The Penguins are all right with Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust on the right wing

The Pittsburgh Penguins are scheduled to report to training camp Wednesday with the first day of on-ice activities coming Thursday. Here is a look at their depth at the right winger position:

Much like the center position, the right winger roles on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ top two lines are pretty well set entering the 2023-24 season.

Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust return and figure to be steady 20-goal threats again who also can play fairly complete games.

Re-signing with the Penguins in the 2022 offseason, Rakell saw this franchise as still being capable of competing for a Stanley Cup championship, and he did just about all he could to get this team to the playoffs last season. Appearing in all 82 games, Rakell was fourth on the team in scoring with 60 points (28 goals, 30 assists).

Rust has won Stanley Cup titles with the Penguins and still figures to be a key component to any hope for a return to those heights. Despite having an inconsistent season by his own estimation, Rust still reached the 20-goal mark for the fourth consecutive season, posting 46 points (20 goals, 26 assists) in 81 games.

Both can be flipped for one another on the top two lines and have enjoyed ice time on the top power-play units. And if the situation dictates, they can be moved to the left wing.

Things will look different further down the depth chart.

Josh Archibald, Mikael Granlund and Danton Heinen have departed.

That will leave the likes of Jeff Carter, Vinnie Hinostroza, Andreas Johnsson, Matt Nieto, Alex Nylander, Rem Pitlick, Valtteri Puustinen, Colin White and Radim Zohorna to battle it out.

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Puustinen might be the most intriguing option of the bunch. A seventh-round pick (No. 203 overall) in 2019, Puustinen has been the top scorer for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL each of the last two seasons but has been afforded only one game (in 2021-22) in the NHL with the Penguins.

Re-signed to a one-year two-way contract in June, this might be his last best chance to show he’s capable of being an NHLer with this franchise.

Carter is the most prominent name of these candidates, for good and bad reasons.

With a resume full of accolades, the 39-year-old has accomplished quite a bit in his 18 NHL seasons. But not a lot of them happened in the 18th season as Carter became a focal point of scrutiny as he struggled down the stretch of the 2022-23 season. His play slipped so badly, he was moved from center to right wing. Perhaps a similar deployment in 2023-24 could free him of the defensive responsibilities of the center role and reinvigorate Carter.

Nieto was inked to a two-year contract on the first day of the free agent signing period this offseason. Capable of playing either wing, he is an ideal fit as a bottom-six energy winger and penalty killer. Splitting 2022-23 between the San Jose Sharks and Colorado Avalanche, Nieto posted 24 points (12 goals, 12 assists) in 81 games.

Nylander was something of a pet project of former general manager Ron Hextall and was re-signed before Kyle Dubas was hired as president of hockey operations. But he showed enough in 2022-23 — primarily with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton — to merit serious consideration by current management. An All-Star in the AHL in 2022-23, Nylander can man either wing.

Pitlick, a spare part in the blockbuster trade that brought defenseman Erik Karlsson to the Penguins, can play all three forward positions and offers a classic fourth-line style “energy” game, plus he can skate on the penalty kill.

In 46 games during the 2022-23 season with the Montreal Canadiens, Pitlick had 15 points (six goals, nine assists).

Zohorna returns to the organization after being lost to waivers during the 2022 preseason. Capable of playing all three forward positions, he offers plenty of intrigue given his ability to skate swiftly with a 6-foot-6, 220-pound frame. In 51 AHL games last season with the Calgary Wranglers and Toronto Marlies, Zohorna put up 34 points (12 goals, 22 assists).

Hinostroza and Johnsson are journeymen who were signed this offseason to low-risk one-year contracts.

Hinostroza has found steady work as a fairly inert bottom-six winger in the NHL.

And Johnsson was a 20-goal scorer with the Maple Leafs in 2018-19 when Dubas ran that team but has struggled to regain that form in the four seasons since.

White was signed to a professional tryout earlier this month. A former first-round pick (No. 21 overall) of the Ottawa Senators, he never has realized the expectations that come with that billing but found a way to be in the lineup as a fourth-line right winger for all 21 postseason games of the Florida Panthers’ run to the Stanley Cup Final last season.

Follow the Penguins all season long.