We’re just under a month away from the Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 2025-26 season getting underway inside Madison Square Garden against the New York Rangers on October 7.
The Penguins will get to see their old head coach, Mike Sullivan, right away after he accepted the Rangers’ head-coaching position right after the regular season ended. As a matter of fact, the Penguins will play the Rangers in two of their first three games since the Rangers will come to PPG Paints Arena on October 11.
Sullivan will get a big video tribute from the Penguins after he guided the franchise to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, and is arguably the best coach in franchise history.
Expectations aren’t exactly high for the Penguins heading into this season since they’re rebuilding, but that doesn’t mean the year is going to be full of negatives. In honor of hockey being around the corner, let’s make some bold predictions for this Penguins’ season.
Tommy Novak will score 20+ goals.
I am all aboard the Tommy Novak train entering the 2025-26 season and think a lot of Penguins fans are sleeping on him. He only got to play in two games before he got hurt and had to miss the rest of the season. Novak came over from the Nashville Predators in the Michael Bunting trade before the 2025 NHL trade deadline.
The Penguins got younger in that deal and think Novak can be a good fit in their top nine for this season. He’s an underrated goal scorer and has a release that people don’t talk about enough. He finished last season with 13 goals and 22 points in 54 games while rocking a 14% shooting percentage.
For his career, Novak is a 15.2% shooter, with a career-high shooting percentage of 18.3%. He can score from anywhere and will have the opportunity to play second and third-line minutes this year. He’s flexible and can play both center and wing, meaning head coach Dan Muse may put him on Malkin’s wing at times. On paper, it is a strong fit since Novak can score and has some slick vision.
Novak’s career high in goals is 18, but he will break that this season and get his first 20-goal season.
Erik Karlsson will score 70+ points (if he’s not traded).
This one may seem a bit crazy since Karlsson hasn’t even gotten over the 60-point plateau during his Penguins tenure. However, he has more to give and is going to come into this season motivated to prove his detractors wrong after his first two seasons with the team.
He was banged up heading into last season after suffering an injury during…