Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson finds more confidence

For all the obvious physical attributes that have led to him having an NHL career for seven seasons, Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Mike Matheson’s steadiest trait might be one that is far less tangible than his slick skating or sturdy shooting.

It’s his honesty.

About himself.

The 23rd overall selection in the 2012 draft by the Florida Panthers, Matheson never lived up to the expectations of being a first-round pick with that franchise. And he definitely fell short of the hope of Panthers management after he signed an eight-year contract extension in 2017 that carried a salary cap hit of $4.875 million and contained a modified no-trade clause.

After being traded by the Panthers to the Penguins in September 2020, Matheson was pretty frank about his failings in Florida.

“It seemed like things kind of snowballed,” Matheson said in January 2021 during his first training camp with the Penguins. “It got to a point where I was starting to lose confidence. Obviously, that’s on myself. Going into this offseason, I didn’t really try to hide from the fact that I needed to get better in certain areas. I tried to dive right into them and focus right on them.”

Roughly 13 months after he made his debut with the Penguins, Matheson appears to have taken considerable strides toward addressing those areas.

Through 48 games this season, he has 21 points (seven goals, 14 assists). Despite primarily being deployed on the third defensive pairing and receiving little time on the power play, he leads the team’s defensemen in goals.

And he is tied with All-Star forward Jake Guentzel for the team lead in winning goals with five.

His most recent score came Sunday during the first period of a 4-2 road win against the New Jersey Devils. After settling a rebound at the right point of the offensive zone, Penguins defenseman Chad Ruhwedel fed the puck to center point for Matheson. Surveying for a shooting lane, Matheson chopped a slapper that sailed past goaltender Jon Gillies’ glove for the Penguins’ first goal of the game.

“I’ve worked on my shot a lot,” Matheson said to media in Newark, N.J., after the game. “The quicker you can get it off, the more effective it is. As for technique, there’s a lot you can break down into a shot. It’s all about practice, right? The more you work on things, hopefully the better they’ll get.”

Matheson wasn’t done in that contest and played a role in the winning score during the third period. Skating the puck up the right wing of the offensive zone, he pulled up on the half wall, retreated to the right point and chucked a wrister at the net. Gillies made the initial save but allowed a rebound Penguins forward Brian Boyle cleaned up for a forehand goal.

“Mike’s done a really good job just trying to understand what our expectations are of him,” coach Mike Sullivan said.

“(Assistant coach) Todd Reirden has done a good job with Mike in trying to help define what those expectations are. Mike is a very effective player for us. He has such dominant, physical attributes. He’s a great skater. He’s a good puck handler. He might have one of the hardest wrist shots in the league, those half slappers from the blue line. They’re just missiles. The goal (Sunday) was an example of it. He’s done a good job of just taking what the game gives him.

“When he plays that way and he doesn’t chase the game, so to speak, I think that’s when he’s at his best. He’s been really effective for us. He defends hard. He defends with his mobility and his stick. But he’s also big and strong, and he can help us in front of our net, for example, with box outs and tying up sticks just being hard in front of our net. Mike has done a great job of just understanding how he has to play within the confines of our team dynamic. He’s played extremely well for us.”

Said Matheson: “So much of it is confidence, right? When you don’t feel like things are going well, it can be easy for doubt to creep into your game. When that happens, it’s hard to execute and be sharp throughout the game. That’s really been the name of the game. Staying confident and not trying to do too much with the puck has really brought me success.”

Note: Because of inclement weather, the Penguins stayed in Toronto an extra day following Thursday’s 4-1 road loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. As a result, Friday’s practice in Cranberry was canceled.

Follow the Penguins all season long.