Penguins A to Z: Defenseman Mike Matheson took a step forward

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.

Mike Matheson

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Age: 28

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 188 pounds

2021-22 NHL statistics: 74 games, 31 points (11 goals, 20 assists)

Contract: In the third year of an eight-year contract with a salary cap hit of $4.875 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in the 2026 offseason.

(Note: Matheson’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, Sept. 24, 2020

Last season: The Penguins had elevated hopes for Matheson entering the 2021-22 campaign. In training camp, the coaches promoted him to the second defensive pairing and he seemed primed to open the season with John Marino as a partner.

But an undisclosed injury suffered late in the preseason dashed those hopes and led to Matheson being sidelined for the first three games of the regular season.

Once healthy, he slotted in on the third pairing with the steady Chad Ruhwedel, and — aside from a brief stint on the top pairing with Kris Letang in November — Matheson remained there for the most part until late February when an undisclosed injury sidelined him again for five games.

Upon returning to the lineup March 11, Matheson was placed on the top pairing with Letang once again and came through with a game-opening goal in a 5-2 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Down the stretch of the regular season, the Penguins mixed and matched just about all of their defensive pairs in hopes of reestablishing some lost chemistry. That allowed Matheson and Letang to work together sporadically in the weeks before the postseason began.

By the end of the regular season, Matheson established career-highs in goals and points despite limited time with the top power-play unit.

In the Penguins’ first-round postseason loss to the New York Rangers, Matheson opened the series on the third pairing with Ruhwedel. But a right knee injury suffered by defenseman Brian Dumoulin in Game 1 prompted a reunion with Letang for the final six games of the series.

The results were mixed. While Matheson was one of the team’s leading scorers in the playoffs with six points (one goal, five assists), he was on the ice for a handful of mishaps — such as shots deflecting off his skates — that led to opposing goals.

The future: By any measure, Matheson’s season was a significant step forward. After floundering for the first five years of his career with the Florida Panthers — who drafted him 23rd overall in 2012 — and tiptoeing a bit through his first season with the Penguins in 2020-21, Matheson seemed to finally realize his considerable potential in 2021-22.

To be clear, there are still a lot of rough edges to his game, particularly in the defensive zone. He’s not going to make anyone forget Dave Burrows and there are still miscues present in his game that result in prime offensive chances against.

But even with those warts, Matheson was one of the Penguins’ individual success stories in this past season.

His future is a big question mark, however.

He could theoretically become the team’s top defenseman in the event Letang departs as a free agent or he could be dealt away in order to clear salary cap space.

Should Letang move on, Matheson is the only in-house option who has a skillset that could even remotely account for the variety of assets Letang provides. That’s not to say Matheson can replace Letang. Few players in the NHL could. But Matheson could very well be asked to take on a much larger role in Letang’s potential absence, particularly given his slick skating ability.

On the other hand, the Penguins have three left-handed defensemen — Matheson, Dumoulin and Marcus Pettersson — who each have salary cap hits that exceed $4 million as well as southpaw defensive prospect P.O Joseph waiting in the wings. The Penguins could very well deal from that surplus to clear salary cap space and address other areas of need (such as potentially trying to re-sign Letang). Matheson, coming off a career season, would presumably garner the greatest return among those options.

That will all play out over the next handful of weeks with the NHL draft, which begins July 7, and the opening of the free agent signing period July 13.

Regardless of where Matheson winds up or how he’s deployed next season, he’s a far better player today than when he arrived in Pittsburgh almost two years ago.

Follow the Penguins all season long.