Penguins sign defenseman John Marino to 6-year contract extension

Jim Rutherford has high hopes for John Marino.

At one point during the 2019-20 season, the Penguins general manager even suggested the then-rookie defenseman could be a keystone on the franchise’s blue line for upwards of 10 or 15 years.

For the time being, six years will suffice.

On Sunday, during the first day of the team’s training camp for the 2020-21 season, the Penguins signed Marino to a six-year contract extension that will begin during the 2021-22 campaign. The deal will carry a salary cap hit of $4.4 million.

That’s a considerable raise for the 23-year-old who is entering the final year of two-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $925,000.

“I’m glad we could figure something out,” said Marino, who was scheduled to become a restricted free agent this summer. “And I’m glad I can be a Pittsburgh Penguin for a few years to come.”

As a rookie, Marino offered plenty of reasons to entice the Penguins to prolong their marriage.

In 56 games, he scored 26 points (six goals, 20 assists) while averaging 20 minutes, 15 seconds of ice time per contest.

Opening the season as a reserve, he graduated from the third pairing to the second pairing as the season progressed. His most common five-on-five ice time came with Marcus Pettersson on that second duo at 375:42, according to Natural Stat Trick.

Typically, the Penguins’ second defensive pairing has an important assignment of playing with the team’s “other” franchise center, Evgeni Malkin.

“Obviously, he makes the game a lot easier,” Marino said during a video conference with local media Sunday. “He’s one of the best players in the NHL. The more you play with him, the more you tend to realize his tendencies, what he likes to do with the puck. He likes to play a possession game, and you just kind of read off of him. He makes it easy for you.”

In addition to commanding a lot of ice time in even-strength situations, Marino carved out a role on the penalty kill with an average of 2:02 short-handed ice time per contest. He also logged 30 seconds of power-play ice time per contest, primarily with the second unit.

Even with such a rapid ascension in 2019-20, Marino (6-foot-1, 181 pounds) acknowledges there is ample room for improvement as he enters his second season.

“When you’re first coming in as a rookie, your first instinct is really just you don’t want to mess up,” Marino said. “You play it safe, make the right play. … The confidence I think just kind of comes with (time). You already have a year under your belt. You know your teammates better. Hopefully, the chemistry is there, too. Hopefully, it just takes care of itself.”

The native of North Easton, Mass., was a sixth-round draft pick (No. 154 overall) by the Edmonton Oilers in 2015. But he told that franchise he was not interested in signing, citing, formally, a potential lack of playing time with an organization that, informally, has a poor history of developing prospects.

In stepped the Penguins, who, with the prompting of scout Kevin Stevens, a family friend of Marino, and player development director Scott Young, acquired Marino’s rights via trade in June 2019.

Only 17 months later, Marino has a vital role in the lineup as well as quite a bit of job security.

“It’s important to really stay with a team that really wants you, wants you to develop and progress in as you go along in your career,” Marino said. “It seems like a great fit with the coaches and the teammates. … You definitely want to be with an organization that wants you.”

Note: While training camp formally opened Sunday at PPG Paints Arena, it was limited to off-ice activities such as physicals and in-house media obligations. The first formal on-ice activities are scheduled to begin Monday.

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