When you watch Tommy Novak play, it is not that difficult to understand why the Pittsburgh Penguins had an interest in acquiring him and why they want him to be a part of this team. There is clearly talent
here. There is skill to his game, and I think it could work in a variety of roles up and down the lineup.
He has also had a knack in his career for being a forward that posts the type of underlying numbers that make you go, “Huh … is this guy kinda good?”
Whether it has been in Nashville or Pittsburgh he has consistently posted some of the best scoring chance and expected goal numbers on his rosters. That has at times translated into real results. Between the 2022-23 and 2024-25 seasons in Nashville he scored 48 goals in 176 games, which projects out to around 23 goals per 82 games.
During that time period he averaged 0.99 goals per 60 minutes of 5-on-5 ice-time were 60th out of 520 forwards that logged at least 500 minutes of ice-time, and placed him ahead of players like Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Brandon Hagel, John Tavares, Clayton Keller, Sebastian Aho, Matt Boldy, Timo Meier, Matthew Tkachuk and Leon Draisaitl. That is not to suggest that he has been better or more productive than those players, but it does at least indicate there is something here. There is an ability to produce SOMETHING over an extended period of time.
A lot of the under-the-hood numbers remain strong for him this season. He has consistently been one of the Penguins’ best play-drivers from a possession standpoint, and when paired up with rookie center Ben Kindel that line has consistently out-shot and out-chanced their opponents by a significant margin. More than any other line on the team. It has been one of their most effective lines, even if the actual goals have not yet been there.
Which brings us back to Novak personally.
He is not scoring goals, and so far has not really made a tangible impact for the team on the scoreboard.
He only appeared in two games for the Penguins after being acquired from the Predators a year ago due to injury, and in his first 21 games this season, entering play on Wednesday, he has just two goals in his first 23 games with the team. While it is still an extremely small sample size, it is also a significant drop from what he was doing throughout the early part of his career in Nashville.
That is also frustrating.
It is frustrating because he is not actually scoring goals the way the Penguins had hoped he would, but also because he also just seems to be a frustrating player to watch. He often times finds himself in good positions with the puck and in position to make a play, but hasn’t really shown an ability to finish it or actually do it. It has been happening with increased regularity in recent games, and perhaps reached peak frustration in overtime against Seattle where he was alone with the puck and just stick-handled himself into trouble and out of a chance instead of actually …. doing something.
Even though he is 28 years old and probably pretty closed to a finished product as a player, he is still somebody the Penguins need to give an extended look to, even if it’s to eventually flip him for something else over the next season-and-a-half. He is a talented forward that has shown some goal-scoring ability on a team that does not have a deep pool of those players at the NHL level.
I am also not ready to give up on him still making some sort of an impact this season offensively. He is shooting eight percentage points below his career average and still in a lot of good positions. But he has to do it, and he has to take more of those shots he has seemingly been passing up in recent weeks.
He has skill. He can be productive and be a very useful player in your lineup. He has just been really frustrating so far as a member of the Penguins roster.
