedel and Ryan Shea) and two goaltenders (Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic).
Forward Raivis Ansons and defenseman Will Butcher have been designated as injured non-roster.
Forwards Vinnie Hinostroza, Colin White and Radim Zohorna, defenseman Mark Friedman and goaltenders Magnus Hellberg and Garret Sparks have been assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.
Defenseman Owen Pickering has been assigned to the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League.
Twelve of the 22 players skated for the Penguins last year. They are joined by newcomers Acciari (free agency), Eller (free agency), Harkins (waiver claim), Nieto (free agency), Smith (trade w/VGK), Graves (free agency), Karlsson (trade w/SJS), Ludvig (waiver claim), Shea (free agency) and Nedeljkovic (free agency).
Crosby is the Penguins' longest-tenured player as he embarks on his franchise-record 19th campaign. He will be joined by alternate captains Malkin and Letang for their 18th seasons, who collectively are the longest tenured trio of teammates in NHL, MLB, NBA and NFL history.
