A new season is here and despite the hope and enthusiasm for a new year, the Pittsburgh Penguins will officially enter 2023-24 as the oldest team in the league.
According to CapFriendly, and based on official opening night rosters, the Penguins average age is 30.8, the only team to exceed 30.
With an average age of 25.5, the Buffalo Sabres are the NHL’s youngest team heading into the 2023-24 season.
For the Penguins, there was a clear effort to retool the roster and bring in better players, but not much of the changes were focused on age.
The core group of Sidney Crosby (36), Evgeni Malkin (37), and Kris Letang (36) all got a year older, and the addition of 33-year-old Erik Karlsson didn’t help with the age cut.
Of the entire 22-man roster, the Penguins have 10 players under the age of 30; the youngest being last second waiver claim John Ludvig who is 23-years-old.
Jeff Carter, at 38-years-old is the once again the oldest player on the team and fourth oldest in the NHL; he will turn 39 on New Years Day.
Keeping the Penguins company as the oldest teams are three other teams from the Metropolitan Division.
The Carolina Hurricanes (29.0), New York Islanders (29.2), and the Washington Capitals (29.5) are the three oldest teams after the Penguins.
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