2019–20 Pittsburgh Penguins season

2019–20 Pittsburgh Penguins
Division	3rd Metropolitan
Conference	5th Eastern
2019–20 record	40–23–6
Home record	23–8–4
Road record	17–15–2
Goals for	224
Goals against	196
Team information
General manager	Jim Rutherford
Coach	Mike Sullivan
Captain	Sidney Crosby
Alternate captains	Kris Letang Evgeni Malkin
Arena	PPG Paints Arena
Minor league affiliate(s)	Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Team leaders
Goals	Bryan Rust (27)
Assists	Evgeni Malkin (49)
Points	Evgeni Malkin (74)
Penalty minutes	Evgeni Malkin (58)
Plus/minus	Brian Dumoulin John Marino (+17)
Wins	Tristan Jarry Matt Murray (20)
Goals against average	Tristan Jarry (2.43)

The 2019–20 Pittsburgh Penguins season was the 53rd season for the National Hockey League team that was established on June 5, 1967. This season saw the team try to extend their playoffs streak to 14 seasons. The longest playoff streak in any major North American sports league.

The season was suspended by the league officials on March 12, 2020, after several other professional and collegiate sports organizations followed suit as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. On May 26, the NHL regular season was officially declared over with the remaining games being cancelled. The Penguins advanced to the playoffs, losing in four games to the Montreal Canadiens in the qualifying round.

Standings

Divisional standings

Metropolitan Division

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	Pts
1	Washington Capitals	69	41	20	8	31	240	215	+25	90
2	Philadelphia Flyers	69	41	21	7	31	232	196	+36	89
3	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	40	23	6	29	224	196	+28	86
4	Carolina Hurricanes	68	38	25	5	27	222	193	+29	81
5	Columbus Blue Jackets	70	33	22	15	25	180	187	−7	81
6	New York Islanders	68	35	23	10	24	192	193	−1	80
7	New York Rangers	70	37	28	5	31	234	222	+12	79
8	New Jersey Devils	69	28	29	12	22	189	230	−41	68

Source: National Hockey League

Eastern Conference

Pos	Team	GP	W	L	OTL	RW	GF	GA	GD	PCT	Qualification
1	Boston Bruins	70	44	14	12	38	227	174	+53	.714	Advance to Seeding round-robin tournament
2	Tampa Bay Lightning	70	43	21	6	35	245	195	+50	.657
3	Washington Capitals	69	41	20	8	31	240	215	+25	.652
4	Philadelphia Flyers	69	41	21	7	31	232	196	+36	.645
5	Pittsburgh Penguins	69	40	23	6	29	224	196	+28	.623	Advance to 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs qualifying round
6	Carolina Hurricanes	68	38	25	5	27	222	193	+29	.596
7	New York Islanders	68	35	23	10	24	192	193	−1	.588
8	Toronto Maple Leafs	70	36	25	9	28	238	227	+11	.579
9	Columbus Blue Jackets	70	33	22	15	25	180	187	−7	.579
10	Florida Panthers	69	35	26	8	30	231	228	+3	.565
11	New York Rangers	70	37	28	5	31	234	222	+12	.564
12	Montreal Canadiens	71	31	31	9	19	212	221	−9	.500
13	Buffalo Sabres	69	30	31	8	22	195	217	−22	.493
14	New Jersey Devils	69	28	29	12	22	189	230	−41	.493
15	Ottawa Senators	71	25	34	12	18	191	243	−52	.437
16	Detroit Red Wings	71	17	49	5	13	145	267	−122	.275

Source: National Hockey League

Schedule and results

Preseason

The preseason schedule was published on June 18, 2019.

2019 preseason game log: 2–1–3 (Home: 2–0–1 ; Road: 0–1–2) # Date Visitor Score Home Location Attendance Record 1 September 16 Pittsburgh 4–5 OT Buffalo Pegula Ice Arena 5,497 0–0–1 2 September 19 Columbus 1–4 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 15,649 1–0–1 3 September 21 Pittsburgh 1–3 Columbus Nationwide Arena 13,637 1–1–1 4 September 22 Pittsburgh 2–3 OT Detroit Little Caesars Arena 16,093 1–1–2 5 September 25 Detroit 2–4 Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 15,112 2–1–2 6 September 28 Buffalo 3–2 SO Pittsburgh PPG Paints Arena 18,325 2–1–3

Legend:        = Win        = Loss        = OT/SO Loss

Regular season

The regular season schedule was published on June 25, 2019.

Playoffs

Main article: 2020 Stanley Cup playoffs

The Penguins were defeated by the Montreal Canadiens in the qualifying round in four games.

2020 Stanley Cup playoffs
Eastern Conference Qualifying Round vs. (12) Montreal Canadiens: Montreal won 3–1 # Date Visitor Score Home OT Decision Series Recap 1 August 1 Montreal 3–2 Pittsburgh OT Murray 0–1 Recap 2 August 3 Montreal 1–3 Pittsburgh Murray 1–1 Recap 3 August 5 Pittsburgh 3–4 Montreal Murray 1–2 Recap 4 August 7 Pittsburgh 0–2 Montreal Jarry 1–3 Recap
Legend:        = Win        = Loss

Player statistics

Skaters

Regular season

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Evgeni Malkin	55	25	49	74	7	58
Bryan Rust	55	27	29	56	14	30
Sidney Crosby	41	16	31	47	−8	15
Kris Letang	61	15	29	44	0	38
Jake Guentzel	39	20	23	43	11	14
Jared McCann	66	14	21	35	6	17
Patric Hornqvist	52	17	15	32	9	36
Dominik Kahun‡	50	10	17	27	6	8
John Marino	56	6	20	26	17	20
Brandon Tanev	68	11	14	25	−1	16
Teddy Blueger	69	9	13	22	2	25
Dominik Simon	64	7	15	22	−9	12
Marcus Pettersson	69	2	20	22	9	35
Alex Galchenyuk‡	45	5	12	17	−7	10
Zach Aston-Reese	57	6	7	13	6	28
Sam Lafferty	50	6	7	13	5	23
Jason Zucker†	15	6	6	12	−1	2
Justin Schultz	46	3	9	12	−13	6
Jack Johnson	67	3	8	11	−1	26
Brian Dumoulin	28	1	7	8	17	10
Juuso Riikola	36	1	6	7	3	6
Chad Ruhwedel	41	2	4	6	4	12
Joseph Blandisi‡	21	2	3	5	−3	10
Conor Sheary†	8	1	3	4	−1	2
Nick Bjugstad	13	1	1	2	3	8
Patrick Marleau†	8	1	1	2	0	2
Adam Johnson	7	1	1	2	−1	2
Andrew Agozzino	17	0	2	2	0	4
Anthony Angello	8	1	0	1	−1	4
Stefan Noesen‡	6	1	0	1	0	0
Evan Rodrigues†	7	1	0	1	0	4
Erik Gudbranson‡	7	0	0	0	0	4
Thomas Di Pauli	2	0	0	0	−3	10
Zach Trotman	8	0	0	0	−1	4

Playoffs

Player	GP	G	A	Pts	+/−	PIM
Sidney Crosby	4	2	1	3	0	0
Jake Guentzel	4	1	2	3	1	0
Bryan Rust	4	1	2	3	−2	2
Jason Zucker	4	2	0	2	0	0
Patric Hornqvist	4	1	1	2	−3	0
Conor Sheary	4	0	2	2	3	2
Teddy Blueger	4	1	0	1	−1	0
Jared McCann	3	0	1	1	−1	2
Zach Aston-Reese	4	0	1	1	−3	2
Brandon Tanev	4	0	1	1	−2	0
John Marino	4	0	1	1	−1	2
Brian Dumoulin	4	0	1	1	0	4
Justin Schultz	4	0	1	1	−4	0
Evgeni Malkin	4	0	1	1	−3	6
Kris Letang	4	0	0	0	−2	0
Marcus Pettersson	4	0	0	0	1	4
Jack Johnson	4	0	0	0	−4	0
Patrick Marleau	4	0	0	0	−4	0
Sam Lafferty	1	0	0	0	−1	0

Goaltenders

Regular season

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	OT	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Tristan Jarry	33	31	1,926:29	20	12	1	78	2.43	985	.921	3	0	0	0
Matt Murray	38	38	2,237:30	20	11	5	107	2.87	1,055	.899	1	0	1	2

Playoffs

Player	GP	GS	TOI	W	L	GA	GAA	SA	SV%	SO	G	A	PIM
Matt Murray	3	3	192:07	1	2	8	2.50	93	.914	0	0	0	0
Tristan Jarry	1	1	58:46	0	1	1	1.02	21	.952	0	0	0	0

^†Denotes player spent time with another team before joining the Penguins. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.
^‡Denotes player was traded mid-season. Stats reflect time with the Penguins only.
Bold/italics denotes franchise record.

Roster

Updated April 19, 2024

No.	Nat	Player	Pos	S/G	Age	Acquired	Birthplace
55		Noel Acciari	C	R	32	2023	Johnston, Rhode Island
52		Emil Bemstrom	W	R	25	2024	Nyköping, Sweden
8		Michael Bunting	LW	L	28	2024	Scarborough, Ontario
87		Sidney Crosby (C)	C	L	36	2005	Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia
20		Lars Eller	C	L	35	2023	Rødovre, Denmark
27		Ryan Graves	D	L	29	2023	Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
43		Jansen Harkins	W	L	27	2023	Cleveland, Ohio
35		Tristan Jarry	G	L	29	2013	Surrey, British Columbia
73		Pierre-Olivier Joseph	D	L	24	2019	Laval, Quebec
65		Erik Karlsson	D	R	34	2023	Landsbro, Sweden
58		Kris Letang (A)	D	R	37	2005	Montreal, Quebec
7		John Ludvig	D	L	23	2023	Liberec, Czech Republic
71		Evgeni Malkin (A)	C	L	37	2004	Magnitogorsk, Soviet Union
39		Alex Nedeljkovic	G	L	28	2023	Parma, Ohio
83		Matt Nieto	LW	L	31	2023	Long Beach, California
10		Drew O'Connor	W	L	26	2020	Chatham, New Jersey
28		Marcus Pettersson	D	L	28	2018	Skellefteå, Sweden
18		Jesse Puljujarvi	W	R	26	2024	Älvkarleby, Sweden
67		Rickard Rakell	W	R	31	2022	Sundbyberg, Sweden
17		Bryan Rust	RW	R	32	2010	Pontiac, Michigan
19		Reilly Smith	LW	L	33	2023	Etobicoke, Ontario

Transactions

The Penguins have been involved in the following transactions during the 2019–20 season.

Trades

Date	Details
June 29, 2019 (2019-06-29)	To Arizona Coyotes Phil Kessel Dane Birks 4th-round pick in 2021	To Pittsburgh Penguins Alex Galchenyuk Pierre-Olivier Joseph
October 25, 2019 (2019-10-25)	To Anaheim Ducks Erik Gudbranson	To Pittsburgh Penguins Andreas Martinsen 7th-round pick in 2021
February 10, 2020 (2020-02-10)	To Minnesota Wild Alex Galchenyuk Calen Addison Conditional 1st-round pick in 2020	To Pittsburgh Penguins Jason Zucker
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	To San Jose Sharks Conditional third-round pick in 2020.[a]	To Pittsburgh Penguins Patrick Marleau
February 24, 2020 (2020-02-24)	To Buffalo Sabres Dominik Kahun	To Pittsburgh Penguins Conor Sheary Evan Rodrigues

• ^a - Third-round pick becomes a second-rounder if the Pittsburgh Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2020.

Free agents

Player	Acquired from	Lost to	Date	Contract terms
Brandon Tanev	Winnipeg Jets		July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	6-years for $21 million
Andrew Agozzino	Colorado Avalanche		July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	2-years for $1.4 million
David Warsofsky	Colorado Avalanche		July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)	2-years for $1.4 million

Waivers

Date	Player	To/From	Team
December 19, 2019 (2019-12-19)	Stefan Noesen	→	San Jose Sharks

Contract terminations

Date	Player	Via	Ref
July 1, 2019 (2019-07-01)

Retirement

Date	Player	Ref

Signings

Player	Date	Contract terms
Kevin Czuczman	June 26, 2019	2-years for $700,000[ext]
Zach Trotman	June 26, 2019	2-years for $700,000[ext]
Joseph Blandisi	July 3, 2019	1-year for $700,000
Adam Johnson	July 3, 2019	1-year for $700,000
Teddy Blueger	July 16, 2019	2-years for $1.5 million
Zach Aston-Reese	July 22, 2019	2-years for $2 million
John Marino	August 8, 2019	Entry-level contract
Marcus Pettersson	January 28, 2020	5-years for $20,125,875[ext]

• ^ext - Contract extension.

Draft picks

See also: List of Pittsburgh Penguins draft picks

Below are the Pittsburgh Penguins' selections at the 2019 NHL Entry Draft, which was held on June 21 and 22, 2019, at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Round	#	Player	Pos	Nationality	College/Junior/Club Team (League)
1	21	Samuel Poulin	RW	Canada	Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)
3	74[1]	Nathan Legare	RW	Canada	Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
5	145	Judd Caulfield	RW	United States	U.S. NTDP (USHL)
7	203[2]	Valtteri Puustinen	RW	Finland	HPK (Liiga)
7	211[3]	Santeri Airola	D	Finland	SaiPa U20 (Nuorten SM-liiga)

Notes:

• ¹ - The Chicago Blackhawks' third-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent Buffalo's fourth-round pick, Tampa Bay's fifth-round pick and a seventh-round pick all in 2019 (98th, 151st and 207th overall) to Arizona in exchange for this pick.

• ² The Vegas Golden Knights' seventh-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the result of a trade on June 23, 2018, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2018 to Vegas in exchange for this pick.

• ³ The Washington Capitals' seventh-round pick went to the Pittsburgh Penguins as the result of a trade on June 22, 2019, that sent a seventh-round pick in 2020 to San Jose in exchange for this pick.

References