Penguins A to Z: Conor Timmins appears to be part of the short-term future

With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 58 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.

Starting with Noel Acciari and going on through to Philip Tomasino (regrettably, there is no Z on the payroll), every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.

This series is scheduled to be published Mondays through Saturdays leading up until June 26, a day before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)

Conor Timmins

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Right

Age: 26

Height: 6-foot-3

Weight: 213 pounds

2024-25 NHL regular season statistics: 68 games, 15 points (three goals, 12 assists), 16:55 of average ice time per contest

Contract: In the second year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $1.1 million. Pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason

(Timmins is eligible for salary arbitration.)

Acquired: Trade, March 7, 2025

This past season: While he was drafted fairly high — second round (No. 32 overall) by the Colorado Avalanche — in 2017, Conor Timmins had struggles in trying to establish himself as a steady NHLer during his first five seasons in the league, due in part to injuries.

Over that half-decade, he had appeared in only 91 games with the Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes and Toronto Maple Leafs.

Entering his sixth season, Timmins was very much battling for a spot on the Maple Leafs’ roster and earned one with a strong training camp and preseason. Opening the regular season on the right side of the third pairing next to left-hander Simon Benoit, Timmins offered mostly reliable but hardly spectacular play for the Maple Leafs through the first four months of the season, including on the penalty kill.

Appearing in 51 of a potential 62 games with the Maple Leafs — he was a healthy scratch for nine contests and injured for two games — Timmins posted eight points (two goals, six assists) while averaging 16:19 of ice time per contest.

Toronto goal!

Scored by Conor Timmins with 05:05 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by Simon Benoit and Ryan Reaves.

Toronto: 1
Montreal: 0#MTLvsTOR #LeafsForever #GoHabsGo pic.twitter.com/fYSCNcCv32

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) November 10, 2024

With the Maple Leafs loading up for the playoffs, salary cap space was needed and Timmins as well as forward Connor Dewar were sent to the Penguins for a late-round draft pick at the trade deadline.

With fellow right-handers Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang already in place on the blue line, Timmins found himself in a familiar spot on the Penguins’ third pairing.

His lone goal with his new team came in his third game with the Penguins, a 5-3 home win against the surging St. Louis Blues.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Conor Timmins with 17:40 remaining in the 2nd period.

Assisted by Danton Heinen and Philip Tomasino.

Pittsburgh: 2
St. Louis: 0#STLvsPIT #LetsGoPens #stlblues pic.twitter.com/dGegBsvMfp

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 14, 2025

Timmins wound up playing in the Penguins’ final 17 games and posted seven points (one goal, six assists) while clocking an average of 18:43 of ice time per contest.

Pittsburgh goal!

Scored by Kevin Hayes with 06:06 remaining in the 3rd period.

Assisted by Conor Timmins and Ryan Graves.

Buffalo: 7
Pittsburgh: 3#PITvsBUF #SabreHood #LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/Xe6g1adjOh

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) March 28, 2025

In addition to seeing an ample 2:03 of short-handed ice time per game with the Penguins, Timmins even skated on the left side of the second pairing with Karlsson for a handful of games.

The future: When the Penguins acquired Timmins, president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas spoke about the defenseman in future terms.

And it’s easy to see why. The team has contract control over him as a pending restricted free agent and he hasn’t reached his ceiling just yet. Despite having size, Timmins isn’t an overly physical force, but he moves the puck well in a by-the-book fashion.

And it doesn’t hurt that Dubas likes Timmins, who played at the junior level for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds of the Ontario Hockey League (a team Dubas used to manage). The Penguins will presumably issue a qualifying offer to Timmins on June 30, the deadline to do so.

Timmins, who turns 27 on Sept. 18, has finally become a regular NHLer and he looks to be a part of the Penguins’ short-term future.