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 56 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 24, 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.)

Taylor Gauthier

Position: Goaltender

Catches: Right

Age: 24

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 200 pounds

2024-25 AHL regular season statistics: One game, 1-0-0 record, 0.00 goals against average, 1.000 save percentage, one shutout

2024-25 AHL postseason statistics: One game, 0-0-0 record, 6.00 goals against average, .714 save percentage, zero shutouts

2024-25 ECHL regular season statistics: 30 games, 18-10-2 record, 2.06 goals against average, .928 save percentage, two shutouts

2024-25 ECHL postseason statistics: One game, 0-1-0 record, 5.17 goals against average, .808 save percentage, zero shutouts

Contract: In the third year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $859,167. Pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

(Gauthier does not require waivers to be assigned to a minor league affiliate.)

Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, March 1, 2022

This season: The ECHL’s top goaltender in 2023-24, Taylor Gauthier entered 2024-25 facing increased competition on the organization depth chart with the additions of Filip Larsson and Sergei Murashov to the mix.

And things weren’t improved when he suffered an undisclosed injury during a prospect showcase event in Buffalo before training camp in September.

That ailment kept him sidelined until Nov. 30. Once healed, he was stout in his season debut, stopping 31 of 32 shots in a 7-1 home win against the Cincinnati Cyclones.

Working in a platoon with Murashov for most of the remainder of the season, Gauthier helped the Nailers reach the playoffs for the second consecutive year.

Toward the end of 2024-25, Gauthier was summoned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and recorded a shutout in the regular season finale by making 32 saves in a 3-0 home win against the Cleveland Monsters on April 19.

In the AHL postseason, Gauthier replaced injured starter Joel Blomqvist in the first game of the postseason before he was returned to Wheeling on April 26. His and the Nailers’ season came to an end in a 5-2 loss to the Norfolk Admirals in Game 5 of a North Division semifinal series.

The future: Aside from his health woes earlier this season, Gauthier has largely done just about everything he can to improve his standing with the organization over his three seasons with the Penguins since joining as an undrafted free agent.

But it just hasn’t been enough. And that has almost been totally out of his control given the combined presence of Blomqvist, Larsson and Murashov, all of whom have more immediate paths to the NHL than Gauthier.

Management seems sated by what Gauthier can provide, at least at the ECHL level. And he has been successful in limited appearances in the American Hockey League dating back to his first professional season (2022-23).

Given his pending restricted free agent status, he could very well be re-signed to fill the same role he has the past three seasons. But assuming he harbors larger aspirations, he may have to go somewhere else to realize them.

No matter what he does with the Penguins, Gauthier’s path with the organization appears to be blocked.