Parker Wotherspoon Looking To Build Upon Last Year For 2025-26 Season
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Pittsburgh Penguins general manager and president Kyle Dubas repeatedly stated how much he wanted to revamp the left side of the defense heading into free agency.
He wasn’t lying when he said that and added multiple players when free agency opened, including Alexander Alexeyev, Caleb Jones, and Parker Wotherspoon. Wotherspoon has the best chance of being an every-night player out of those three free-agent signings, and it's due to the season he had last year. He scored his first NHL goal and compiled six assists for seven points in 55 games. It’s the most games he has played in a season since breaking into the league in 2022. The New York Islanders originally picked him in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft.
Besides a little bit of offense, Wotherspoon has demonstrated his ability to shut down opponents in the defensive zone and on the penalty kill. His combined 155:20 on the PK over the last two seasons attests to his defensive acumen, and he is eager to bring this momentum to his first season with the Penguins.
“Obviously, was building pretty good last year. It was kinda a tough season. Obviously, we didn’t make the playoffs or where we wanted to be, but with the extra playing time, I felt like I was growing every game, playing more and more, especially when I got the bigger roles with the PK (penalty kill) and stuff,” Wotherspoon said to Penguins team reporter Michelle Crechiolo on Monday.
73 of those 155 combined PK minutes over the last two seasons were last season, and the PK is an area where the Penguins want to be better for the 2025-26 season. They finished last season with a 77.8% PK rate, good for 18th in the league. It was a step down from the 2023-24 season when the Penguins finished with the No. 11 PK in the league.
Mike Vellucci was running the show on the PK for the last few seasons before taking an assistant coaching gig with the Chicago Blackhawks. It came about a month after the Penguins parted ways with former head coach Mike…
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