Penguins prospect Cruz Lucius rebounds from injury in his first season with Arizona State

The goal didn’t mean a lot within the context of the game.

Arizona State was up by three scores already and was only trying to keep the puck out of the defensive zone.

But it meant quite a bit to the person who scored it.

It was the first goal Pittsburgh Penguins forward prospect Cruz Lucius had scored in approximately 11 months.

Off a give-and-go sequence with Lucius, Arizona State forward Bennett Schimek slipped a pass from the right point of the offensive zone back to Lucius low in the near circle. Facing minimal resistance, Lucius fired a clever wrister into the cage on the near side for his team’s final goal in what wound up being a 4-1 road win against Miami (Ohio) on Feb. 1.

Before that, his most recent goal came on March 9, 2024 while skating for Wisconsin.

Following a transfer to Arizona State, a shoulder labrum injury that required surgery to repair kept him sidelined until early January.

“It felt great,” Lucius said by phone on Thursday regarding his goal. “I feel like it was a long time coming. I had played a few really good games. It’s definitely a good feeling seeing it go in. But I think before that, I was playing good hockey. Maybe it wasn’t going in as much for me, but with the team winning, the team having success, you do good from that. All in all, it felt good to see it go in.”

Offense isn’t anything new for Lucius. He was Wisconsin’s leading scorer each of the past two seasons.

So far with Arizona State, Lucius (6-foot, 178 pounds) has seven points (two goals, five assists) in 11 games. Last season, he posted 34 points (13 goals, 21 assists) in 36 games with Wisconsin.

What led to him transferring from an established hockey power such as Wisconsin to Arizona State, a program that only began playing at the NCAA Division I level in 2015-16?

He is brief on details regarding his departure from Wisconsin but effusive over his arrival at Arizona State.

“I really think in a few years, when somebody is going to have an opportunity to go, it’s going to be a no-brainer,” said Lucius, who grew up in Minnesota. “That’s what I saw. A team going into a conference, a lot of built-up hype around it. You’ve got some unbelievable players coming into the portal, guys coming in, guys staying. What I saw was a team that could be really, really good. That’s happening.

“When I was in the (transfer) portal and talking to them, it’s such a great team, such a great place, unbelievable resources. I don’t think it gets any better than that than being at (Arizona State). It was obviously a hard decision, to say the least, going somewhere else. But ultimately, I could not be happier than being at (Arizona State).”

It’s anyone’s guess, including his, as to when he may leave Arizona State and turn professional. The Penguins hold his NHL rights until August of 2026, so there isn’t exactly a need for him to rush into anything.

“I’m not really a big future person,” Lucius said. “I like to take things day by day, be in the moment. For me, it’s what can I do today and tomorrow. I don’t really have any future plans like that. I’m not really thinking about that.”

The right-handed Lucius was selected by the Carolina Hurricanes in the fourth round (No. 124 overall) of the 2022 NHL Draft. And last March, he was part of the bundle of prospects and draft picks the Hurricanes sent to the Penguins in the highly scrutinized trade for All-Star forward Jake Guentzel.

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“Being in college, you don’t really think about that as much, being traded,” said Lucius, who turns 21 on April 5. “So, when it happened, I was obviously pretty excited. The Penguins were one of my favorite teams growing up.

“I would say I was excited. Super excited, actually.”

Before he was a Penguins prospect, he was a Penguins fan as a kid.

“I remember having a (Sidney) Crosby poster in my room,” Lucius said. “Stuff like that. It’s cool. Being a young kid, the Penguins are definitely the team most people followed.”

Thus far, his only significant interaction with the team – in person, at least – was a prospect camp this past summer in which his participation was limited due to an illness. Regardless, he came away with anticipation over what life could be like with the team once he does turn professional.

“The resources that are there that you have access to, even before you’re there, I can’t imagine when I am in the system, how great it’s going to be,” Lucius said. “I can tell it’s a well-oiled machine. I’m excited about the future but like I said, I like to be in the moment and not focused on that too much. But it’s been great. I’m happy and excited to be a part of the organization.”

Whenever he does become a part of the organization on a professional basis, what kind of player would the team be getting?

“I can play both wings, Lucius said. “That’s a big piece of my game. I’d like to say I’m a good playmaker, somebody that can find his teammates, whether it’s through sticks, through bodies. I feel like I have a good shot. I can score from different angles and further out. My two-way game has been a lot better from the past couple of years. I think I can play both sides of the ice well and drive offense at a high level.”

It remains to be seen when Lucius will make the jump to the professional level. But for the time being, he is just trying to make the most of an abbreviated junior season.

“It was hard coming back, I think mentally and physically,” Lucius said of his injury. “But I think now I’ve found my game, found my confidence. It’s been great. Obviously, at the start, I was a few steps off. I didn’t get a lot of practice going into games. But I really think there’s nothing like playing games to get back to being yourself. So that’s helped a lot. I feel like now I’m more myself and feel a lot better.”