With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 55 individuals signed to an NHL contract – including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons - with the organization.

Starting with Noel Acciari and going on through to Philip Tomasino (regrettably, there is no Z on the payroll), every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.

This series is scheduled to be published Mondays through Saturdays leading up until June 23, four days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)

Harrison Brunicke

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Right

Age: 18

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 202 pounds

2024-25 WHL regular season statistics: 41 games, 30 points (five goals, 30 assists)

2024-25 AHL regular statistics: 10 games, two points (zero goals, two assists)

2024-25 AHL postseason statistics: Two games, two points (one goal, one assist)

Contract: Signed to a three-year, entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $875,000. That contract has yet to begin and can “slide” – i.e. start – by the time Brunicke begins his professional career at the NHL level.

(As a player still eligible to play at the junior level, Brunicke can play up to nine NHL games before the first year of his contract is formally activated.)

Acquired: Second-round draft pick (No. 44 overall), June 29, 2024

This season: When the Penguins swung the blockbuster trade that sent All-Star forward Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes in March of 2024, they got back some notable names in steady NHL forward Michael Bunting as well as intriguing forward prospects Cruz Lucius, Ville Koivunen and Vasily Ponomarev.

Perhaps the greatest asset they acquired out of the deal was a conditional draft pick that was used to select Brunicke almost four months later.

A slick-skating puck handler, Brunicke impressed management fairly early and he signed his entry-level contract on July 18, 2024. And by the time training camp opened, he staged a solid preseason, posting one assist in four games.

Brunicke looked so at ease in a professional environment, he merited consideration for opening the season on the NHL roster. As it was, he was among the team’s final cuts from camp and was returned to the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers on Oct. 7.

With Kamloops, Brunicke was proficient, posting 12 points (three goals, nine assists) in his first 15 games of the season.

A broken wrist suffered in mid-November wound up sidelining him until late January. Were it not for the ailment, he was a candidate to suit up for Canada in the International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Junior Championship tournament.

Once healthy, Brunicke finished the regular season with 18 points (two goals, 16 assists) in 26 games but was unable to guide his team to the postseason.

That allowed him to join the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the final stretches of the American Hockey League campaign. His production was limited but his penalties weren’t as he racked up 18 minutes in the box over 10 games.

The AHL Penguins only lasted an unappetizing two games in the postseason but Brunicke was one of the squad’s limited bright spots as he tallied points in each contest.

The future: A lot of more significant things need to unfold with the organization over this offseason – especially following former head coach Mike Sullivan’s departure on Monday – before Brunicke’s immediate future is determined.

As far as player personnel goes, the team is still stocked with plenty of talented puck-movers on the right side of the blue line, namely veterans Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang. If those two players remain in place – a big if, admittedly – that will limit Brunicke’s chances of starting his NHL career next season.

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Regardless, there’s so much to like about Brunicke, who turns 19 on May 8. His composure with the puck stands out. And along with a slick set of skates, he doesn’t forfeit defense in the pursuit of offense.

Another asset is his size. While not a notably physical presence, Brunicke knows how to use his dimensions to maintain puck possession.

Just given the slow steady route president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas has plotted for the Penguins as they try to load up on future assets, keeping Brunicke in the junior ranks might simply be congruent with that overall approach.

Brunicke is a big part of the future. He’ll likely just have to wait a little longer.