The Pittsburgh Penguins made another roster adjustment on Sunday, sending prospect Rutger McGroarty back to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. This realignment reduced their player roster to 22 and enabled the recall of Justin Brazeau, who was undergoing a conditioning assignment with WBS.
The Penguins officially announced Brazeau’s recall on Monday morning. He has yet to appear in a game this season due to an injury sustained during preseason. Last season, Brazeau achieved a career-high tally of 34 points, featuring a personal best of 17 goals.
The recent recall saw McGroarty participate in two games, both of which were victorious for the Penguins (4-0 against the Florida Panthers on Oct. 22, and a 3-2 overtime triumph over the Nashville Predators on Oct. 24). Although he did not score, he recorded three shots and logged over 15 minutes of play in the Florida win.
Penguins Record Setters
Amid the chaos of significant mistakes and turnovers resulting in a 5-4 defeat against the Montreal Canadiens on Saturday, the Penguins’ record breakers stood out. Sidney Crosby continues his ascent on the all-time scoring charts, reinforcing his status among the greatest players of all time, while Erik Karlsson is surpassing many renowned defensemen on the all-time scoring list for defensemen as well.
However, Saturday night, neither player seemed focused on these achievements.
“I mean, it’s not really something I think about,” Crosby remarked before elaborating on how fortunate he felt to have played as long as he has.
Initially, Crosby established the record for the most assists with a single team (1112) before he added another assist. Furthermore, with a late-game goal in the third period, Crosby tied Marcel Dionne for sixth place on the all-time points leaderboard with 1771. He stands 27 points behind current Penguins senior advisor Ron Francis for fifth and trails Gordie Howe by 79 points for fourth. With 69 games remaining this season, Crosby might not surpass Howe until next season, but he is similarly just 116 points away from Mark Messier for third all-time.
Crosby has accumulated 10 points (4-6-10) across 14 games this season.
On the same first-period power-play goal, Karlsson surpassed Brent Burns for 10th place all-time (950) and completed the match with 952 points. He is merely six points short of Montreal Canadiens icon Larry Robinson for ninth place. However, after Robinson, there is a significant gap to New York Rangers stalwart Brian Leetch, who occupies eighth place with 1028 points.
Karlsson has 16 points (3-13-16) in 14 games, and if he maintains this scoring trajectory, he could wrap up the season with 96 points and edge past Leetch for eighth position come April.
–contributed by Dan Kingerski.
Murashov’s Vision Quest
The beginning of the season has not gone as planned for Penguins rookie goaltender Sergei Murashov. Currently, he holds a record of 0-4-1 and has spent more time on the bench than in action, as Artur Silovs has received more starts. Nonetheless, he is committed to paying attention to the details.
One critical focus for him is enhancing vision and tracking the puck.
“This is a really small part of your body — your eyes — but they provide most of the information about what’s around you,” Murashov stated. “Slight adjustments can have a major impact on the game for you.”
One tool in his arsenal is something NHL.com highlighted — Trac Optics goggles. When asked by PHN on Friday if he had heard of or tried them, Murashov retrieved a case from an equipment bag in front of him that contained a pair of the goggles.
The goggles function similarly to racehorse blinders — the rubber edges block peripheral and downward-looking vision, compelling a goaltender to rely more on turning his head to follow pucks and the action directly ahead rather than depending on eye movement and peripheral vision.
“If there’s a shot coming, you must follow it all the way,” Murashov explained. “It forces your head to turn fully so that you can see a clear view of the incoming puck.
“It’s crucial how you focus on the puck. When your eyes are aligned with the puck, that’s when you gather the most information. If you’re looking with your chin elevated, you can only see through the lower part of your eyes, which restricts your view. These goggles compel you to angle your head downward.”
Murashov first encountered them in the 2024-25 season through Wheeling Nailers goaltending coach Karel Popper, and over the summer, he consulted with Lyle Mast, a kind of goaltender mentor, concerning the device and vision enhancement. He also collaborated with Josh Tucker from True Focus Vision in the offseason, who elaborated on the application and principles of the goggles, guiding him through off-ice drills utilizing them.
“Over the course of the season, it’s more for maintenance,” Murashov indicated. “If I sense that my vision feels slightly off, I take them on the ice, though primarily, I use them in the summer.”
CFO Hire
In an intriguing cross-sport connection, the Penguins made a noteworthy hire by reaching into the world of baseball.
Ted Towne has been appointed as the Penguins’ chief financial officer. Previously, he served as the chief financial officer for baseball’s Washington Nationals. One of his notable accomplishments at Washington was his role in negotiating a 20-year lease extension for Nationals Park.
During his tenure with the Nationals, Towne was recognized for instituting financial discipline within the organization.
“His unique combination of experience in finance, operations, and revenue makes him the ideal leader to assist in securing the Penguins’ future and serving our fans and Pittsburgh,” said Geoff Hoffmann, team chairman and team governor, in a statement.
This marks the second executive-level appointment by the Hoffmann Family of Companies since acquiring ownership of the Penguins in June. Marcel Braithwaite was appointed president of business operations, also arriving from a Major League Baseball team, the Houston Astros.
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