Penguins forward Drew O'Connor found confidence playing overseas then comfort as a top-6 winger

When Drew O’Connor got loose for a breakaway and scored the opening goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins in a 7-4 preseason road win against the Buffalo Sabres on Oct. 6, it surprised some people.

Sabres forward Alex Tuch was not one of those people.

He saw O’Connor — typically a third-liner — showcase his offensive skillet some five months earlier.

The Yanks were teammates with the United States in the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championship tournament in May and wound up among the team’s leading scorers with eight points each in 10 games.

So, on the occasion that O’Connor was given a test run on the Penguins’ top line late in the preseason and converted that opportunity into an impressive goal, it was nothing new to Tuch.

“He skates with so much power,” Tuch said Jan. 6 at PPG Paints Arena. “And it’s effortless. He’s a workhorse out there. I loved how diverse his game was. He was able to kill penalties, he was able to play on the power play, he was a big faceoff guy for us, played on the wing a little bit too. He just moved up and down the lineup in spots and situations. He showed a lot of his offensive talent there, and he was really good for us defensively.

“He brought a lot of different aspects of his games over there and showed a little bit more than he probably had been able to in his young career so far.”

While that assignment in early October was more experimental than anything, it provided management with some confidence that it could turn to O’Connor in the event any of the team’s incumbent top-six wingers are not available.

And throughout the past two months, O’Connor has had a semi-regular residency on the top two lines while the likes of Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust and Reilly Smith have been sidelined by various undisclosed ailments.

That opportunity has allowed O’Connor to set modest career highs in goals (six) and points (15) in only 43 games.

He previously established his career-best totals for goals (five) and points (11) in 46 games last season.

“It’s nice to get points, obviously,” O’Connor said. “But I think that just comes with playing a kind of responsible game, getting more ice time. Points come if you play the right way. It’s nice to get that. Hopefully, I just keep pushing and keep getting some more.”

Perhaps the most important metric to evaluate O’Connor by is geography.

That’s to say he has started the season at the NHL level and has not been sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League for the first time in his four professional seasons.

Having a steadier life off the ice — i.e. not living in a hotel — has offered plenty of benefits for a player the Penguins signed as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth in 2020.

“It just makes life a little simpler,” O’Connor said. “The first three years, honestly, I was kind of living out of a hotel and back and forth between (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) and here. It’s just nice having that stability, I think. It just lets you focus on hockey a little bit more and not worry about all the other things. Just from a lifestyle point, it’s been a lot of fun living in Pittsburgh and getting to know the city a bit more.”

O’Connor finally broke through as a full-time NHLer midway through last season and primarily was stationed as a bottom-six forward. This season, he primarily has been utilized on the third line but has graduated to the top two lines when the occasion arises.

“From the start, you (saw) he was going to be a good player,” said Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph, who was O’Connor’s teammate for parts of two seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. “It doesn’t matter where you put him. He wants to do good. His dedication to playing the right way and towards the team-first mentality is great, and that’s why he is doing good as he is right now. His confidence level has been improving a lot for the last couple of years.”

Joseph came away with a gold medal playing for Canada in the IIHF World Championship.

He also came away with a stronger impression of O’Connor.

“I personally think that the (tournament) helped him a lot to find his game,” he said.

As an NHLer, playing in that tournament isn’t necessarily a good thing. Considering it’s staged in May, if you’re available for your country, that means your NHL employer’s season came to a premature conclusion before or during the postseason.

But it’s a chance to play and extend your season individually.

And grow your game.

O’Connor was utilized in a variety of roles as a winger and center while also being used on both special teams units.

“Maybe it gave me a little confidence,” said O’Connor, a native of Chatham, N.J. “I was playing a little bit different role than I played most of last season. Maybe a more offensive role. It was good. The level is obviously not quite what it is here (in the NHL). So it’s obviously a little different. And playing on a big (international) rink, there’s a little bit more space and things like that. It’s good when you can do things like that and get those opportunities. And obviously, it’s a fun time representing your country. It was my first time doing that. It was a good experience.”

O’Connor has had some good experiences playing on the top two lines with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin this season.

Mainly because he has garnered a better grasp of how to play with them.

He has developed an instinct for finding open ice for scoring chances. More importantly, he has figured out when to find the open ice.

During a 4-2 home win against the St. Louis Blues on Dec. 30, O’Connor maneuvered between the hashmarks at just the right time to accept a centering pass from Malkin that he slammed into the cage with a one-timer.

“One of the things we like about (O’Connor’s) game is just his skating ability and his ability to close, his puck-pursuit game,” said Penguins coach Mike Sullivan, whose team fell to 21-16-6 after a 3-2 loss to Vegas on Saturday night. “That helps (Malkin’s) lines because he gets in on the forecheck, he creates loose pucks, he goes to the net when we have possession, which I think is an important element of playing with (Malkin). He has a little bit of finishing touch to his game. … He’s shown an ability to score goals at other levels. Maybe he might be starting to figure it out at this level. He has some touch, he has the ability to score. He’s got a pretty good shot, he’s got a good release and he’s got a big body. When he goes to the net front, he can be a threat there at the blue paint.

“That’s an important aspect of playing with (Malkin’s) line. When (Malkin) has the puck in the offensive zone, there’s a lot of motion there. And unless we have somebody at the blue paint making the sight lines for the goalies difficult, it’s hard to score. That’s an important element, I think, of having someone on (Malkin’s) line that’s willing to go there. (O’Connor) is one of those guys. He’s hard to push out when he’s in there. And he has good hands if there’s a rebound, a deflection opportunity, things of that nature. He has the ability to score goals different ways. The more experience that he gets, I think he gets a little bit more confidence and he’s starting to figure it out.”

Ideally, for the Penguins’ purposes, O’Connor is stationed on the third line. That would mean all of their incumbent top-six wingers are healthy and available.

But in his sporadic deployments on the top two lines, O’Connor has shown he’s a more than competent alternative.

“I’ve maybe learned the timing a bit more,” O’Connor said. “Playing with guys like that, you’re going to get those opportunities. I’ve kind of learned to play with them a bit better and get the timing down and things like that. Obviously, they’re going to make great plays like that.

“That just comes with kind of getting experience with those guys.”

Getting some experience overseas didn’t hurt either.

“When there’s injuries, you’re able to insert him in,” Tuch said. “He doesn’t change the way he plays. He plays that same style of game. He plays that same way. That’s why he’s been able to fit with a team and a group that is full of a bunch of veterans. With Sid and Malkin and a bunch of guys like that, you have to have a young guy that’s able to play that same style, that simple style and it makes it easier on guys like that. It makes it easier to insert himself.

“He’s made it so that they can’t take him out now.”