2025-26 season in review: Tommy Novak

Regular season 5v5 advanced stats

**Data via Natural Stat Trick**. Ranking is out of 18 forwards on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 150 minutes. Corsi For%: 50.9 (6th) Goals For%: 52.9 (12th) xGF%: 53.9 (3rd) Scoring Chance %: 54.0 (4th) 5v5 on-ice shooting%: 11.4 (12th) On-ice save%: .892 (13th) Goals/60: 0.59 (15th) Assist/60: 1.35 (3rd) Points/60: 1.94 (8th) Novak had great possession numbers and was an excellent playmaker, but he got hurt a little bit on the percentages, both with his own shooting percentage, the team’s shooting percentage, and the goaltending performances when he was on the ice.

Charts n’at

Highlights

Questions to ponder

The biggest question is what sort of future does he have with the Penguins, and does he help them accomplish whatever their short-term and long-term goals are? He is signed for one more season at $3.5 million, which is a completely fair price for his level of production and versatility throughout the lineup. There is value in that if you are anticipating a return to the playoffs next season. But his career playoff performance, and especially this past spring, has left a lot to be desired. Does that sour the Penguins on him at all? Is he a player you want to re-sign? Does he have enough trade value to get you a decent asset back in return?

Ideal 2026-27

Assuming he is in Pittsburgh, it would probably look a lot like what he did during the 2025-26 season with maybe a few more goals and a little better shooting luck, for both himself and his linemates. Novak was a solid possession driver but finished with a 12.4 percent shooting percentage that was a little below his prior career numbers while his on-ice shooting percentage was one of the lowest on the team.

Bottom Line

Novak can be a frustrating player because he has enough talent to keep you interested and make you pay attention to him, but not enough to be a constant difference-maker. He is a good player and a productive middle-six player on most teams, but there is a part of you that still comes away wanting a little more. Even if that is an unrealistic expectation. Not everybody is going to be a star or a top-line player. Sometimes a player is just a solid second-or third-line tweener. That is what Novak is.

Final Grade

**B-.** Solid grade for a solid season. Were there better players on the Penguins roster? Definitely. Were there worse players on the Penguins roster? Definitely. I won’t say he exceeded expectations, and I won’t say he failed to meet expectations. If you were to map out what his 2025-26 season would have looked like from the start, you probably would have ended up here. The only thing that makes it a B-minus instead of a flat B is I would have liked to have seen more from him in the playoffs. But the 82-game sampling is strong enough that it still starts with a B grade.