Penguins first half review: Best player, biggest surprise, biggest disappointment

Checking in on the best, worst and all of the surprises from the first half of the 2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins season.

Now that the calendar has rolled over to 2025, we have pretty much reached the halfway point of the 2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins season. So let’s talk about some of the biggest surprises and disappointments so far.

Even within the first half of the season it’s pretty much been a tale of two seasons for the Penguins.

The first quarter of the season was about as bad as you could imagine — and probably worse than expected — as the Penguins looked like one of the worst teams in the NHL. The defense was a disaster, the goaltending was a mess, they could not hold leads and they literally had one of the worst records in hockey.

The second quarter was a totally different story. At least in some ways.

The defense, goaltending and their ability to protect leads has still been a concern, but they have been better in some of those areas. At least more competent. They have also found some consistency offensively and have received a huge boost from their special teams, including the power play. The result has been a team that’s been one of the best in the NHL over the past 18 games.

They have been worse than expected at times.

They have been better than expected at times.

The end result is a team that is probably right around where everybody expected it to be overall — a mid-tier, re-tooling team on the fringes of playoff contention with a bigger eye toward the future that still might be able to compete if a few variables go their way.

With that said, let’s take a more individual look at some of the positive, negative and surprising developments this season.

Best player in first half: Sidney Crosby

Sometimes the easiest pick is also the correct pick. Even though Crosby went through one of the longest extended goal-scoring droughts of his career, he has still done his part to help carry the offense and make a positive impact on most nights. He is also still on his point-per-game average as he looks to break Wayne Gretzky’s record for most consecutive point-per-game seasons. Even at 37 he still has the ability to take over a game and put the team on his back.

Worst player in first half: Tristan Jarry

Look, I know the defense is bad. I know the Penguins give up too many odd-man rushes, and chances, and have too many issues in their own end. I get it. But sometimes you need your goalie to just make a save. Sometimes you need your goalie to be the reason you win. There have been 40 goalies in the NHL this season that have played in at least 15 games. Jarry ranks 37th in all situations save percentage within that group and 40th (that would be last) in even-strength save percentage. Add in the fact the Penguins are consistently chasing the game after he allows a goal within the first two or three shots of the game and it is just a lot to overcome sometimes. The Penguins goalies need more help in front of them. The Penguins players need more help from the goalies playing behind them.

Biggest positive surprise in first half: Rickard Rakell’s bounce back

Rakell was easily one of the biggest disappointments on the 2023-24 team, and it was looking like his contract might end up being another regrettable move from Ron Hextall’s reign of error. Now he is back to looking like one of the only positive things to come out of that era. He has already exceeded his 2023-24 goal total in 31 fewer games (17 vs. 15) and is on pace for what could be a career year in the goals department. He and Crosby have always seemed to have some chemistry together, and this year the Penguins are taking full advantage of it.

Biggest disappointment: Drew O’Connor’s offense

It’s not that O’Connor has been a bad player or a liability, I think I just expected a little more from him offensively this season. Especially after he finished the 2023-24 season so strong.

Before scoring two goals against the Detroit Red Wings on Tuesday night, he had just three goals in 38 games and had gone a whopping 33 games between goals. I was expecting him to be a solid, complementary player this season that could potentially be a strong trade chip given his versatility within the lineup.

He still could be that, but after scoring 16 goals with 33 totals points in 79 games a year ago, he is only on pace for 10 goals and 25 total points over an 82-game pace this season. That is not a HUGE difference, and it has not really impacted the season much, but so far he has not really built on what he did a year ago. At least not offensively. The Penguins could use a big second half from him. For multiple reasons.

Best new addition: Blake Lizotte

Philip Tomasino also deserves an honorable mention here for adding a little extra offensive spark — especially to the power play — following his addition in late November.

As far as the offseason additions go, there has been more negative than positive here but Lizotte has been one of the bright spots. He has been a strong presence defensively and added some unexpected scoring punch, even if the goal-scoring pace is not something he is going to sustain over the course of a full season. He is a better version of what players like Noel Accairi and Matt Nieto were supposed to be a year ago.

Worst new addition: Matt Grzelyck

This has simply not worked out. This was one of those one-year contracts where you hope the guy plays well enough that you can flip him at the deadline, but Grzelyck hasn’t really done anything to make teams want to give up anything of value for him. Despite getting some of the most favorable offensive zone start numbers on the team, he has been one of the Penguins’ worst defenders statistically in terms of suppressing scoring chances and expected goals, while pretty much every defensive pairing that he has been a part of has struggled. The eye test does not do him any more favors.