What will the Penguins do with so many right-handed defensemen?

A position-by-position look at the Pittsburgh Penguins as they approach training camp. Today, the right-side defensemen.

There’s an adage that a hockey team can never have too many right-handed defensemen.

The Penguins might be testing the limits of that convention.

As they enter the 2025-26 season, they appear to have assembled the finest collection of right-handed blueliners who carry salary cap hits of at least $3 million and are over the age of 30.

Let’s start with the incumbents.

Kris Letang is coming off a lackluster 2024-25 season in which he scored fewer points (30) than his age (38) for the first time since his rookie season of 2007-08 (17 points at age 20).

His ice time slid nearly by a minute to 23:32 per contest last season. Perhaps a lesser workload could offer benefits to Letang, who has plenty of miles on his odometer.

Erik Karlsson was productive last season with 53 points (11 goals, 42 assists) in 82 games. But mistakes, particularly defensively, continue to pockmark his game and often nullify whatever positive impact he might offer.

The 35-year-old has yet to miss a game since he joined the Penguins in a blockbuster trade in August of 2023. But another trade – simply to relieve most of his immense salary cap hit – could be the best course of action for all parties involved.

Two of the Penguins’ bigger offseason acquisitions came in the form of Connor Clifton (30) and Matthew Dumba (31). And in both cases, the Penguins agreed to take on each player coming off a poor season in order to also acquire a relatively high draft pick.

Clifton ($3,333,333 salary cap hit) arrives after an unremarkable tenure with the Buffalo Sabres. His offensive contributions are limited, but he likes to hit despite a modest frame (5-foot-11, 192 pounds). There’s not a lot of flash to his game but plenty of physicality.

A first-round draft pick (No. seven overall) in 2012, Dumba (3.75 million salary cap hit) has been on the decline for a few seasons and bottomed out as a regular healthy scratch with the Dallas Stars last season. The cliched change of scenery could benefit him, but he’s seen quite a bit of scenery in recent years as he is on his fifth team in just as many seasons.

There are plenty of cheaper and younger options behind that quartet of veterans.

The most NHL-ready is Jack St. Ivany, who showed some promise late in the 2023-24 season before largely struggling in 2024-25 and spent most of the latter campaign in the American Hockey League with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Management still sees a role for him after he seemed to regain his confidence and his game in the AHL.

Harrison Brunicke is one of the organization’s top prospects and has all the base elements to be a No. 1 defenseman in the NHL. The 19-year-old is still eligible to play junior hockey, but he could get a brief “tryout” with the NHL club to open the season (assuming one of the veteran right-handers is moved off the roster).

Ryan Shea is left-handed but actually started more games on the starboard side (27) than port (12). He is an ideal fit for a seventh defenseman.

Veteran Sebastian Aho is another left-hander who can play the right side. He is an adequate break-glass-in-case-of-emergency option for recall if injuries dictate.