Mario Lemieux's arrival transformed a struggling Pittsburgh franchise in the 1980s, and back-to-back Stanley Cups followed in 1991 and 1992. Sidney Crosby later extended that lineage with titles in 2009, 2016 and 2017, cementing the Penguins among the sport's marquee franchises since their 1967 expansion founding. Their downtown arena opened in 2010 and is now known as PPG Paints Arena.
As of Nov 3, 2026, here are the most recently projected forward lines, defense pairings and power-play units for the Pittsburgh Penguins. On the top line, the Pittsburgh Penguins are currently projected to run left wing Tommy Novak, center Sidney Crosby and right wing Rickard Rakell together, a trio expected to log the heaviest 5-on-5 minutes on the roster, though without last change on the road it does not always draw the other team's top shutdown pairing. On the blue line, the top pairing is Spencer Stastney and Erik Karlsson, who typically log the heaviest 5-on-5 minutes on the back end and face the toughest zone starts, though the team's primary penalty-kill pairing is not always the same duo. On the power play, the PP1 unit runs Ville Koivunen, Tommy Novak, Rickard Rakell, Erik Karlsson and Sidney Crosby, the unit most teams send out first on a power play, though a delayed-penalty scramble already in progress or a late matchup change can put a different five over the boards. These combinations reflect pre-game reporting rather than real-time tracking, and can change between games and even between periods, so check the today's lines tool for the most current deployment before puck drop.
| # | Player | Off | Def | PP | PK | OVR |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Jake Guentzel | 81 | 44 | 78 | 53 | 96 |
| 2 | Sidney Crosby | 71 | 28 | 83 | 0 | 96 |
| 3 | Bryan Rust | 68 | 16 | 72 | 63 | 90 |
| 4 | Evgeni Malkin | 58 | 33 | 72 | 0 | 88 |
| 5 | Rickard Rakell | 59 | 47 | 72 | 53 | 87 |
As of Nov 3, 2026, the most recently projected lineup for the Pittsburgh Penguins includes 4 forward lines, 3 defense pairings and 2 power-play units, updated whenever a new pre-game lineup is reported.
As of Nov 3, 2026, the top line projected for the Pittsburgh Penguins is left wing Tommy Novak, center Sidney Crosby and right wing Rickard Rakell.
These projected lines are drawn from Daily Faceoff's pre-game reporting, typically beat writers covering morning skates and warmups before puck drop. They reflect the coaching staff's intended deployment rather than shift-by-shift tracking collected once a game is already underway, and can still shift between a morning skate and the opening faceoff.
Lines can change from game to game, and sometimes within a single game, as a coaching staff reacts to matchups, injuries, scoring droughts or chemistry. Check back before each Pittsburgh Penguins game for the latest projected combinations, or browse the historical lines archive to see how often this team's lines have shifted recently.
