A more mature Josh Archibald returns to the Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ offseason had a pretty obvious theme.

It was all about bringing back a group that has won Stanley Cup titles.

That was the focus of management when it re-signed Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust.

And Josh Archibald.

Okay … maybe not him.

But Archibald was present when the Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017 — his name was engraved onto the trophy in 2017, immediately following captain Sidney Crosby — and he’s back with the team that he broke into the NHL with during the 2015-16 campaign.

After spending parts of five seasons with the Arizona Coyotes and Edmonton Oilers, Archibald returned to the Penguins in July, signing a one-year deal worth $900,000.

Returning to the Penguins wasn’t just a professional decision for the 29-year-old.

“I’ve got two kids, another on the way,” Archibald said. “With the family, I think I just had to do what was best for us as a whole. Coming back to Pittsburgh, I knew a lot of guys, knew the organization, familiarity. It was an easy choice for me, especially to come back and play with these guys. We’ve got (Crosby, Malkin and Letang). To have that core group back here again, I think was a pretty easy decision.”

A sixth-round pick (No. 174 overall) in 2011, Archibald was an infrequent portion of the Penguins’ lineup throughout his first three NHL seasons before he was traded to the Coyotes in December of 2017.

It was with the Coyotes in 2018-19 that Archibald first began to establish traction as an NHLer. During the 2018-19 campaign, he established career highs in games (68), goals (12) and points (22).

A native of Regina, Saskatchewan, Archibald signed with the Oilers in the 2019 offseason. Despite playing in only 62 games, he once again scored 12 goals as well as 21 points in 2019-20 while playing with two of the NHL’s best players in forwards Leon Draisaitl and Connor McDavid.

“Went from the hottest place in the league to the coldest place,” Archibald quipped about moving from Arizona to Alberta. “I’ve been pretty lucky to play with the four best players in the league — two here, two in Edmonton. It was a lot of fun.”

The fun was limited for Archibald last season, however.

Over the summer of 2021, Archibald — who is not vaccinated for covid-19 — contracted the virus. That was followed by a bout with myocarditis, an inflammation of the heart muscle.

The latter ailment sidelined him until March 12. And even then, he was only able to participate in games in Canada because laws in the United States concerning unvaccinated individuals did not make it practical for Archibald to enter the country.

In the first round of the playoffs, Archibald was able to secure a medical exemption that allowed him to cross the border freely and participate in the Oilers’ road games. That exemption remains in place as a member of the Penguins.

Archibald isn’t terribly eager to discuss his decision to not be vaccinated. But he acknowledges the anxiety that was brought on by his bout with myocarditis.

“It was just the uncertainty of what was going on,” Archibald said. “It took forever to find out what was truly wrong. Once we got down to the bottom of it and found out there was no long-term effects or anything like that and that I was able to come back — it was a slow process because I had taken a while off the ice — once I got back into it, it felt good and still feeling good.”

Archibald has a pretty good grasp on why the Penguins brought him back. He’s a role player who will work among the bottom-six forwards and contribute on the penalty kill.

Additionally, at 5-foot-10 and 176 pounds, Archibald is quicker than a hiccup. And given his abrasive, combative nature, he’s about as endearing as a belch.

“Over the last five years, I’ve really taken pride in the penalty kill,” Archibald said. “I know last year, (the Penguins) had a really good penalty kill. If I can come in and help and add to that, I’ll do my best there. Just come in, be an energy guy, bring the physicality, just try to bring momentum swings to the game. When things are down, to be that guy to help change momentum in our favor.”

During the Penguins’ 3-2 road preseason win against the Detroit Red Wings at Little Caesars Arena, Archibald vexed Red Wings forward Jakub Vrana into a roughing penalty at 12:06 of the first period. Only 24 seconds later, Penguins forward Bryan Rust scored on the ensuing power-play opportunity to give his team a 1-0 lead.

Archibald also scored the Penguins’ second goal of the contest 4:52 of the second period by claiming a loose puck in the Red Wings’ right circle and lifting a wrister that clunked off the near post then deflected off of goaltender Ville Husso’s left shoulder before caroming into the cage.

Finding the net isn’t foreign to Archibald. Once upon a time, he led the 2013-14 University of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks — a squad that included future Penguins All-Star forward Jake Guentzel — in scoring with 43 points (29 goals, 14 assists) in 37 games.

“I used to be a goal-scorer back in college,” Archibald said. “I have a scoring touch. I just had to find a different way to break in and get myself in the NHL. Be a penalty killer and an energy guy. At the same time, if there’s opportunities to score goals, I’ll score goals.”

Archibald is largely the same player who skated for the organization several years ago. He just has a bit more seasoning these days.

“He knows the type of player that he needs to be to help a team have success,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “He just has a more mature game. His decision-making is better, things of that nature. He’s the same player, just more refined.”

Archibald acknowledges that refinement as he prepares for his second run with the Penguins.

“I may have not been, like, really young when I was here (before) but in terms of (professionalism), I was still pretty young coming up,” Archibald said. “Just over the years, becoming more mature, evolving my game and just finding that niche to kind of keep myself in the NHL.”

Follow the Penguins all season long.