Penguins Sign Tommy Novak To Three-Year Extension

While Novak hasn’t reversed the downward trend of his career in as stunning a fashion as Chinakhov (who scored 36 points in 43 games and promptly earned a $6.25MM AAV extension), it’s tough to argue that his 2025-26 season was anything but a solid bounce-back year.

Novak split his time between center and the wing in his first full season in Pittsburgh, and he averaged 14:17 time on ice per game overall. That’s more ice time than Novak has received in any season other than his 2022-23 breakout campaign.

Trusted by first-year head coach Dan Muse, Novak responded, posting 16 goals and 42 points. He received second-unit power play time for most of the season, but did not feature on the penalty kill.

A silky forward whose puck skills have always been the foundation of his game, Novak’s ability to engage in the rougher side of hockey has long been a point of criticism. His focus is on offense, and he shouldn’t be expected to play a key defensive role or be an imposing physical presence.

But even though he has some legitimate drawbacks to his game, he proved last season that he can be a viable secondary scorer for a playoff-caliber team.

As the Penguins look to integrate a larger number of young forwards into their lineup in the coming years, having Novak in the mix as a steady, consistent middle-six scorer will help give Muse some continuity, and give the team’s younger players a stable veteran to play with.

A $4.65MM cap hit may have induced some sticker shock in past years, as Novak is an offense-first player with a career-high of 45 points. But within the current market conditions, it’s a more than fair price tag for some of his peak UFA years.