Where does forward Drew O'Connor fit in on the Penguins' roster?

Drew O’Connor’s third NHL training camp is a whole heck of a lot different than his first.

When he first reported to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ camp, the world was a lot different.

January of 2021 offered some of the darkest days of the pandemic and hindered just about every walk of life, including the business of professional hockey.

The NHL’s 2020-21 season — played entirely within 2021 — was limited to 56 games and no preseason.

Training camps took place in a handful of days in early January. The ability to truly evaluate any players, veterans or prospects, just wasn’t present.

And there certainly wasn’t any kind of grace period for newcomers to get acclimated to new surroundings.

Yet, Penguins management, which had signed O’Connor as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth in March of 2020, liked what it saw in the raw but promising power forward.

That’s why he largely practiced with the main group of NHL players in that abbreviated camp. And that’s why he was given No. 10 on the back of his jersey, instead of a “training camp” number befitting an offensive lineman in an NFL camp.

“That first year was definitely really different,” O’Connor said. “It was my first one so I didn’t know what to expect. No preseason, super short and right into regular (-season) games. Last year (the 2021-22 season) was a bit more normal. I got a sense of what it was like last year and what to expect.”

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Considerable expectations remain in place for the 24-year-old O’Connor as he enters his third professional season.

With the offseason departures of sturdy depth forwards such as Brian Boyle and Evan Rodrigues, there is ample competition to fill out the bottom reaches of the team’s forward ranks, and O’Connor is one of the more prominent candidates to claim one of those roles.

After looking somewhat unprepared in a 10-game cup of coffee during the 2020-21 campaign — understandable given the circumstances — O’Connor appeared to be more adept for the NHL game last season. Appearing in 22 games, he posted five points (two goals, three assists) while mostly inhabiting a bottom-six role.

He might have appeared in more games, but a reported collapsed lung he suffered in January sidelined him for 15 games. By the time he recovered, he was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League and spent the rest of the regular season at that level. Injuries to incumbents on the NHL roster led to a recall in the postseason, and O’Connor appeared in his first two career playoff contests.

O’Connor has a clear view as to how he can be a more permanent fixture as an NHLer.

“Just looking at the roster, there’s a lot of talent up front,” O’Connor said. “Realistically, working my way in as a penalty killer and a bottom-six role. That’s kind of where the openings are right now a little bit. That’s what I’ll have to do and kind of go from there.”

Listed at 6-foot-3 and 200 pounds, O’Connor, who signed a one-year contract extension in March, is one of the bigger entities on a mostly streamlined roster. At the same time, he’s fully capable of skating at a pace the modern game demands.

“He plays a game, I think, that complements the style of play that we’re trying to play with his speed and his pursuit game and his ability to get in on the forecheck,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “And he’s got a little bit of a scoring touch. Some elements of Drew’s game that we’re looking at to try and decide on where he fits within our roster at this point is just killing penalties, things of that nature. If you’re playing a bottom-six role on our team — to have guys that can fill those complementary roles like the penalty kill or the ability to play multiple positions — I think are important attributes to have. It helps us become the team that we’re trying to become.

“Drew’s getting better in all those aspects.”

The most notable of those aspects might be the penalty kill where the Penguins, who were on of the NHL’s best short-handed squads last season, no longer have the services of Boyle or forward Zach Aston-Reese, who was dealt at the trade deadline in March.

O’Connor is fully aware he can burrow his way into the lineup via the penalty kill.

“I can use my reach, I can use my speed, block shots too,” O’Connor said. “Take faceoffs. Those areas, it suits my game well. Just continuing to focus on the details of it. Getting all that down and making sure you’re out there executing.”

One thing that might kill O’Connor’s chances of making the NHL roster to open the season is the business side of the sport. Given his limited service time as an NHLer, he doesn’t need to be exposed to waivers for any transactions involving Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. And with the Penguins projected to be over the salary cap at the moment, O’Connor and his $750,000 salary cap hit could wind up in Northeast Pennsylvania simply to get the team compliant though no fault of his own.

“I try not to think about it, I guess,” O’Connor said. “There’s nothing that I can really do to control that. For me, it’s just coming in here, working hard and trying to improve myself every day, no matter where I end up. That’s out of my control.”

What O’Connor does have control over is his development. It appears to remain on a trajectory that will keep him in the NHL at some point.

“This is a competitive training camp,” Sullivan said. “We have a lot of good players here right now. We’re going to have some difficult decisions. But I think Drew is playing extremely well and has given himself every opportunity to make this roster.”

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