Czuczman, 30, spent majority of the 2020-21 season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) and recorded four assists and 45 shots in 28 games. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound native of London, Ontario, ranked second amongst team defensemen in shots, tallied his 100th career AHL assist on May 5 vs. Binghamton and skated in his 400th career AHL game on May 9 at Lehigh Valley. He played in two games with Pittsburgh last season, his first NHL contests since April 13, 2014. The left-shot blueliner owns 124 points (24-100=24), eight power-play goals (PPG), three game-winning goals (GWG), 327 penalty minutes (PIM) and 741 shots on goal in 402 career AHL games with Bridgeport (2014-16), Manitoba (2016-17) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (2017-21). He has appeared in five Calder Cup Playoff games with Bridgeport (2016) and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (2018).
Czuczman was originally signed as a free agent by the New York Islanders on March 11, 2014. He made his NHL debut on March 18, 2014 vs. Minnesota and tallied his first NHL point with an assist on March 25, 2014 at Carolina. The defenseman owns two assists in 15 career NHL games in parts of two seasons with the Islanders (2013-14) and the Penguins (2020-21).
Prior to signing with New York, Czuczman skated in three seasons with Lake Superior State University of the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (WCHA) and registered 45 points (14-31=45) and 141 PIM goal in 114 games (2011-14). He was named to the WCHA Second All-Star Team in 2014, named Lake Superior's Most Valuable Defenseman in 2013 and the team's Outstanding Freshman in 2012.
