Penguins A to Z: Jordan Frasca played catch-up in 2022-23

With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28-29.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)

Jordan Frasca

Position: Center

Shoots: Left

Age: 21

Height: 6-foot-2

Weight: 184 pounds

2022-23 AHL statistics: Eight games, zero points (zero goals, zero assists)

2022-23 ECHL statistics: 36 games, 12 points (seven goals, five assists)

Contract: In the first year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $859,167. Pending restricted free agent in the 2025 offseason.

(Note: Frasca does not require waivers for any transaction involving a minor league affiliate.)

Acquired: Undrafted free agent signing, March 1, 2022

Last season: Center has been a pretty stable portion of the Penguins’ lineup for almost two decades due to the presence of franchise pillars Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.

But the depth can be lacking at times.

Sure, there have been some solid-to-strong bottom-six centers over the years such as Jordan Staal, Maxime Talbot, Brandon Sutter, Nick Bonino, Matt Cullen, Evan Rodrigues, Jeff Carter and Brian Boyle.

But there has usually been a revolving door for those roles due to the nature of the NHL’s salary cap structure, and it has created a need for the Penguins to develop centers that can handle the duties typically expected of those on the third and fourth lines.

Certainly, they can boast of some successes like Teddy Blueger, Mark Letestu, Carter Rowney and Joe Vitale.

But there have been plenty of others who didn’t pan out – or management just didn’t have the patience for – such as Jean-Sebastien Dea, Sam Lafferty, Ryan Stone, Oskar Sundqvist, Dominik Uher and Radim Zohorna.

At the moment, Jordan Frasca looks like he might be listing toward the latter category.

Coming off a productive overage season at the junior level – he posted 87 points (42 goals, 45 assists) in 61 games with the Ontario Hockey League’s Kingston Frontenacs in 2021-22 – Frasca was seen as someone who could boost the organization’s depth at the center position below the NHL roster.

As it turned out, he spent the majority of the season below the AHL roster as he was stationed most of the 2022-23 campaign with the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers.

After suffering an undisclosed injury in September during the Pittsburgh Penguins’ training camp, Frasca did not play a game of consequence until Dec. 10 when he recorded an assist for the Nailers in a 5-0 road win against the Kalamazoo Wings.

By Dec. 15, Frasca was recalled to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and while he didn’t find the net in his AHL debut, he offered a considerable first impression when he got into a fight with Hershey Bears heavyweight forward Kale Kessy on the Penguins’ bench.

After three AHL contests, Frasca was shuffled between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Wheeling a handful of times by the end of December and ultimately spent most of the first three months of 2023 with Wheeling.

During that time, he was utilized as a left winger while trying to get his overall game up to speed in the wake of his early season injury woes. Manning the port side of the second line, he scored his first professional goal in a 4-3 home loss to the Toledo Walleye on Feb. 8.

By March 26, Frasca was recalled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and finished the season at the AHL level, playing in five of the Penguins’ final nine games of the season, mostly as a fourth-line center.

The future: It’s probably not fair to gauge Frasca’s projections as an NHL prospect after one season in which he esssentially missed the first three months due to an injury that prevented him from even skating.

He was playing catch-up for most of 2022-23 while trying to learn the professional game.

Frasca has a high hockey IQ and is committed to the defensive side of the game, an attribute that will endear him to coaches at every level, particularly with a franchise that is always looking for reliable bottom-six centers.

But he needs to gain some significant traction after an underwhelming first professional season.