With the Penguins’ 2021-22 season coming to a quick ending in the first round of the playoffs, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 54 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until the 2022-23 season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

John Marino

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Right

Age: 25

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 181 pounds

2021-22 NHL statistics: 81 games, 25 points (one goal, 24 assists)

Contract: In the first year of a six-year contract with a salary cap hit of $4.4 million. Pending restricted free agent in the 2027 offseason.

(Note: The final three years of Marino’s contract contains a modified no-trade clause that allows him to submit a list of eight teams he would not accept a trade to.)

Acquired: Trade, July 26, 2019

Last season: There wasn’t really anything remarkable about John Marino’s 2021-22 campaign, either in a good or bad sense.

He missed only one game during the season due to an undisclosed illness and fell one point short of matching his career-high in points. His lone goal came early in the season during a 2-1 home shootout loss to the Dallas Stars on Oct. 19.

From an advanced metric standpoint, Marino was in the black, albeit incrementally. According to Natural Stat Trick, he was on the ice for 1,260 shot attempts for and 1,171 against, equating to a Corsi for percentage of 51.83%.

Even Marino’s ice time was fairly nondescript. Primarily deployed on the second pairing with long-time partner Marcus Pettersson, Marino was third on the team with an average of 20:38 per contest, down slightly from the 20:44 he clocked in 2020-21.

The most notable statistical aspect of Marino’s season came on the penalty kill where he took on a greater role. Routinely one of the team’s first players over the bench to open a penalty-killing situation, Marino averaged 2:21 of short-handed ice time per game, up from the 1:52 he registered the season before.

In the playoffs, Marino appeared in all seven games of the Penguins’ first-round series loss to the New York Rangers, and registered a single assist which came on forward Evgeni Malkin’s winning goal during the third overtime period of Game 1, a 4-3 road victory.

The future: Once upon a time, former Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford suggested Marino could one day be the team’s top defenseman for upwards of a decade.

He hasn’t reached that day yet.

After his breakout rookie season of 2019-20, Marino labored through difficulties in 2020-21 before leveling off in 2021-22.

With Kris Letang’s status as a pending unrestricted free agent this offseason still unresolved, Marino could possibly be asked to take on a greater role. And given his ample contract, that would not be an outrageous request.

That’s not to say he could replace Letang or even be the team’s top right-handed defenseman next season. Few other players in the NHL can command the heavy workload Letang does. But Marino can help offset the possible departure of Letang by taking on more responsibilities and elevating his overall game.

Heck, even if Letang stays, Marino can offer a greater contribution.

Marino was adequate this past season but nothing more. And the Penguins need him to be so much more.

Follow the Penguins all season long.

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