A handful of line rushes, a little bit of special teams work and a good stretch at center ice is not much time for an NHL coach to get to know a couple of new players.
So after Saturday’s practice, Mike Sullivan could be forgiven for not yet having a read on Conor Timmins and Connor Dewar. He didn’t even know their nicknames.
“Not yet. I haven’t got there yet. But the good news,” Pittsburgh’s longtime coach said with a laugh, “is that I can’t be wrong whenever I call them by their first name.”
Sullivan and the Penguins will get the next few weeks to get familiar with Timmins and Dewar, a pair of pending restricted free agents they just acquired from Toronto.
For the players, it is a chance to show they should be part of the plan for 2025-26.
First, they have to get past the shock of being traded by a Stanley Cup hopeful in the Maple Leafs to a Penguins team that is dead last in the Metropolitan Division.
Dewar, a scrappy forward, could at least chuckle about how he learned that news.
“It was actually kind of funny,” he said after Saturday’s practice in Las Vegas. “I got high-sticked [Friday] at practice, so I left early. As they were gluing me up, [Timmins] came in and we were on the speakerphone with our GM. We were traded.”
The Penguins sent a fifth-round pick to the Leafs to acquire the two NHL veterans.
“I was excited,” said Timmins, a right-shot defenseman listed at 6-3 and 213 pounds. “There’s obviously a lot of great players here and it’s a pretty historic franchise. There is a good opportunity for me here, so I’m excited to come [join] the group.”
Dewar is also pumped to play with a few former All-Stars and an all-time NHL great in Sidney Crosby. But apparently, his friends and family were even more excited.
“Of course, [playing with Crosby is] the first thing that comes to mind. I think my phone probably blew up more about that rather than anything about myself,” he joked.
Both players made their Penguins debut in Sunday’s win against the Minnesota Wild.
“It’s not easy to come into a new system and adjust that quickly. And they had some important minutes for us out there,” Crosby said. “I thought they handled it well. They didn’t look like they were out of place or chasing at all. They competed really hard. Had some big hits, both of them. I thought they did a really good job.”
Dewar played with Kevin Hayes and Emil Bemstrom on their third line. The 5-foot-10 winger had two hits, a blocked shot and a takeaway in 13 minutes of ice time.
Scouting himself, Dewar, 25, said he plays a “hard, two-way game” and tries to “bring a lot of energy” on the ice. He did that against the Wild, his other former team.
“In my discussions with Kyle [Dubas], he talked to me a lot about his energy and how competitive he is,” Sullivan said. “He’s going to be hard to play against. I think he’s going to bring that element — and that’s an important element when teams win.”
Timmins, meanwhile, played on Pittsburgh’s third pair Sunday in Minnesota. Vladislav Kolyachonok, still a relative newcomer himself, was his partner during the 3-1 victory. Timmins had a team-high four hits and helped the penalty kill go 5 for 6.
Sullivan said the 26-year-old also passes well and has “good mobility” for his size.
“I know how excited Kyle is to add him to our group,” Sullivan said of the big righty.
Dubas was managing the Soo Greyhounds when they drafted Timmins in the Ontario Hockey League. Years later, he made the trade that brought Timmins to Toronto.
“I think he values my game. And that’s exciting for me as a player, to have someone believe in you like that,” Timmins said. “And I’m just excited to prove him right.”
For both newcomers, there is something at stake here over these next few weeks.
Dubas will need to make a decision on each player after the season ends. Since they are restricted free agents, the Penguins could retain their rights with a qualifying offer or let them hit the market like they did with Pierre-Olivier Joseph last year.
Timmins, in particular, fills a short-term need on the blue line. The Penguins were one righty short for much of the season, forcing them to play guys out of position.
“We still think there’s a lot of potential there,” Dubas said after the trade deadline.
And if Dewar can bring literally anything to the bottom six, he is also likely to stick.
“He brings life, energy and spirit,” Dubas said. “As we continue to [rebuild the team], it’s important to have those types of people here. We’ll give him a good run.”
First Published: March 10, 2025, 9:30 a.m.
