Mike Sullivan talks Penguins lineup after preseason finale

Rutger McGroarty made his final bid for a spot in Pittsburgh’s lineup by scoring his first goal in black and gold on Friday night.

The Penguins wrapped up the 2024-25 preseason on Friday night with a 7-3 win over the Columbus Blue Jackets.

With Bryan Rust and Erik Karlsson sidelined by injury, here’s how the lines shook out in the win.

After the game head coach Mike Sullivan gave a few hints as to what the Penguins’ lineup might look like on Wednesday when the regular season kicks off at home against the New York Rangers (transcription h/t Brandon Karafilis of the team website.)

Sullivan seemingly confirmed that Noel Acciari, who originally came to Pittsburgh before the start of last season as a center, would start the season on the wing. Acciari skated on Friday night alongside Cody Glass.

“He’s had a 20-goal season in the past,” Sullivan said about Acciari. “He’s capable of scoring goals, we’re hoping maybe if we get him on the wing a little bit, it might give him an opportunity to generate a little bit more offense. That was part of the thought process, putting Cody Glass in the middle and moving Noel to the wing. Certainly, he’s capable of playing center, but we think there might be an opportunity there where he could help us a little bit offensively if he plays the wing.”

Acciari spoke about the possibility of moving to wing this season earlier this preseason.

“I’d definitely play wing,” Acciari said during training camp last month, per Justin Guerriero of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. “I think I’ve played probably 50 percent of my career at wing. I usually start at center somewhere and get moved to the wing. I’m comfortable at the wing.”

About the Penguins’ defense pairings, Sullivan said Penguins staff members “have some ideas in mind whether [Erik Karlsson’s] ready or he isn’t.”

“We’ll have some discussions here over the next probably 24 hours, and solidify those plans, or those contingencies,” Sullivan said. “But there’s been, I think, some stiff competition.”

The Penguins practiced some pairing changes in the middle of Friday’s game, with preseason surprise standout Harrison Brunicke spending some time alongside Marcus Pettersson and Jack St. Ivany skating with Ryan Graves. Ryan Shea and Sebastian Aho were the odd men out.

Karlsson attended Penguins practice on Friday in a regular jersey, but Sullivan said after practice that he remains no-contact and his status “really hasn’t changed” amid his recovery from an unspecified upper-body injury.

Sullivanalso praised Rutger McGroarty, who was playing in his team-high sixth preseason game for the Pens, after the rookie’s success alongside Jesse Puljujarvi and Lars Eller.

The three combined for ten points in the win and could be candidates for a regular-season third line, should McGroarty make the 23-man roster. That’s still in question given that McGroarty is still a likely candidate to start the season in the AHL once Rust returns and bumps out a winger from the preseason finale lineup.

“He’s played an awful lot. He had to play back-to-back tonight. We were curious how he would handle that as a college player,” Sullivan said about the former Michigan star. “Those guys aren’t used to playing the amount of games I think that the pro game requires. So, all of those things are part of the adjustment process for young players. But we’re real excited about where his game is and potentially where it could go moving forward. We think he’s going to be an impact player.”

More news will come at 2 p.m. ET today when the Penguins learn the final destinations of the seven players (Emil Bemstrom, Nathan Clurman, Jonathan Gruden, Joona Koppanen, Filip Kral, John Ludvig and Sam Poulin) who hit waivers on Friday.