2025-26 Season in Review: Noel Acciari

Yahoo Sports2h ago11 min readOriginal source →

TL;DR

Noel Acciari had a standout 2025-26 season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, scoring 13 goals and 25 points. As an impending free agent, he demonstrated versatility and reliability, contributing significantly in both offensive and defensive roles.

Key points

Noel Acciari scored 13 goals and 25 points in the 2025-26 season
Acciari is an impending free agent as of July 1, 2026
He was recognized for his reliability and low mistake rate
Acciari led the Penguins in shorthanded faceoffs and shot blocks

Noel AcciariPittsburgh PenguinsPhiladelphia Flyers

PITTSBURGH, PA - MARCH 05: Noel Acciari #55 of the Pittsburgh Penguins in action during the game against the Philadelphia Flyers at PPG PAINTS Arena on March 5, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images

Vitals

**Player:** Noel Acciari **Born:**Dec. 1, 1991 (34 years old) **Height:** 5-foot-11 **Weight:** 209 pounds **Hometown:** Johnston, Rhode Island, U.S. **Shoots:**Right **Draft:** Undrafted **2024-25 Statistics:** 67 games played; 13 goals; 12 assists; 25 points; one assist in six playoff games **Contract Status:**Impending free agent on July 1, completed a three-year, $6 million contract ($2.0m cap hit) **History:****2023-24** (50% C, 27% D), **2024-25**

Story of the Season

A popular compliment that you’ll hear pop up in the NHL lexicon these days is for a player to describe another as an “honest player”. It’s high praise that anyone would be proud to have attached to them. The term doesn’t exactly mean the same as it does in the outside world that one is being truthful or candid, a google search summarizes an honest hockey player as “a hardworking, reliable, and fundamentally sound athlete who plays with integrity, maximizes their effort every shift, and plays a disciplined, low-mistake game”. The term applies more to actions than words. It’s safe to say there might not be a more honest player in the NHL today than Noel Acciari. The Rhode Island native added ruggedness (65 hits in 67 games) and was a willing shot blocker (62). His rate of giveaways (1.34 per 60 minutes played) was the on the team. While officially listed as a right winger in all but one game, Acciari lent versatility to function as a center at the start of play with 594 faceoffs, the third highest total on the team. 205 of those faceoffs were while shorthanded to lead the Penguins in that department. Acciari’s 52.0% overall winning percentage in the circle came up huge, especially considering the importance of all those shorthanded draws that largely take place in the defensive zone. His 2:35 average ice time per game shorthanded was second on the team, barely trailing frequent running mate ’s 2:41. Acciari also stepped up offensively, despite being utilized in a lopsidedly defensive role in terms of zone starts. Acciari’s 13 goals were the fourth time in his career that he’s cracked double-digits and his highest season total since scoring 14 in 2022-23. Those 13 goals outpaced the nine combined goals scored during his first two seasons with the Pens from 2023-25. Likewise, Acciari’s 25 points was the second highest total of his career and outproduced his combined point total (19) from his first two seasons as Penguin. “I’m going to do everything for the guy next to me out on the ice, whether it’s blocking a shot, making a hit, trying to make a play, score a goal,” Acciari said in . “Leave it all out there every night. If I can do that every night, then I’m happy with that.” No lies detected from an honest player.