Tommy Novak needs to make the most of his second chance

With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 57 individuals signed to an NHL contract – including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.

Starting with Noel Acciari and going on through to Philip Tomasino (regrettably, there is no Z on the payroll), every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.

This series is scheduled to be published Mondays through Saturdays leading up until June 24, four days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)

Tommy Novak

Position: Center

Shoots: Left

Age: 28

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 179 pounds

2024-25 NHL statistics: 54 games, 22 points (13 goals, nine assists), 13:14 of average ice time per contest

Contract: In the first year of a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $3.5 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2027.

Acquired: Trade, March 5, 2025

This season: The Nashville Predators entered 2024-25 with high hopes. After a strong finish to 2023-24 and aggressive maneuvering on the free agent market during the 2024 offseason, the Predators expected to be a force this past season.

Tommy Novak was a component of that optimism. A third-round draft pick (No. 85 overall) by the Predators in 2015, Novak was signed to a contract extension — as a pending restricted free agent — in March of 2024 and was expected to be part of that club becoming a contender this season.

Those ambitions never materialized as the Predators wound up being one of the worst teams in the NHL. The team’s failings were reflected in Novak’s own shortcomings.

Novak opened the season on Nashville’s second line with a plum assignment as center with high-profile free agent acquisitions Jonathan Marchessault and Steven Stamkos on his wings. And he got off to a solid start with three goals in his first six games.

But that momentum didn’t last and Novak was eventually dropped to a bottom-six role on a team that had considerable struggles overall.

Missing six games in November due to an undisclosed injury didn’t help matters. And things got so bad for Novak, he was a healthy scratch for one game on Dec. 5.

Novak appeared to generate some momentum by mid-January, posting 10 points (four goals, six assists) in 10 games between Jan. 18 and Feb. 8

But that proved to be false hope as Novak’s final nine games saw him contribute only three points (two goals, one assist).

A few days before the trade deadline on March 7, Novak was sent to the Penguins in a multi-player deal.

Any hopes that a change of scenery would invigorate weren’t to be as an undisclosed injury limited him to two games and no points.

Novak’s ailment wound up lasting for the duration of the season as he missed the Penguins’ final 16 games of 2024-25.

The future: Penguins’ management has fairly high hopes for Novak in the immediate and long-term future.

It is hoped he can offer something of a “swing” option on the middle two lines. And he wound up starting one game as the third-line center and another as the second-line left wing once he joined the Penguins.

And given that he’s on the right side of 30 — he turned 28 on April 28 — while under contract for two more years, he could theoretically be a significant part of this lineup for a handful of seasons.

The skills to be that type of player are present. Novak is a slick playmaker and he is a quick skater. But the results just haven’t met that potential consistently enough.

In fact, as he explained the trade from his perspective, Predators general manager Barry Trotz was blunt in suggesting Novak was unable to create offense with an elevated role in the lineup because of tougher matchups.

“If you want to move up the lineup and get paid more, there’s a responsibility,” Trotz said to the Nashville Post. “There is a reason guys get the higher salaries, because most nights they’re getting harder matchups, they’re expected to produce, all that.”

Ouch.

Novak needs to make the most of his second chance with the Penguins.