Things weren’t much different for Philip Tomasino as practice started in Cranberry on Tuesday morning.
He was one of the first players on the ice.
And he was one of the last players off the ice.
As he has trudged through an underwhelming season that has seen him scratched for 10 of a possible 19 games, his struggles haven’t been due to a lack of effort. He has put in plenty of work to flush out the bugs in his malfunctioning game.
“I feel like that’s always been a mindset for me, especially on practice days,” Tomasino said of his dutiful habits. “I don’t think there’s anything more to that than to work on some little things to my game. That’s something that’s always been routine for me.”
What wasn’t a routine part of his day was being placed on waivers in the afternoon.
The Penguins took that measure Tuesday as a handful of injured players appear close to rejoining the active roster. Should Tomasino go unclaimed by the NHL’s other 31 outfits by 2 p.m. Wednesday, he can be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
In the nine games he has dressed for this season, Tomasino has been limited to one assist while averaging 12:10 of ice time per contest.
That futility has happened in the wake of a productive preseason in which Tomasino was the team’s second-leading scorer with five points (two goals, three assists) in five contests.
Why hasn’t that preseason success translated to regular season play?
“You look back at the preseason, I felt like I was making a lot of plays and obviously producing,” Tomasino said Tuesday prior to being waived. “For me right now, the mindset is day by day. I think the last game (Sunday’s 4-0 neutral site win against the Nashville Predators in Stockholm) was a step in the right direction. There’s still a lot more to go but just trying to build off of every day. Maybe things haven’t gone the way that maybe I had planned. But I think things are hopefully going in the right direction for me from here on out.”
Things really went in a good direction for Tomasino last season when the Penguins acquired him in a trade with the Predators nearly a year ago (Nov. 25, 2024) in exchange for a fourth-round draft pick in 2027.
A first-round selection (No. 24 overall) of the Predators in 2019, Tomasino struggled with that team but appeared to gain traction with the Penguins. In 50 games following the trade, he scored 23 points (11 goals, 12 assists) while averaging 13:27 of ice time per contest.
Six of his goals last season were game-winning scores. Only franchise center Sidney Crosby (10) had more.
Tomasino entered the offseason as a pending restricted free agent, and the Penguins went through a minor bit of rigamarole of not extending him a qualifying offer, allowing him to briefly become an unrestricted free agent, primarily to avoid the risk of a potentially pricey arbitration award. Ultimately, they re-signed him to a one-year contract worth $1.75 million.
“Really grateful,” Tomasino said of joining the Penguins. “Obviously, a fresh start. The organization, the people involved have all been first-class and awesome to me from day one. Just super grateful.”
Whether Tomasino remains with the Penguins, either at the NHL or AHL level, will be determined Wednesday.
“Taking every day with what comes with it,” Tomasino said. “That’s my mindset. Just control what you can control.”
Notes: Tuesday’s practice was an optional affair as several veterans rested following a pair of games in Stockholm, then the lengthy travel from Europe. … Injured goaltender Tristan Jarry (undisclosed) and rookie defenseman Jack St. Ivany (suspected right foot) participated in the practice session. Jarry is designated to injured reserve and operated in full capacity, while St. Ivany, who remains on the season-opening injured nonroster list, operated in a noncontact fashion. … A trio of forwards designated to injured reserve — Noel Acciari (undisclosed), Justin Brazeau (undisclosed) and Rickard Rakell (left hand) — worked out on the ice prior to practice.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
