As the dust settles following a busy NHL trade deadline for the Pittsburgh Penguins, a full inventory can now be taken of players the club added versus those who departed.
Beginning with a pair of trades Wednesday and four more deals Friday, the Penguins parted with five players and two draft picks, adding back five players and four future selections.
Speaking with reporters Friday night at the Penguins’ practice facility in Cranberry, general manager/president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas offered his thoughts on the four players and prospects added to the mix Friday:
Connor Dewar
Previous team: Toronto Maple Leafs
Position: Forward
Shoots: Left
Age: 25
Contract: Signed through 2024-25 at $1.18 million
Dewar has played all three forward positions for the Maple Leafs this year but has not been impressive from a production standpoint: Through 31 games, he has zero goals and three assists while averaging 9 minutes, 58 seconds of ice time.
Last season, the 5-foot-10, 192-pound native of Manitoba (The Pas) appeared in 17 games for Toronto, scoring a goal with four assists.
A veteran of 221 NHL games, he was selected by the Minnesota Wild in the third round (92nd overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.
Dewar’s best NHL campaign came in 2022-23 with the Wild, when he scored six goals with 12 assists in 81 games.
The following season, he scored a career-high 10 goals.
“He brings life, energy and spirit,” Dubas said. “As we continue to work our way through this (process to return to Stanley Cup contention), it’s important to have those types of people here. Connor’s much younger. He’s under team control with his status. We’ll give him a good run. We’re excited about him.”
Conor Timmins
Previous team: Toronto Maple Leafs
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Right
Age: 26
Contract: Signed through 2024-25 at $1.1 million annually
Dubas has a history with Timmins, both with the Maple Leafs and Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League, for whom Timmins played and Dubas served as general manager.
This season with Toronto, Timmins appeared in 51 games, scoring two goals with six assists in 16:19 of ice time.
Chosen as the first pick in the second round (No. 32 overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in 2017, Timmins played 33 games for the club from 2019-21 before being traded to the Arizona Coyotes.
After appearing in only eight games over two seasons there, he landed in Toronto, where he played parts of three seasons beginning in 2022-23.
Timmins is a 6-3, 213-pound blueliner Dubas is hoping can rebound from earlier injuries.
“He’s a good size, incredibly intelligent defenseman,” Dubas said. “Excellent puck mover. He’s kind of overcome some of the injury stuff that’s plagued him early in his career. We traded for him my last year in Toronto. He’s continued to assert himself there. We think at his age and his capability to move the puck and defend, we still think there’s a lot of potential there.”
Chase Stillman
Previous team: New Jersey Devils (Utica Comets, American Hockey League)
Position: Forward
Shoots: Right
Age: 21
Contract: In the second of a three-year deal worth $2.59 million ($863,334 annually)
Stillman turns 22 on March 19 and was the 29th overall pick by the Devils in the 2021 NHL Draft.
He has yet to make his NHL debut.
This season with the Comets, Stillman has scored three goals with six assists in 46 games.
let us hear ya, chase!! https://t.co/LNxThjDQ0Bpic.twitter.com/gaycObn8I9
— Utica Comets (@UticaComets) January 16, 2025
Through 100 career AHL games, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound Stillman has managed 17 goals and 16 assists.
His OHL career from 2019-23 with the Sudbury Wolves and Petersboro Petes featured significantly more scoring touch (51 goals, 80 assists in 176 games), which Dubas referred to and hopes to rediscover.
Per Dubas, Stillman will soon join Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“A highly competitive winger that you know what you’re going to get from every night,” Dubas said. “He’s going to play hard, play physical. He’s got an offensive history that just hasn’t come to the surface yet at the American League level. But we’ll look forward to working with him. He’s in Utica tonight. He’s going to drive to Wilkes tomorrow. He’ll play for Wilkes and hopefully be a big part of helping them.”
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Max Graham
Previous team: New Jersey Devils (Kelowna Rockets, Western Hockey League)
Position: Forward
Shoots: Left
Age: 20
Contract: Yet to turn professional
The Penguins gained the rights to Graham, who was serving as captain of the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL before suffering a season-ending injury.
Through 34 games, he’d scored 13 goals with 22 assists.
Over his WHL career of 237 games, he’s managed 56 goals and 77 assists (133 points).
Originally a fifth-round (No. 139 overall) draft pick by the Devils in 2024, Graham is a 6-3, 203-pound player.
“Big, physical winger who this year got off to a great start, playing his best hockey,” Dubas said. “He had an injury that ended his season. We viewed it as an opportunity, when we were going through this situation with (New Jersey) when they had expressed interest in Cody Glass.
“ … Being able to add a player like Max where we felt maybe because of the injury he could be available, and we liked him — we don’t have a lot of players like that in the system that combine that size, toughness and ability. We’ll have him in here with our medical people. He had knee surgery, so he’ll miss the rest of the year. But we’ll get him back up and running for the prospect tournament in Buffalo (New York) in September.”
Note: Following all the trade deadline action Friday, the Penguins re-signed defenseman Ryan Shea to a one-year deal through 2025-26 worth $900,000 annually. This season, Shea is making $775,000 on another one-year contract. He’s appeared in 28 games for the Penguins in 2024-25, scoring two goals with three assists while averaging 16:30 (all career-highs) of ice time.
• The Penguins also recalled defenseman Jack St. Ivany from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton under emergency roster conditions Friday. The 25-year-old St. Ivany has been with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton since early December, last appearing in the NHL on Nov. 29. At the AHL level, he’s played 21 games with six points (one goal, five assists). St. Ivany, who skated in 19 games with the NHL Penguins earlier this season, is in the first year of a three-year contract that runs through 2026-27 at $775,000 annually.