Will Parker Wotherspoon stabilize the left side of the Penguins' defense?

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

In his season-ending remarks in April, Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas was blunt in assessing the left side of his team’s blue line.

“The left side of our defense, it’s been a problem,” Dubas said April 21. “There’s just no other way (to put it). … So, that’s an area I think, externally, that we have to (improve).”

If the Penguins marginally improved the port side of the defense, that’s a fair debate. But they certainly made some changes. Incumbents Matt Grzelcyk and P.O Joseph were cut free as free agents while Parker Wotherspoon was signed to a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $1 million.

Wotherspoon isn’t expected to dramatically alter the Penguins’ fortunes but it is hoped he will offer some badly needed stability. He plays a simple, safe game but can skate well and move the puck up ice competently.

There were similar hopes for Ryan Graves when Dubas signed him to a lucrative six-year contract in 2023. But thus far, Graves’ tenure with the team has been a massive disappointment.

After struggling in a top-four role (primarily) throughout the 2023-24 season, Graves was largely sheltered on the third pairing in 2024-25 to limit his responsibilities (and miscues).

After being an ill-fitting piece under previous coach Mike Sullivan’s system, Graves will try to finally live up to massive demands under the schemes of new coach Dan Muse.

Another player with immense expectations is rookie Owen Pickering, a first-round draft pick (No. 21 overall) in 2022.

Pickering went through some growing pains in his first full professional season in 2024-25, including during a brief recall to the NHL roster midway through the campaign. Regardless, Pickering still had a world of potential. And now, he has plenty of opportunity to finally graduate to the NHL.

Ryan Shea returns for his third season with the Penguins (and third in the NHL). An ideal fit as a seventh defenseman, the left-hander has shown competency on both sides of the blue line through a simple, safe game.

Another newcomer looking for a second chance is free agent signee Alexander Alexeyev.

A first-round draft pick (No. 31 overall) of the Washington Capitals in 2018, Alexeyev never broke through as a full-time NHLer with that organization and largely ran out of chances to do so.

The Penguins signed him to a one-year contract worth a league-minimum $775,000 in the hopes he can finally realize his potential.

Caleb Jones is looking to find steady work at the NHL level after spending most of the 2024-25 campaign at the American Hockey League level with the Ontario Reign. The same applies to Sebastian Aho, who was limited to 27 games — all with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton — last season due to injuries.

Jones and Aho are each left-handed and are capable of playing on both sides of the blue line.