Opportunity knocked and a lot of Penguins answered

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 .