The Pittsburgh Penguins have gone through a bit of a major awards drought in recent years, with Kris Letang’s Masterton Trophy in 2022-23 being the last individual award won by a member of the Penguins.
Prior to that, you have to go back to the 2016-17 season when Sidney Crosby won the Rocket Richard Award for leading the league in goals, and then took home the Conn Smythe Trophy as the Stanley Cup Playoff MVP during the team’s back-to-back Stanley Cup championship run.
Head coach Dan Muse was a finalist
for the Jack Adams Award this past season, while Kyle Dubas finished in fourth place for the general manager of the year award. Those two are as close as anybody has come over the past couple of seasons. So now that the 2026-27 NHL season is inching closer, let’s take a quick look and see if there are any Penguins that might have a chance to take home an award this season.
The best chances
Dan Muse, head coach: Jack Adams Award (coach of the year)
We might as well start off with the person that was the closest this past season. Muse finished third behind Jon Cooper (Tampa Bay Lightning) and Lindy Ruff (Buffalo Sabres), receiving 18 first-place votes, 29 second-place votes and 22 third-place votes. Muse seems like the most logical candidate because the Penguins actually fit the mold for what it usually takes to actually win this thing,
In most cases it’s the coach of a team that will enter the season with low expectations and finds a way to exceed them. It doesn’t matter how the expectations are exceeded. It could be on the back of a stunning goaltending performance. Tactical coaching brilliance. A roster that’s better than anybody anticipated. Or just some plain old good luck.
The Penguins could check a lot of these boxes.
There is a preseason belief they will take a step backwards after last year’s playoff appearance, but it’s still a roster that has enough talent to be pretty good if just a few things go their way. If they are in the playoffs again, do not be surprised if Muse is back in the coach of the year discussion.
Dan Bylsma (2010-11) is the only Penguins coach to have ever won this award so far.
Kyle Dubas, general manager: general manager of the year
This offseason didn’t take on the look most people expected given the lack of a major blockbuster move, but it was still a busy offseason that saw the team overhaul half of its defense and add forwards like Nicholas Robertson and Andrei Kuzmenko. And that does not even take into account the possibility of more in-season moves, which is where Dubas made some of his most significant changes a year ago.
I’m a little higher on the offseason than most people are, because I think there is a good chance the defense is better than last year’s, and I could see a scenario where a player like Robertson puts a lot of his tools together into one tool box and has a breakout year offensively.
The one thing that I could see holding Dubas back here is the fact that a lot of voters and people in hockey just do not really seem to care for him, which is the only reason I can think of for why he did not finish higher than fourth a year ago.
Ray Shero (2012-13) and Jim Rutherford (2015-16) have both won this award for the Penguins.
It’s possible, but a lot needs to go right
Sergei Murashov, goalie: Calder Trophy (rookie of the year)
If he is able to eventually reach his full potential there might not be a prospect in the Penguins farm system that can dramatically raise their ceiling more than Murashov.
But he has to actually become that player, and it is almost impossible to project that for a young goalie.
It might take him a year or two to get there.
He might not ever get to that level.
He might do it right away.
It is a volatile position where it is all anybody’s guess.
If he is able to play at a high level right away and help get the Penguins back into playoff contention, that could put him into the Calder Trophy discussion. There is going to be a lot of tough competition between players like Gavin McKenna, Porter Martone, Ivar Stenberg and Cole Hutson, but Murashov’s talent, athleticism and positional value might make him a factor if he plays well. He has excelled at every level of pro hockey, and the Penguins are hoping that all translates over to the NHL.
Mario Lemieux (1984-85) and Evgeni Malkin (2006-07) are the two Penguins players to have previously won this award.
It’s a long shot, but competition will be fierce
Erik Karlsson, defense: Norris Trophy (best defenseman)
Karlsson has won three Norris Trophies in his career, and earned six votes on the ballot a year ago, enough to put him in ninth place.
If there’s a veteran player on the roster capable of winning a major award this season, Karlsson is probably the most logical fit given that he’s won it so many times and played well enough a year ago to earn some top-five votes. The problem is the Norris Trophy race might be one of the deepest in the NHL this season with players like Cale Makar, Quinn Hughes, and Ramus Dahlin likely to be at the top, and players like Adam Fox, Moritz Seider, Lane Hutson, and Jake Sanderson all likely to be in the race.
Karlsson would not only need to repeat his 2025-26 performance, but also build on it and probably get closer to the 90-or 100-point mark again, while also finishing the season with the Penguins without getting traded before the trade deadline. Am I optimistic about all of that? No. But it is not impossible to imagine. You do not have to squint very hard to see him playing at that level.
Randy Carlyle (1980-81) is the only Penguins player to ever win this award.
Career achievement award
Sidney Crosby, center: Selke Trophy (best defensive forward)
Just about the only major individual award that Crosby has not won in his NHL career is the Selke Trophy as the NHL’s best defensive forward. Every year he seems to get at least a handful of votes, and there was a brief stretch where there was a campaign growing for him to actually win it.
I don’t think his defensive game is up to that standard anymore, and it is the one area where he has clearly slowed down quite a bit over the years. I also don’t think he has much of a chance to win it. But if it were to happen it would be some sort of an unofficial career achievement award where a bunch of voters just decide “it is time he won it.” I would not bet on that happening, but NHL award voters tend to do weird things for great players, especially toward the end of their careers.
Ron Francis (1994-95) is the only Penguins player that has ever won this award.
