Prior to the trade deadline last season, the Pittsburgh Penguins added a very physical player, but one that has shown he can also put up points, when they acquired Michael Bunting from the Carolina Hurricanes. This trade saw Jake Guentzel and Ty Smith head the other way. The Penguins also received the rights to Cruz Lucius, two prospects, a conditional first-round and conditional fifth-round picks in this past draft. It took Bunting all of three games to get acquainted with his new teammates and system before collecting his first point in his new colors against the Ottawa Senators. Once rolling, it was difficult to slow him down as he tallied 19 points in 21 games with the Penguins to end the season. With a new season on the horizon and being projected to slot onto the second line on the left side of Evgeni Malkin, there may be higher expectations for Bunting.
Related: More Pittsburgh Penguins’ Season Preview Articles
The 28-year-old has played five seasons in the NHL between the Arizona Coyotes (two), and Toronto Maple Leafs (two), and split last season between the Hurricanes and Penguins. Since leaving Arizona and signing with the Maple Leafs as a free agent on July 28, 2021, Bunting’s game has gone to another level. While it may be easy to do playing with the likes of Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Mitch Marner, he is showing he can do it with players that are not exactly on their level and players that are no longer in their prime. Having played 21 games last season with the Penguins, giving him more than enough time to get acquainted with his new teammates and systems, Bunting could be looking at a season that has him reach a season-high point total, while also being a guy that does not let teams push around his star-player teammates.
New Season-High Point Total?
The 2021-22 season, just his first season with the Maple Leafs, was a career year for the Scarborough, Ontario native. Bunting played 79 games, putting up 63 points on 23 goals and 40 assists. He reached this mark largely from playing on a line with Matthews, as he collected his first 100-point season when he finished with 106 points on the campaign. While playing with Malkin is not like playing with Matthews, as Malkin’s 98-point 2017-18 season was the closest he has come to 100 points since the 2011-12 season, Malkin is still putting up solid numbers.
Though known largely for his physical play, Bunting is a talented player when it comes to other aspects of the game. With the addition of Bunting, who gets into the corner to create chaos and cause turnovers as well as getting to the front of the net, which he calls his “home” as he told the TribLive, for those gritty goals, his style of play can help the entire line increase its point production, including Rickard Rakell (from ‘Pestering play of Penguins’ Michael Bunting easing transition from Carolina,’ TribLive, March 31, 2024).
During the 2023-24 season, Bunting showed signs of closing in on that point total as he registered 55 points between the Hurricanes and Penguins. Of his 19 goals scored, only four were not put in from the slot or rebounds lying in the crease. Having come that close to reaching his career-high point total last season, it would not be surprising if he reaches, or even sets a new career high this season.
The Penguins saw the line combination of Malkin, Rakell, and Bunting quite a bit to end the 2023-24 season, and Bunting did not look out of place playing on a line with one of the best players in the NHL, and that can be thanks to having played with Matthews. In fact, point production looked to be going up more for Malkin as Bunting was inserted onto that line. Having a player that likes getting into those dirty areas, like Bunting does, makes things a bit easier for Malkin and Rakell. The Penguins will surely see even more heart coming from Bunting as he plays a full season in the black and yellow.
Defensive Zone Play Needs to be Better
Between playing with the Hurricanes and Penguins, Bunting had a career-low minus-19 goal differential through the 2023-24 season. Though a winger’s job is to cut off any shot opportunity coming from the blue line, it is all about the team’s system and how they want to play in the defensive zone. No matter the system, however, all five skaters should be helping out their goaltender. There is still plenty of room to grow, not to say Bunting is a bad defensive player as he is a good two-way player, but improvements can always be made. Those improvements should be made come puck drop on the new season.
More Physicality
As noted before, Bunting plays with a physical edge to him while having the skills to play good hockey. Last season, his physical presence dropped slightly with 49 hits compared to his final two years in Toronto where he collected 85 hits in consecutive seasons in 2021-22 and 2022-23. Adjusting to two new teams may have been a reason for that. With the Maple Leafs, he knew his job was to get under people’s skin and get them off their game. Getting into new systems, players want to stick to the system, do what they are told, and not overdo things. Bunting may be given more leash when it comes to his antics, should he do them smartly, unlike he has in the past on a few occasions. He can be that guy to take players off their game just by laying a body on them, and Penguins fans can expect to see more of that this season.
Though it is difficult to see the Penguins make the playoffs, as many Eastern Conference teams have made signings that make their teams better and deeper for the playoffs, Penguins fans will still have high expectations for their team and players. Looking back at the history of the Penguins, their fans and the city of Pittsburgh strive for greatness. They will want more, and Bunting will want more from himself this season. He is in no way, shape, or form one of the Penguins’ greats such as Sidney Crosby, Malkin, or Mario Lemieux to name a few, but he is playing with two of those guys which raises the standards for him more. Expectations are there, but it is a matter of if he can meet those expectations, or even exceed them. The 2024-25 season will surely be a starting point to see what his future as a Penguin could look like.
