In one respect, Ryan Graves’ second season with the Pittsburgh Penguins was far better than his first.
He finished the second season.
A concussion sidelined him for the final stretch of a messy 2023-24 when he failed to live up to the expectations commensurate with the massive contract he signed during the 2023 offseason.
It would be charitable to say he met the haughty ambitions of being a reliable shutdown defender in 2024-25, but just completing the season healthy could be viewed as progress, even if incrementally.
“The way you end a season can help you lead into the next,” Graves said following morning skate a handful of hours before the Penguins’ season finale on April 17. “So, obviously that was hard. I think I would have played if we had made the playoffs (in 2024). I would have been close. Maybe not Game 1, but I was close. That was hard. Obviously, the year didn’t go as planned. I started to find a little traction toward the second half, I felt like. Then obviously that comes to a screeching halt with (the concussion). So, that’s tough.
“This year, it’s good to be able to go into the summer healthy. Obviously, there’s things you want to improve on. This year hasn’t been pitch-perfect either, but you take positives and you continue to trend in the right direction. I think I’ve trended in the right direction the last little while. Obviously, my goals (expectations) are higher than where I am at right now. But you have to start building somewhere.”
There has been a healthy amount of criticism directed at Graves over his two seasons with the Penguins.
And considering he signed one of the longest contracts in franchise history — a six-year deal with a salary cap hit of $4.5 million — it’s more than fair to scrutinize what he has provided to the Penguins.
On April 18, coach Mike Sullivan — often hesitant to be critical of players in public — was blunt in assessing where Graves’ game is.
“There were some improvements,” Sullivan said. “I think our expectation is higher as far as his impact to helping the team win. … We’re asking him to use his physical stature to be hard to play against and help us defend. To take it a step further, he has the capability of defending the (attacking) rushes aggressively with reach and his size and his mobility and his physicality. We want him to kill plays, end plays in the corners, don’t let teams play out of the corners on us and out of the quadrant. We want him to kill plays, using his same attributes. We want him to be hard at the net front, the same element. And then with his puck-possession game, just a simple, straightforward game. That’s the criteria that we try to hold Ryan accountable to every game.
“(Assistant coach David Quinn) worked extremely hard with him all year long in trying to help him improve in those areas. There was some improvement over the course of the season. I think it was sporadic. It needs to be more consistent.”
Graves (6-foot-5, 222 pounds) acknowledges those shortcomings while also professing optimism he can realize his ideal game.
“Year one (with the Penguins) was a struggle,” said Graves, a left-handed shot. “The adjustment was hard for me, and I struggled from that. Then from there, you lose confidence and you’re trying to scrape it back. It’s a fickle thing to find. If you watch the game closely, you would see things have been better. Points and ice time, they’re down significantly from previous years, but there’s more to the game than that for me. There’s things that have been steady improvements. Just continue to grow at it and define my role here.”
Whatever progress Graves’ play made in 2024-25, it came in a lesser role. Primarily deployed on the third pairing, he averaged only 14:59 of ice time per contest in the 61 games he played. That figure might have been different had he not been a healthy scratch for 21 games.
In contrast, he clocked 18:23 per contest in 70 games during the 2023-24 season while largely stationed on the first or second pairings.
Before he joined the Penguins, he averaged 18:59 in his first five seasons as a member of the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils.
“Do I believe in myself that I should be capable of playing 18 to 20 minutes a night?” Graves said. “Definitely. That’s where I’m striving to get back to and to have the staff have faith in me to get to that point. I’m going to continue to work at that. But at the same time, when you’re still playing and you’re giving everything you can to help your group win on a nightly basis, there can’t be personal agendas. There definitely isn’t with me. I’m here to give whatever is needed of me. Whenever you get a chance to be out there, you want to be able to give your best effort.”
With the Penguins in the midst of a three-year drought without a postseason appearance, there is seemingly no shortage of motivation for management in terms of augmenting the roster this summer.
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Jettisoning a big contract is certainly a consideration.
A potential trade would likely entail sending a valued future asset — a prospect or high draft pick — to the team receiving Graves. Salary retention would likely be involved as well.
As far as a buyout is concerned, that hypothetical maneuver would entail the Penguins incurring a cap hit for Graves until the 2032-33 season, according to Puckpedia.
Graves offers a simpler, less cumbersome suggestion.
Play better.
“I’ve gotten the call in July before that you’re going somewhere else,” said Graves, who was traded from Colorado to New Jersey in 2021. “You never know. It can happen. But you go through your day-to-day (routine) as if you’re going to be back here next year. Regardless of what it is, I’m going to give myself the best opportunity for success next year. I’ll come in in good shape. I’ll continue to work at my game.
“I’ll be 30 next year (May 21). I still feel like my game has room to grow and to keep improving. There is no cap on that.”