Penguins A to Z: Things never came together for Josh Maniscalco
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.)
Josh Maniscalco
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Right
Age: 24
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 205 pounds
2022-23 AHL statistics: 27 games, four points (two goals, two assists)
2022-23 ECHL statistics: 31 games, 28 points (eight goals, 20 assists)
Contract: In the final year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $853,333. Pending unrestricted free agent in the upcoming offseason.
(Note: Maniscalco is eligible for arbitration.)
Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, Aug. 21, 2020
Last season: It really was a nice story.
The Penguins signed a lifelong fan of the team (even if he did grow up in the Philadelphia Flyers’ backyard of Eastern Pennsylvania) and went all out to get him, going so far as to have franchise icon Mario Lemieux call and recruit him out of Arizona State.
It was a heartwarming tale.
And it seems it will have an underwhelming ending.
Any hopes for Josh Maniscalco to mature into an NHL player with the Penguins just never came to fruition.
Heck, he had enough trouble even being an AHL player for an organization that doesn’t exactly have a surplus of right-handed defensive prospects.
Opening the season with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, Maniscalco produced at that level and even led that team in scoring with 25 points (eight goals, 17 assists) in 27 games and was selected to the ECHL’s All-Star Classic before being recalled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s roster Dec. 29.
Returned to Wheeling on Jan. 6 then recalled again by Jan. 14, Maniscalco finished the 2022-23 season at the AHL level. In his first 19 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he was limited to a single assist and was even used as a right winger on the fourth line at times.
Maniscalco scored his first career AHL goal during a power-play sequence in a 3-2 home overtime loss to the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms on March 25 (and he skated as a defenseman on the second pairing in that contest).
The high point of Mansicalco’s season (and probably his career) came during an 8-2 road win against the Bridgeport Islanders on March 8 when he tallied a career-best two points (one goal, one assist).
The future: It’s probably safe to assume Maniscalco will be moving on and won’t receive a qualifying offer from management. He was a highly-sought target of the franchise when Jim Rutherford was general manager and two management teams later, he has struggled to even establish himself as an AHLer.
At this rate, it’s fair to wonder if Maniscalco is even going to merit an NHL contract this offseason.
In three professional seasons, he has played 95 ECHL games to 37 AHL contests.
At a base level, he has all the attributes NHL teams are looking for in the stereotypical “puck-moving offensive defenseman.” Additionally, he’s a right-handed defensemen, an attribute that carries a bit more value than left-handers.
But things just never came together for him with the Penguins.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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