NHL

Whether Penguins Keep Harrison Brunicke On NHL Roster May Come Down To One Thing

September 27, 2026

As the Pittsburgh Penguins prepare their final roster ahead of the upcoming regular season deadline, a wave of injuries among forwards is complicating their player deployment strategy. While camp injuries to Blake Lizotte, Oliver Okuliar, Ben Kindel, Justin Brazeau, Bryan Rust, and Ryan Graves have thrown initial forward and defensive plans into question, young blue-liner Harrison Brunicke remains in the mix.

Having previously split time between the WHL's Kamloops Blazers, the World Junior Championship with Team Canada, and the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton squad, Brunicke turned heads with strong playoff performances and an impressive showing in training camp.

Despite his strong development, the Penguins boast an entrenched defensive corps featuring pairings like Declan Carlile with Erik Karlsson, Sam Girard alongside Kaedan Korczak, and Trevor van Riemsdyk paired with Kris Letang, alongside left blue-liner Ilya Solovyov. While assigning Brunicke to the AHL to build confidence alongside Owen Pickering remains a logical option, ongoing roster decisions regarding forward health could ultimately force management to carry eight defensemen instead of the originally expected seven.