Training camp preview: Ryan Graves needs improvement as one of the Penguins' top left-handed defensemen

With the Pittsburgh Penguins scheduled to open training camp Wednesday, here is a position-by-position look at their roster. Today, a glance at their left-side defensemen.

Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas has a talent for saying a lot without saying much.

He tends to keep his true intentions hidden while being verbose.

But there is one notable exception.

Ryan Graves.

The crown jewel of the Penguins’ free agent crop in the 2023 offseason, Graves failed to reach even the minimum of expectations during the first year of his six-year contract (with a salary cap hit of $4.5 million).

Opening the season on a pairing with All-Star Kris Letang, Graves never found much success in that deployment, and, by mid-December, he was teamed with another All-Star in Erik Karlsson.

But that duo struggled, as well, and Graves was moved to the third pairing in mid-February.

By mid-March, Graves suffered a concussion, and his season came to a premature conclusion.

During his end-of-season media availability in mid-April, the typically dissembled Dubas was frank when asked about Graves.

“With Ryan, there’s no dancing around it,” Dubas said. “Came in and, from the beginning, I thought, it happens. Did I expect it to go the full year? No. I think part of that is on us as an organization, and it’s as much on Ryan to push and find his way through the summer. It’s a massive summer for him.”

Graves has had five months to get his game right. Given how much of an investment the Penguins made in him, considerable improvement will be required by Graves.

Another left-handed defenseman with scrutiny over his contract is Marcus Pettersson. But the main question regarding him is whether he will sign a contract extension with the Penguins.

As the team’s steadiest defensive entity on the blue line, he has found chemistry with Karlsson and Letang and has been indispensable in recent years.

But, at 28, he’s hardly a youngster. And with Dubas showing a willingness to part with popular contributors — such as former All-Star forward Jake Guentzel — for the overall benefit of the franchise, it’s fair to wonder if Pettersson will finish 2024-25 with the Penguins.

The Penguins signed defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to a one-year contract in July with the hopes the 30-year-old would regain the form that made him a steady defensive safety valve to an offensive-minded partner. Should Graves falter, Grzelcyk would be a leading candidate to replace him on one of the top two pairings.

Ryan Shea made the most of his first opportunity of playing NHL games for the first time in his professional career last season. Moving between the NHL and American Hockey League (AHL) rosters for most of the season, he settled in on a steady third-pairing role with rookie Jack St. Ivany by the conclusion of 2023-24.

One of the few sources of physical play for the Penguins is John Ludvig. As a rookie who also made his NHL debut last season, Ludvig racked up 47 penalty minutes in only 33 games. He’ll need to show more abilities with the puck if he hopes to be even a reserve for this lineup, however.

Sebastian Aho, another free agent signing in July, is obviously an option as a left-hander but predominantly played on the right side for the Islanders last season.

Another possibility is Filip Kral. A fifth-round draft pick (No. 149 overall) of the Toronto Maple Leafs when Dubas ran that team, Kral joined the Penguins as a free agent signing in May following a productive season in Finland.