Penguins A to Z: Mark Friedman fills his role as a depth defenseman

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 28-29.

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

Mark Friedman

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Right

Age: 27

Height: 5-foot-10

Weight: 192 pounds

2022-23 NHL statistics: 23 games, three points (one goal, two assists)

2022-23 AHL statistics: 24 games, six points (one goal, five assists)

Contract: In the first year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000. Pending restricted free agent in the 2024 offseason.

Acquired: Claimed off waivers, Feb. 24, 2021

Last season: Throughout the 2022 offseason and the subsequent preseason, former Penguins general manager Ron Hextall often boasted of having nine NHL-caliber defensemen in the organization.

And Mark Friedman was likely the ninth component of that nonet.

As Hextall’s first acquisition with the Penguins, Friedman seemed to have a pretty secure place in the organization given his connection with Hextall dating to their days with the Philadelphia Flyers’ organization. But a common history wasn’t the only reason Friedman found a place with the Penguins under Hextall’s watch.

He has some value in that he could play both sides of the defense and that he was one of the few sources of physicality on the depth chart.

So, there was plenty of reason to keep him around, even if the Penguins’ tight salary cap situation and his service time as an NHLer forced him to go through waivers following training camp in early October. After clearing, he was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. While there were a handful of recalls to the NHL level, he spent most of the first three months of the 2022-23 campaign on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top pairing with Ty Smith.

When injuries began to dig into the Penguins’ depth on defense, Friedman made his NHL debut for the 2022-23 season Dec. 28 and remained a pretty steady presence in the lineup for the next three-plus weeks. His only NHL goal of the season came during that stretch in a 5-4 road overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators on Jan. 18.

Two nights later, he dropped the gloves with a fellow world-class antagonist in Senators forward Brady Tkachuk.

An undisclosed injury suffered Feb. 11 sidelined him for eight games. Once recovered, he was waived again — and cleared again — then returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton at the start of March.

More injuries to incumbent defensemen on the NHL roster prompted another recall March 18 and Friedman remained in the lineup for 12 consecutive games as the Penguins struggled to remain in the playoff race.

Somewhat fittingly, Hextall’s final transaction as Penguins’ general manager was to waive Friedman again March 12. One day later, Friedman cleared and was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and finished the season in Northeast Pennsylvania.

The future: Even after Hextall’s dismissal following the season, Friedman still seems to have a place in the organization as a depth defenseman. He has some versatility, skating ability and aggressive tendencies and he’s a popular teammate.

Most importantly, he works cheap, as his cap hit is the new league minimum salary beginning with the 2023-24 season.

He could easily be waived again — as evidenced by the three occasions that occurred in 2022-23 — then be sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and be recalled when the need arises.

Friedman won’t make or break the roster. But he fills his role as a depth defenseman.

Follow the Penguins all season long.