New defenseman Conor Timmins chips in 1st goal with Penguins, a 'goal-scorer's goal'

There are few complexities in what the Pittsburgh Penguins are asking Conor Timmins to do each night.

And Timmins, who has spent all of a week on the Penguins roster after being acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs on March 7 at the NHL trade deadline, understands his assignment.

“Just (play) a simple game,” the 26-year-old defenseman said. “It always starts with defending for me. I have to defend hard and be competitive. After that, just be a good puck mover and get the puck to the forwards in transition.”

Scoring likely would be decidedly down the list of things coach Mike Sullivan is expecting Timmins to do on a regular basis, given that the blue liner arrived in Pittsburgh with only five goals in 144 career NHL contests heading into Thursday’s game against the St. Louis Blues.

While Sullivan is an unfailingly stoic presence behind the Penguins’ bench during positive moments for the club (the same could not be said when officials signal for penalties he takes exception to), Timmins’ second-period goal Thursday likely gave him reason to at least raise an eyebrow.

In the Blues’ zone, after Danton Heinen whipped the puck behind the net and up the boards, Timmins came down the wall and took possession of it.

Advancing into the right faceoff circle, Timmins ripped a snap shot through traffic past Jordan Binnington, giving the Penguins a 2-0 lead a bit over two minutes into the period.

“I just saw (Heinen) was looking, went out to the weak side, tried to jump down on (the puck). They gave me some space to take it to the net, and I just tried to fire it,” Timmins said of his goal.

Conor Timmins' first goal with the Penguins doubles Pittsburgh's lead to 2!#LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/vUXpyfeVoZ

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 14, 2025

For Sullivan, it was “a goal-scorer’s goal” and went for Timmins’ first with his new club.

Coincidentally, his most recent goal before that came against the Penguins on March 2, when he was in his closing days as a member of the Maple Leafs.

Timmins’ goal followed that of his defensive partner, Ryan Graves, with whom he has been deployed in two of his three games with the Penguins.

Graves’ goal in the opening period was his first of the year, coming in his 47th game played.

47 games in, Ryan Graves scores his first goal of the season!#LetsGoPens pic.twitter.com/nCS4mH3uea

— Hockey Daily 365 l NHL Highlights & News (@HockeyDaily365) March 13, 2025

Regarding Timmins and Graves pairing up, there is some history there, as the two were teammates with the Colorado Avalanche for parts of two seasons in 2019-20 and 2020-21.

At the time, Graves was more established as an NHLer than Timmins, whom the Avalanche drafted with the first pick in the second round (No. 32 overall) in 2017.

But in 2020-21, both players’ final season in Colorado — in July 2021, Graves was traded to the New Jersey Devils, Timmins to the Arizona Coyotes — they worked as a defensive pairing.

Per Natural Stat Trick, over 29 games, they skated together for 122 minutes, 32 seconds and were in the black in shots (63-54) and goals (5-4) while on the ice.

While any chemistry from four-plus years ago might not carry over to the present, the two have been satisfied with their current assignment.

“I think it’s been good,” Graves said. “I like the way (Timmins) plays. Good with the puck. He’s a good skater. We can kind of play off each other and things like that. I like playing with a guy like that likes to handle (the puck).”

Added Timmins: “We have that familiarity, a little bit of chemistry, and, off the ice, he’s been super welcoming. It’s nice to have a familiar face in the room, so I think we’ve meshed really well together.”

Timmins might not be a safe bet to show up on the nightly scoresheet, but logging heavy minutes on the penalty kill is a different story.

Immediately after his acquisition, Timmins was plugged into the Penguins’ corps of short-handed options and through his first two games played with Pittsburgh, he averaged 1:38 on the penalty kill.

“It’s a little different than what we were doing in Toronto, so it’s going to take some adjusting to, but I think I’m willing to get into shooting lanes and break up plays,” Timmins said. “I think I can be beneficial to (the penalty kill).”

On Thursday against St. Louis, a 5-3 win for the Penguins, Timmins logged 16:35 of ice time, the most so far in his handful of contests with the club, 58 seconds of which came short-handed.

Unfortunately for Timmins, his high-sticking infraction in the second period led to St. Louis’ first goal of the game.

The Blues scored another power-play goal before the night was over, with Dylan Holloway ripping a slap shot through Timmins (who screened Tristan Jarry on the play).

DYLAN HOLLOWAY WITH A LASER ???? pic.twitter.com/gCvT0BfRmR

— SleeperNHL (@SleeperNHL) March 14, 2025

It won’t be too long before Timmins, signed through 2024-25 at $1.1 million, is set to become a restricted free agent.

What kind of longer-term future he might have in Pittsburgh, if any, is hard to say in mid-March.

But, so far, the Penguins have been pleased with his addition.

“It’s still early, but I think he’s an intelligent player,” Sullivan said. “I think he brings some size. He’s a big body. He’s got a solid frame, so from that standpoint, just having some size and strength at the net front (and) in the battle areas is important. I think he has decent puck skills, and he skates well. So those are a lot of great attributes to have for our team on both sides of the puck.”

Note: After Friday’s practice in Cranberry, Sullivan indicated the statuses of injured defensemen P.O Joseph (week-to-week, undisclosed) and Ryan Shea (week-to-week, suspected left arm) plus forward Tommy Novak (day-to-day, unspecified) remain the same. Of the three, Joseph is the only one currently designated to injured reserve. … Defenseman Chase Pietila, a fourth-round (No. 111 overall) draft pick by the Penguins in 2025, signed an amateur tryout contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League Friday. The 21-year-old recently turned pro.