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By Pittsburgh Penguins Staff / Re-published With Permission
The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed forward Drew O’Connor to a two-year contract, it was announced Thursday, Aug. 2, by President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas.
The deal runs through the 2024-25 campaign and carries an average annual value of $925,000.
O’Connor played in the inaugural 2017-18 NCDC season with the Boston Junior Bruins. He played in 49 games, scoring 13 goals and 26 assists for 39 points and added five assists in six playoff games.
O’Connor, 25, split the 2022-23 season between Pittsburgh and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. With Pittsburgh, O’Connor had his best NHL season to date, setting career highs in games played (46), goals (5), assists (6), points (11) and hits (63). With WBS, the 6-foot-3, 200-pound forward recorded 22 points (8G-14A) in 20 games and was a plus-9.
The Chatham, New Jersey native represented his native country for the first time at the 2023 IIHF World Championship. With Team USA, O’Connor notched three goals, five assists and eight points in 10 games. His three goals and eight points each ranked fourth on the team.
O’Connor has played parts of three seasons in the NHL, all with Pittsburgh. In 78 career regular-season games, he has recorded eight goals, nine assists and 17 points. O’Connor has also spent parts of three seasons with WBS recording 27 goals, 46 assists and 73 points in 73 career AHL games.
Prior to turning pro, O’Connor played two seasons of collegiate hockey with Dartmouth. During his final season with the team in 2019-20, he recorded a team-leading 21 goals and 33 points in 31 games. His 21 goals ranked fifth in the entire NCAA, and he was named the NCAA Ivy-League Player of the Year and was also selected to the All-Ivy League First Team. In 65 career games with Dartmouth, O’Connor collected 38 goals, 21 assists and 59 points.
O’Connor was originally signed by the Penguins as an undrafted free agent on March 10, 2020.
