Penguins A to Z: Lukas Svejkovsky has plenty to prove in the final year of his contract

With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2023-24 season coming to an end without any postseason action, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 52 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from fourth-line center Noel Acciari to reserve winger Radim Zohorna.

This series is scheduled to be published every day leading into the second day of the NHL Draft on June 29.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)

Lukas Svejkovsky

Position: Center

Shoots: Right

Age: 22

Height: 5-foot-9

Weight: 170 pounds

2023-24 AHL statistics: 19 games, four points (two goals, two assists)

2023-24 ECHL statistics: 30 games, 37 points (16 goals, 21 assists)

2023-24 ECHL postseason statistics: Seven games, five points (zero goals, five assists)

Contract: In the second year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $859,167. Pending restricted free agent in 2027

(Note: Svejkovsky is exempt from waivers for any assignments to a minor-league affiliate.)

Acquired: Fourth-round draft pick (No. 108 overall), Oct. 7, 2020

Last season: Under first-year president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas, the Penguins placed a greater emphasis on getting playing time for prospects who were further down the trough of their organizational depth chart.

Instead of letting them languish as healthy scratches at the American Hockey League level with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, several were assigned to the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers and actually played.

In total, seven players with NHL contracts appeared in games for the Nailers during the 2023-24 campaign. That figure is believed to be an all-time high in the 26-year affiliation between the Penguins and Nailers.

Svejkovsky was part of the group that spent most of the season in West Virginia trying to find his way as a professional.

After Svejkovsky was formally assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Sept. 30, the AHL Penguins sent him to Wheeling by Oct. 10.

Making his debut with the Nailers on Oct. 21, Svejkovsky — stationed on the right wing of the top line and on the power play — opened his season with a torrid eight-game scoring streak in which he totaled 14 points (six goals, eight goals).

????Svejkovsky ????

The Nailers refuse to give up and make it 7-3 as Fort Wayne closes out the 3rd. #ForgeTheFuture pic.twitter.com/b1ffVKZkYi

— x - Wheeling Nailers (@WheelingNailers) October 29, 2023

On Dec. 4, he was summoned to Northeast Pennsylvania. In four games on the right side of either the second or third line of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lineup, Svejkovsky was held without a point and returned to Wheeling by Dec. 19.

Svejkovsky chugged along in a leading role for the Nailers throughout January before being recalled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton again on Feb. 9 and he spent the remainder of the regular season with the AHL Penguins.

After recovering from an undisclosed injury that sidelined him for five games in late February and early March, Svejkovsky skated in 11 of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s final 17 games. Primarily deployed on the third or fourth lines, Svejkovsky had three points (two goals, one assist) over that span.

Svej with a missile to tie us back up! pic.twitter.com/gnLdNE7plq

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 9, 2024

On April 22, Svejkovsky was sent back to Wheeling and returned to his previous post as the top-line right winger for the Nailers’ final seven games of their postseason.

The future: Svejkovsky endured plenty of growing pains during the 2022-23 season, which he spent exclusively with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. So, getting substantial playing time — along with production — at the ECHL level is a step forward in his development.

But it’s fair to wonder if it’s a substantial step given how inert he was at the AHL level on the occasions he was recalled to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this past season.

A top-six style of forward with strong puck skills and a slick set of skates, Svejkovsky is probably miscast in a traditional bottom-six role, especially given his lack of size.

If he has a legit future, it will be as a top-six winger. But he’ll need to prove he deserves that type of role in the final year of his entry-level contract.

Follow the Penguins all season long.