Recapping Penguins’ Performances at the 2026 World Championships

After being bounced in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Philadelphia Flyers, most of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster was likely left with a bad taste in its mouth as it embarked on yet another lengthy offseason.

While some Penguins chose to open the summer by relaxing or starting their own private offseason training regimen, four of them decided the best way to get over the disappointing end to the 2025-26 campaign was to continue grinding away on the ice.

Sidney Crosby, Parker Wotherspoon, Connor Clifton, and Tommy Novak spent a good portion of May representing their respective countries at the 2026 IIHF World Championships in Switzerland. Each of them made an impact in their own way during the tournament, but none came away with a gold medal.

With the tournament now over, here’s how these players represented the Penguins on the international stage.

Sidney Crosby, Team Canada

It didn’t come as much of a surprise to Penguins and Crosby fans alike when Pittsburgh’s captain joined Team Canada soon after his NHL season came to an end. He isn’t called “Captain Canada” for nothing, after all. What was surprising was that young star Macklin Celebrini was given the “C,” mostly because Crosby joined Team Canada’s roster late after his brief Stanley Cup playoff run.

For the first time since he scored the golden goal during the 2010 Winter Olympic Games, Crosby had to settle for an “A” on his sweater. But when asked about the change, Canada’s longtime captain indicated he had no problem with it whatsoever.

“More than anything, I love how competitive (Celebrini) is,” Crosby said. “That’s what I see when I pay attention to him. He wants to get better every day, and he wants his team to get better every day. He has a passion for those things. To me, that’s leadership” (from ‘Sidney Crosby sees his own fire in Macklin Celebrini, Canada’s future,’ The Athletic – May 27, 2026).

Throughout the tournament, Celebrini showed exactly why Crosby speaks so highly of him. The San Jose Sharks phenom led his country with 14 points, with Crosby right behind him at 10. The only concerning part of Crosby’s game was that he struggled to find the back of the net, as only one of those points came from a goal. Still, points are points, and based on Crosby’s ability to escape goal-scoring droughts in the past, it probably won’t take him long to right the ship come October.

One of the main reasons Crosby decided to even suit up for Team Canada was to play alongside Celebrini for the first time (from ‘Penguins at World Championships: Sidney Crosby’s impact, Kyle Dubas’ vision and more observations,’ The Athletic – May 26, 2026). He wanted to see the future of Team Canada up close and personal. Though his time in Switzerland didn’t end with a medal around his neck, that experience was still a reward in its own right, for Crosby and hockey fans around the world.

Parker Wotherspoon, Team Canada

In his first season as a Penguin, it’s fair to say Parker Wotherspoon did more than enough to earn a contract extension in the near future. With Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas, along with assistant general manager Jason Spezza, watching, Wotherspoon picked up right where he left off in the Stanley Cup Playoffs as a member of Team Canada. Playing a prominent role on the blue line, Wotherspoon was one of the squad’s most positionally sound defensemen and was rewarded accordingly on the scoresheet.

Wotherspoon finished the tournament with four points (one goal and three assists). His lone tally even came off a pretty feed across the goal mouth from his Penguins teammate Crosby, which capped off a dominant 5-1 victory over Denmark in the preliminary round.

When discussing Wotherspoon’s appearance in the tournament, Spezza summarized it best.

“Being here is a deserved feather in his hat” (from ‘Penguins at World Championships: Sidney Crosby’s impact, Kyle Dubas’ vision and more observations,’ The Athletic – May 26, 2026).

Connor Clifton, Team USA

Although Connor Clifton is no longer officially a Penguin due to his latest contract expiring at the end of the 2025-26 campaign, he isn’t able to go elsewhere until free agency begins on July 1. Based on his minimal impact this past season on the Penguins’ blue line, he may be doing just that in a matter of months.

The same can be said of his impact on Team USA’s journey in the IIHF World Championships. His only true highlight during the eight games he represented his country came against Austria in the team’s final preliminary round matchup.

Connor Clifton opening up the game for the U.S. 🇺🇸 #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/GGRQPkji6j

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) May 26, 2026

Accepting a pass at the left point from Will Borgen, Clifton used a pump fake to open up a shooting lane in front of him before releasing a perfectly-placed wrist shot on net from distance. Screened by two bodies in front of his crease, Austria goaltender Atte Tolvanen didn’t even see the puck until it had already found the back of the net.

Tommy Novak, Team USA

It’s hard to argue Tommy Novak wasn’t Team USA’s MVP throughout its IIHF tournament journey. While he wasn’t exactly a leading scorer in Pittsburgh this past season, Novak showed that even when surrounded by less talented players around him than normal, he is capable of turning his game up a notch.

Similar to Crosby, he thrived by serving mainly as a distributor of the puck rather than by finding the back of the net consistently. Novak finished the tournament as Team USA’s points leader with eight in as many games (one goal, seven assists). He especially shone during the Americans’ 7-3 blowout win over Hungary, during which Novak logged a game-high five apples.

As expected, he was the center of attention in the locker room after the win.

Get 'em fired up, Tommy 🦅 #MensWorlds pic.twitter.com/2cH2F09GLx

— USA Hockey (@usahockey) May 25, 2026

It’s hard to gauge how well success on the IIHF stage will translate back into the NHL next season for each of these players. Still, they’d each probably agree with the notion that there’s no such thing as too much ice time as they begin to gear up for another run at Lord Stanley come October.