Penguins A to Z: Is this the end for Brian Dumoulin?

With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28 and 29.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)

Brian Dumoulin

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Age: 31

Height: 6-foot-4

Weight: 207 pounds

2022-23 NHL statistics: 82 games, 25 points (one goal, 24 assists)

Contract: In the final year of a six-year contract with a salary cap hit of $4.1 million. Pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

(Note: Dumoulin’s contract contains a modified no-trade clause.)

Acquired: Trade, June 22, 2012

Last season: For a player who has meant so much to the franchise, it seemed like a fairly simple accomplishment.

Playing in all 82 games of the regular season.

But for Brian Dumoulin, a vital component of the Penguins’ two most recent Stanley Cup championships, it was something he had never done in his first nine NHL seasons.

All those blocked shots in the knees and shoulders jammed into the corner boards by forecheckers never allowed the sturdy defenseman to reach that milestone.

But he managed to collect the full set of 82 — and set a career-high in points — in his 10th campaign.

Not coincidentally, it was Dumoulin’s healthiest season with the Penguins. After having his 2022 postseason limited to a single game after he hyper-extended his right knee, Dumoulin plodded through the 2022-23 campaign without any injuries, or, at least any severe enough to force him out of the lineup.

Dumoulin’s play, however, was not up to the stout standards he established long ago as a counterbalance to franchise defenseman Kris Letang on the top pairing. As a result, the duo was broken up by early November.

Injuries to just about every other defenseman on the roster other than Dumoulin forced a constant shuffling of all three pairings, and by the end of the season, Dumoulin was once against teamed with Letang as the Penguins made a futile pursuit of a playoff seeding.

The future: The Penguins are at a major crossroads as a franchise in that they are looking for new management in the front office after missing the playoffs for the first time in 17 years.

Change is needed and one of those changes would appear to be allowing Dumoulin to walk as an unrestricted free agent.

He was a vital component to the franchise’s back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2016 and 2017 (particularly the latter). But sentimentally can’t be a consideration in his status with the franchise moving forward and, presumably, a new general manager won’t be influenced as such.

Dumoulin, who turns 32 in September, has been slowed down by wear and tear in recent seasons — his otherwise healthy 2022-23 campaign notwithstanding — and isn’t nearly as effective of a defensive entity as he was half a decade ago. And with the presence of Marcus Pettersson as well as youngsters P.O Joseph and Ty Smith, the Penguins are well stocked in left-handed defensemen. And clearing Dumoulin’s sizeable salary cap hit would aid new management in shoring up other holes on the roster.

A vocal leader, Dumoulin’s contributions to this franchise should never be dismissed. But this sure looks like the end of his time with the Penguins.

Follow the Penguins all season.