Penguins re-sign Connor Dewar and Ilya Solovyov

The 5-foot-10, 187-pound forward led all Penguins this season in total shorthanded time on ice (209:23) and on a per-game basis (2:41), helping the Penguins to the league’s sixth best penalty kill in 2025-26 at 81.4%.  Dewar was also one of six players to score a shorthanded goal for Pittsburgh. No Penguins forward recorded more hits this season than Dewar’s 144, which also ranked third overall on the team.

Dewar has played five seasons in the NHL, split between Pittsburgh, Toronto and Minnesota from 2021-26. In 316 career games, he has registered 37 goals, 46 assists and 83 points.

Prior to his professional career, Dewar spent four seasons in the Western Hockey League from 2015-19 with the Everett Silvertips.

A native of The Pas, Manitoba, Dewar was originally drafted by Minnesota in the third round (92nd overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.

Solovyov, 25, played in 30 NHL games in 2025-26 split between Colorado and Pittsburgh. He tallied three points (1G-2A) in 16 games with the Avalanche and had five assists in 14 games with the Penguins. His games played (30), goal (1), assist (7) and point (8) totals were all career highs. The 6-foot-3, 208-pound defenseman also made his Stanley Cup Playoffs debut in 2026, skating in three games for Pittsburgh.

The Mogilev, Belarus native has played parts of two seasons in the NHL, tallying 12 points (1G-11A) in 45 career regular-season games. In the AHL, he has skated in 232 career games split between the Calgary Wranglers and Colorado Eagles, recording 69 points (18G-51A). Solovyov has four points (2G-2A) in 22 career games in the Calder Cup Playoffs. Dewar’s contract matches the cap hit ($2.25 million) for that of Blake Lizotte, who received a three-year extension earlier in the year. It’s a tidy raise off the $1.1 million that Dewar played under in 2025-26 season following a career-best season of scoring 14 goals and 30 points. Dewar also was one of the best players on the team in the playoffs, scoring two goals in the six games. Solovyov will be back for depth and potentially to push for a regular lineup spot on the blueline next season. The defender showed an ability to play on either the left or right side and offers some size and puck moving ability for the team. The Penguins still have more impending unrestricted free agents, including forward Evgeni Malkin, Anthony Mantha, Noel Acciari. Malkin’s camp was expected to reach out this week to the Penguins about when a meeting could be setup to discuss the star forward’s future.