Penguins forward Drew O'Connor's future remains bright

It was a productive weekend for Drew O’Connor.

In two games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the Pittsburgh Penguins power forward prospect collected a goal and two assists.

He also earned a little bit of job security.

On Saturday, shortly before he recorded a primary assist in a 6-2 home win against the Laval Rocket, O’Connor agreed to a one-year contract extension with the Penguins that will keep him in the franchise’s nest through the 2022-23 season.

The extension came almost two years after he initially joined the Penguins. In late March of 2020, O’Connor signed a two-year entry-level contract as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth.

Through the pandemic, he’s had some sporadic tastes of NHL action (and even a handful of games in Norway) while largely dominating any time he has stepped onto an American Hockey League rink.

“It’s exciting, obviously, to sign a new contract,” O’Connor said via video conference Sunday. “It’s been a great two years so far, whether it’s been (with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton) or up in Pittsburgh. I’ve really enjoyed my time with the organization. Super excited to sign for another year. Look forward to getting back there (to the NHL) soon.”

It remains to be seen when he’ll return to the NHL roster. After reportedly suffering a collapsed lung with the Pittsburgh Penguins during a road game against the San Jose Sharks on Jan. 15, O’Connor spent time on long-term injured reserve before being assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Feb. 20.

Since then, he’s been highly productive, having scored 12 points (five goals, seven assists) in 10 AHL games.

During a 4-2 home win against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Sunday, O’Connor had two points, including a crafty one-timer in which he had to choke up on his release a bit to get the shot off for the winning goal.

“He’s been really good,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach J.D. Forrest said. “He’s playing with a real high tempo. The first couple of games, he was getting a feel for it again, but he was still doing a lot of good things in those games. Now, it’s just more consistent from shift to shift. He’s dangerous for us here. He disrupts a lot of plays. His forecheck has been excellent. He comes up with a lot of loose pucks, wins a lot of those battles. Around the net, he’s been pretty dangerous. He had a couple of breakaways (Sunday) so he could have easily had three or four goals. He’s been adjusting to getting back into play with no issues.”

Like a lot of hockey players who suffer injuries more typical of the sport’s rigors (i.e. to shoulders, jaws, etc.), O’Connor admitted he had to work his way past a few mental hurdles in terms of engaging in physical play after his lung healed.

“The first game, maybe a little bit,” the 23-year-old O’Connor said. “Just with getting that game contact, you try and replicate it in practice. Getting some contact after, one-on-one (battles) in the corners just to kind of feel a little bit of contact. Obviously, getting into a game is a different thing. It was a little bit of feeling it out the first game. Since then, it’s been great. I feel great.”

The Penguins feel pretty good about O’Connor’s future. In addition to wanting to get him some valuable playing time following his malady, he was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in February to diversify his game a bit.

“One of the areas that I’ve spoken about this year with respect to Drew is just adding the penalty-kill dimension,” Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said. “Especially if you’re playing a bottom-six role on our team, to have the ability to participate on one of the special teams gives us the chance to manage minutes better with respect to the rest of the group that we have so that we can sustain a high level of play and we don’t overplay guys in certain situations. I know that he’s working on that (with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton).

“When he was up here, we’ve worked with him. (Assistant coach) Mike Vellucci spent a lot of time with him on the film and also just getting (repetitions) in practice. He’s had a few opportunities in games to help us on the penalty. That’s something that I think he could potentially be really good at because of his mobility, his size, his reach and his instincts. That’s an element that I think Drew could add to his game and take his game to another level.”

The 6-foot-3, 200-pound O’Connor is far from a finished project. But after nearly two years with the Penguins, he continues to progress in a satisfactory fashion to management.

“He’s back to 100%,” Sullivan said. “He’s playing extremely well down there. Drew’s a real good player. We’re really excited about Drew’s game. He’s an NHL player. The size that he brings, he’s got a power game. He can really skate, he’s shown an ability to finish, he has some touch with the puck. With more and more experience, he’s only going to get better. We’re really excited about where potentially Drew’s game could go.”

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