A theme for the Pittsburgh Penguins this season has been how president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas managed to hit on a significant percentage of his free-agent signings and trades.

Anthony Mantha scoring a career-best 33 goals, Egor Chinakhov tapping into his major offensive potential, Connor Dewar’s production — the list goes on.

Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, signed last summer to a modest two-year deal worth $1 million annually, is another prime example.

As the Penguins prepare to face the Flyers in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Wotherspoon’s ability to help defend some of Philadelphia’s top scoring threats such as Travis Konecny and Trevor Zegras will be a key matchup to watch.

Wotherspoon’s breakthrough

Wotherspoon, 28, has become indispensable in his first year as a Penguin, playing in 80 games, chipping in three goals with 27 assists and averaging 20 minutes, 10 seconds of ice time. All constitute career highs.

But he has been more valuable as a steady on-ice partner to three-time Norris Trophy-winning defenseman Erik Karlsson, who’s put together his finest season with the Penguins in Year 3 with the organization.

Playing with Karlsson takes a certain kind of player, and Wotherspoon has flourished in that role.

Together, Karlsson and Wotherspoon will be seeing heavy minutes against Konecny and Zegras.

Flyers’ go-to scorers

Konecny, 29, is in his 10th NHL campaign, all with Philadelphia. Primarily deployed as a second-line left winger with center Christian Dvorak and 19-year-old rookie Porter Malone, Konecny has 27 goals with 41 assists to lead the Flyers with 68 points.

In seven of his NHL seasons, he’s managed at least 24 goals, eclipsing 30 twice.

Zegras has been solid in Year 1 with the Flyers, contributing 26 goals and 41 assists, both career highs.

Zegras is the team’s top-line center, skating alongside Owen Tippett and Tyson Foerster. He also leads the Flyers with 10 power-play goals.

Power-play problems

Zegras and Konecny are both featured on Philadelphia’s first unit, and Wotherspoon sees the most short-handed minutes per night (2:22) of any Penguins defenseman.

The Penguins have been an effective penalty-killing club this season, ranking seventh in the NHL with an 81.4% kill rate.

By contrast, no team in the league has been worse on the man-advantage than Philadelphia. The Flyers convert on only 15.3% of their power plays.

Head to head

The Penguins and Flyers met four times during the regular season, with the Penguins going 2-0-2.

Konecny played in three of those contests, notching a goal and an assist, while Zegras logged three assists. Wotherspoon had an assist and a plus-three rating.