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.)

Connor Clifton

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Right

Age: 31

Height: 6-foot

Weight: 196 pounds

2025-26 NHL regular season statistics: 50 games, six points (two goals, four assists), 16:46 of average ice time per contest

2025-26 NHL postseason statistics: Three games, zero points (zero goals, zero assists), 11:50 of average ice time per contest

Contract: In the final year of a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $3,333,333. Pending unrestricted free agent on July 1

Acquired: Trade, June 28, 2025

This season: When the Penguins acquired Connor Clifton during the 2025 NHL Draft, it was largely a salary dump for his former team, the Buffalo Sabres, which also sent a second-round selection in the same draft to complete the transaction.

(Right-handed defensive prospect Peyton Kettles was selected with that pick.)

Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas has not been averse to unwanted contracts in the pursuit of accumulating draft capital and this transaction – which sent reserve defenseman Conor Timmins and mid-level defensive prospect Isaac Belliveau to Buffalo – was a perfect example of that.

Entering training camp, the Penguins had a surplus of right-handed defensemen. Below All-Stars Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang was a group that included veterans such as Clifton, Matt Dumba and Jack St. Ivany, along with promising prospect Harrison Brunicke.

Somehow, all of them remained by the time the regular season opened (St. Ivany landed on the injured non-roster list). But Clifton and Dumba were largely spectators as healthy scratches to open the season, as the Penguins experimented with Brunicke.

In total, Clifton dressed for only 15 of the team’s first 43 games (and did not record a point in any of those contests).

By Jan. 11, starting with a 1-0 road loss to the Boston Bruins, Clifton began to become a fairly regular presence in the Penguins’ lineup, primarily on the right side of the third pairing. He wound up skating in 35 of the team’s final 35 games.

Clifton did not offer a pretty game. And that was to be expected. Despite playing in so few games, he led the Penguins in hits. Including previous stops with the Bruins and Sabres, he led the team he played for in hits for the fourth consecutive season. (He previously paced the Bruins and Sabres in that statistic, as well.)

Defensively, he wound up being a stalwart on the penalty kill, logging 2:03 of short-handed ice time per contest, second only to Parker Wotherspoon (2:22) among the team’s defenseman.

Offensively, there were limited contributions from Clifton, who has never been an overly dynamic player with the puck. The highlight of his season from that realm came during a 4-1 home win against the New Jersey Devils on Feb. 26 when he scored the winning goal.

And while he’s far from being the biggest player on the ice, Clifton was not afraid to provide some toughness. During a 7-2 road win against the Colorado Avalanche on March 16, Clifton fought forward Jack Drury after Drury began to rough up Penguins forward Evgeni Malkin.

In the postseason, Clifton played in the Penguins’ first three games of their first-round series loss against the Philadelphia Flyers, working on the third pairing with left-hander Ryan Shea. In the final three games of the series, Clifton was scratched in favor of left-handed rookie defenseman Ilya Solovyov.

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On Thursday, Clifton was named to the United States’ preliminary roster for the upcoming International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championship tournament.

The future: Presumably, the Penguins will move on from Clifton as they already have plenty of 30-something right-handed defensemen. Brunicke, 20, appears to be a leading candidate to be a regular in the lineup next season, while St. Ivany, 26, is still a viable NHL-caliber reserve (when healthy) and he’s cheap.

Whatever money the Penguins might spent on re-signing Clifton, who just turned 31 on April 28, could be better spent elsewhere.

But none of that should suggest Clifton didn’t have an adequate season as a bottom-pairing reserve defenseman. He provided a competent level of defense and physicality from that station.

Once he joined the Penguins, Clifton proved to be more than just a salary dump.