Penguins, Dan Muse still wondering what to make of Tommy Novak

When Tommy Novak was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins last March, he had barely taken stock of his new surroundings before suffering what wound up being a season-ending ailment.

Novak, whom the Penguins acquired from the Nashville Predators in exchange for fellow winger Michael Bunting, skated in parts of just two games for Pittsburgh before going down with a pesky injury.

“It was a little bone break, a little stress fracture in my leg,” Novak said. “Took a blocked shot to the leg, a couple weeks go by and we find a stress fracture there. So I got shut down at that point. It took a little while to find, but once we saw what was going on, we shut it down.”

What was determined to be a stress fracture Novak suffered March 9 at Minnesota.

Coming on the heels of an unanticipated trade, on top of meeting his new club on a road trip, it made for an extended rough landing with Pittsburgh.

“It was hard,” Novak said. “I was pretty surprised when I got the call that I was getting moved at the deadline there. It all happened so fast. It was a whirlwind at first. I met the (Penguins) on the road and ended up getting hurt. Wasn’t really sure if I was going to be able to come back or not and ended up not being able to, so there was that feeling of having to stay ready for a new team.

“I was ready to go if I were to become healthy, but it ended up lingering a little bit into the summer. Just excited now to be with a new organization, fresh start. I feel like it’s pretty much all fresh here. Just trying to make my mark here and hopefully carve out a good role for myself.”

What role Novak, who’s under contract through 2026-27 at $3.5 million annually, can carve out for himself remains to be seen.

Through four games, first-year coach Dan Muse had deployed him as left wing on the Penguins’ third line, centered by 18-year-old Ben Kindel, the club’s first-round (No. 11 overall) draft pick in June.

Thursday evening in Los Angeles, Novak centered the Penguins’ third line in their 4-2 win over the Kings.

On the year, he’s contributed an assist with six shots, averaging about 12 minutes of nightly ice time, including one minute per game on the power play.

Over parts of four prior seasons with Nashville, the club that drafted him in the third round (No. 85 overall) of the 2015 NHL Draft, Novak had shown respectable scoring touch.

In 2022-23, the left-handed shot scored 17 goals with 26 assists over 51 games, followed by a 18-goal, 27-assist campaign the following season.

Novak, now 28 and fully recovered from his leg injury, looks to tap back into what previously made him a regular producer on offense.

“I’ve had really good stretches in this league,” Novak said. “I think I can be a guy who carries the puck and makes plays. That’s when I’m at my best, when I’m confident with the puck, holding onto it, making plays (and) using my feet.

“I think I’m a pretty fast player, so using my feet both ways on the backcheck and forecheck, trying to be responsible. I think the best part of my game would be with the puck and trying to make plays. … I think I can shoot it, too, so I’d say offensively, when I’m really going, is where my game shines.”

Muse may well continue to shuffle the deck, particularly the bottom-six corps of forwards, regularly.

Already, he’s rotated Philip Tomasino and Noel Acciari out as healthy scratches, while Kindel could still be sent back to his junior team before appearing in 10 NHL games.

So Novak should expect some shakeups of the players he’s skating with, to say nothing of himself potentially being moved around, as was the case Thursday.

Regardless, Novak is earning a considerable paycheck and Muse is curious to see what he can do.

“Tommy’s a guy who I think has great, great poise with the puck and really good vision,” Muse said. “He can draw coverage to him and find options away from him. He’s also a guy who I don’t think gets enough credit for some of his positional play away from the puck.”