3 Players Entering Final Season With Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a weird spot and will likely be a bubble team again. They didn't get better over the offseason and have a lot of players with 1-2 years left on their deals. There are going to be a lot of changes coming for this team, so let's look at three players who are entering their final season with the Penguins.

Lars Eller

Lars Eller had a solid season for the Penguins in 2023-24, but he is now 35 years old and in the final year of his deal. With the way the Penguins are going, this is the type of player that could be traded at the deadline for an asset or less ideally be parted ways with after the season. Kevin Hayes is now a member of the team and can serve as the third line center upon Eller's departure. The best thing for the Penguins to do is trade Eller this season if he has any value.

Anthony Beauvillier

Anthony Beauvillier has fallen pretty far from the player he was at the start of his career on the New York Islanders. He played on the Vancouver Canucks, Chicago Blackhawks, and Nashville Predators last season, totaling five goals and 17 points in 60 games. On a one-year deal and playing in the bottom-6 in Pittsburgh, I don't see him showing much value or rebounding to the player he once was to warrant the Penguins re-signing him.

Ryan Shea

Ryan Shea is caught in the shuffle of the big names on the Penguins' blue line. He will probably serve mainly as the 7th defenseman this season if he isn't bumped down further. As someone who plays on the left side, he is behind Ryan Graves, Marcus Pettersson, and Matt Grzelcyk and has only played 31 games as a 27-year-old. His underlying numbers aren't great and he scored just one goal and recorded no assists in those 31 games last season. The Penguins will likely look to move a different direction, especially if Shea barely plays this season.