Penguins forward Cody Glass looks to break through

Cody Glass was set to start a new life in Nashville.

Granted, he had already spent three years in the Music City but after marrying his bride, Bailey, in early August, he was ready to embark on a marvelous new chapter in familiar surroundings.

But then his professional life changed so much about his personal life.

A few weeks after getting married, Glass was traded from the Nashville Predators to the Pittsburgh Penguins on Aug. 13.

The Penguins acquired Glass along with a third-round pick in the 2025 NHL draft from the Predators who were trying to clear some cap space.

And just like that, Glass, who is entering the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.5 million, had to change his best-laid plans.

“It was crazy,” the right-handed forward said. “I got married at the beginning of August. And then two weeks later, I got traded. My wife is great. She’s dealt with it pretty good. And in this business, you never know what’s going to happen. So, you always have to be prepared. Coming to an organization like Pittsburgh, I hit the jackpot.”

It remains to be seen how Glass’ fortunes will turn out with his new employer. He has been used in a variety of roles through the first stages of the Penguins’ ongoing training camp. On Monday, he skated on the team’s top line — admittedly with a lineup full of reserves — and saw shifts on both special teams units during a 3-2 home loss to the Buffalo Sabres at PPG Paints Arena.

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And throughout practices, he has predominantly skated in what could be labeled as potential third lines.

“I think I’m a pretty versatile forward,” Glass said. “I can plop in anywhere in the lineup. Playing (penalty kill), I played it growing up. I’m very familiar with it. Played power play. So I’m very comfortable with any situation that I’m put in.

“Any day in the NHL, any opportunity that you get, you’ve just got to enjoy it and try to do your best with it.”

To this point, Glass’ days in the NHL have not lived up to what were considerably high expectations starting when he was the first draft pick in the history of the Vegas Golden Knights. Selected sixth overall in the 2017 NHL Draft, Glass spent parts of two unremarkable seasons in Sin City before being dealt to the Predators in 2021.

Glass (6-foot-3, 206 pounds) seemed to gain traction in Nashville during the 2022-23 season by establishing career highs with 72 games played, 14 goals, 21 assists and 35 points.

But that momentum did not carry over to the 2023-24 campaign as a handful of injuries and a profuse number of healthy scratches limited him to 41 games.

“I dominated at the junior level, I dominated at the (American Hockey League) level,” Glass said. “You get to the NHL level and everybody’s good, everybody’s great, everybody’s strong and fast. It kind of hits you in the face and you get a little bit intimidated and lose confidence. In this game, you’ve just got to battle hard and try and take every inch that you get because there’s not a lot of it.

“Once you have a good group around you, a good coaching staff, all that stuff, it kind of eases that anxiousness, nervousness that you kind of deal with.”

For their part, the Penguins are still trying to gauge what they received in August’s deal with the Predators.

“He’s a very high draft pick,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “He has a solid body of work as a player. He’s one of these guys that we think might have the ability to blossom into his potential. He has good size, he can really skate, he has some offensive instincts. He has the ability to play on both sides of the puck. He has some versatility in the sense that we could move him around the lineup. Is he capable of playing in the top six? I think time will tell.

“He’ll help our overall team speed and we think there is potentially another level to his game on both sides of the puck that, hopefully, we’ll help him get there.”

For the moment, Glass is here adapting his new life.

“Crazy,” Glass said when asked about his career journey. “It’s pretty hectic. But that’s how it goes. I don’t really focus too much on the past. You’ve got to look forward and just kind of keep moving. It’s been a whirlwind. But that’s life and you’ve just got to enjoy it.”

Notes: The Penguins released defenseman Nikolai Khnyzov from a professional tryout contract. … The Penguins had a scheduled day off Friday.

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