Penguins A to Z: Brian Boyle was a worthwhile experiment

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.

Brian Boyle

Position: Center

Shoots: Left

Age: 37

Height: 6-foot-6

Weight: 245 pounds

2021-22 NHL statistics: 66 games, 21 points (11 goals, 10 assists)

Contract: A one-year contract with a salary cap hit of $750,000. Pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, Oct. 12, 2021

Last season: It raised eyebrows when it was announced.

During the late stages of the 2021 offseason — Sept. 3 to be precise — the Penguins signed long-time nemesis Brian Boyle to a professional tryout contract.

It wasn’t so much curious because of Boyle’s ample history of bumping heads with the Penguins, particularly during his time as a member of the New York Rangers and Tampa Bay Lightning.

The real head-scratcher was why they opted to bring in an aging forward who did not play professional hockey in 2020-21.

But given the Penguins’ early-season issues at center (Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin were each sidelined following offseason surgeries) as well as Boyle’s history with coach Mike Sullivan (each crossed paths during stops with the Rangers), Boyle made sense on paper.

And soon enough, Boyle made a lot of sense on the ice.

After a solid preseason, Boyle signed a one-year league-minimum deal on the first day of the regular season and supplied a steadying presence among the Penguins’ bottom-six forwards and brought his acumen as a defensive entity to a penalty-killing unit that finished the season third in the NHL with a conversion rate of 84.4 %.

While he was an occasional healthy scratch, Boyle was a pretty consistent presence in the Penguins’ lineup given the team’s rampant health issues. And on the rare occasions the team’s top four centers — Crosby, Malkin, Jeff Carter and Teddy Blueger — were all in the lineup Boyle displayed some versatility and worked as a left winger on the fourth line.

All of those factors allowed Boyle to post a respectable 11 goals, tied for ninth-most on the team.

In the playoffs, Boyle was mostly a non-factor as he recorded two assists in six games. His season came to a premature end in Game 6 of a first-round series against the Rangers when he suffered a left knee injury that required surgery.

The future: Externally, the expectations for Boyle entering the season were zero. And he exceeded even the most optimistic of any internal hopes that may have been in place.

Additionally, he offered some measure of physicality on a roster where that asset is in short supply and he was a positive influence on everyone in the dressing room from cagey veterans to greenhorn rookies.

Is that enough to bring him back?

That’s certainly up for debate.

For one, he has never been blessed with speed. His age and his season-ending knee injury won’t aid that attribute. And the league is not getting slower.

Second, his presence could prevent a prospect or younger player such as Drew O’Connor or Filip Hallander from getting a true chance at earning a roster spot out of training camp.

Boyle was a worthwhile experiment that bore marvelous results.

But that doesn’t mean he should be re-signed.

Follow the Penguins all season long.