With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason after a brief return to the postseason, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 53 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.
Starting with veteran Noel Acciari and going on through to prospect Bill Zonnon, every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.
This series is scheduled to be published every day until June 24, two 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.)
Alex Alexeyev
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Age: 26
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 230 pounds
2025-26 AHL regular season statistics: 38 games, 12 points (three goals, nine assists)
2025-26 AHL postseason statistics: Two games, three points (zero goals, three assists)
Contract: In the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000. Pending restricted free agent on July 1.
(Alexeyev is eligible for salary arbitration.)
Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, July 2, 2025
This season: Entering the 2025 offseason, Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas used a broad brush and declared the left side of the organization’s blue line as a problem. And he proceeded to initiated several changes in that area with the additions of defensemen such as Parker Wotherspoon and Caleb Jones as free agents.
Another signing that appeared to be a low-risk, high-reward offering was Alex Alexeyev.
A first-round selection (No. 31) overall of the Washington Capitals in 2018, Alexeyev largely never gained traction with that organization until he was cut loose as a restricted free agent last offseason, becoming an unrestricted free agent and signing with the Penguins.
After appearing in three games with no points during the preseason, Alexeyev was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Oct. 5 after clearing waivers. And he remained in Northeast Pennsylvania for nearly the entire season.
Opening the season on the left side of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s blue line, Alexeyev was a regular presence in that team’s lineup for the first two months of the season. In his first 21 games, he scored four points (three goals, one assist).
A bomb from Alexeyev! pic.twitter.com/hmet54TPiB
— x – Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) November 8, 2025
An undisclosed injury suffered on Dec. 10 wound up sidelining him for the next two months or 22 games. But after two games back in the lineup, Alexeyev was injured again on Feb. 7, leading to another absence of five games.
After a recall to the NHL roster on March 12, Alexeyev was a healthy scratch for two games before being returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on March 16.
In the final stretch of the regular season, Alexeyev was in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lineup for nine of that team’s final 12 games.
In the postseason, through all of two games, Alexeyev is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top scorer with three assists. In each of those contests, he has been deployed on the top pairing with right-hander Harrison Brunicke, one of the organization’s top prospects.
The future: From an immediate perspective, Alexeyev has landed a fairly prominent assignment on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top pairing as the club tries to make a legitimate run deep into the Calder Cup playoffs for the first time in more than a decade.
Beyond this season, the Penguins have contract control over Alexeyev as a pending restricted free agent. But like the Capitals did last offseason, the Penguins could very well decline to make a contract offer and let him walk as an unrestricted free agent.
While he is still on the young side, Alexeyev has failed to make much progress towards being a steady NHLer with two different organizations. And in the Penguins’ case, they entered the season with what was essentially an open tryout for left-handed defensemen and Alexeyev didn’t seem to merit serious consideration for a roster spot.
And with Wotherspoon as well as mid-season addition Sam Girard appearing to establish themselves as parts of the roster for the 2026-27 campaign, the Penguins won’t have nearly as many openings on the port side of the blue line.
Alexeyev was a worthwhile experiment, but he may have to go elsewhere for another second chance.