Philip Tomasino is a skilled young forward, but things just didn’t work out in Nashville. Barry Trotz and the Predators traded him for a future fourth-round pick two games ago and he has since played a couple of games for his new team, the Pittsburgh Penguins.
It didn’t take long for Tomasino to prove that he is an NHL talent and can help an NHL team when given the opportunity. He scored in just his second game with the Penguins while playing on the second line and flanking Evgeni Malkin.
This was Tomasino’s first goal of the season after failing to score in 11 games for the Predators. A big difference is the ice time he’s already received/earned for the Penguins. While averaging 11:18 in 11 games in Nashville this season, the 23-year-old played 18:05 in his first game for Pittsburgh and followed that up with 13:40 of ice time in his second game where he scored a goal on seven shots.
Tomasino played 21 and 20 shifts in the two games since arriving in Pittsburgh. He hadn’t logged more than 17 in any game this season before that. His 18:05 of ice time was his highest this season while the 13:40 was his third-most. The former first-round pick of the Predators played over 13 minutes just once in his 11 games with Nashville this season.
The Predators won just one game with Tomasino in the lineup this season, but the Penguins have won back-to-back games since his arrival.
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Tomasino is getting the opportunity that he didn’t get in Nashville this season. After his impressive NHL debut in 2021-22, it all seemed to go downhill. He was given less opportunity, split time between the NHL and AHL the past couple of years, and just didn’t mesh well.
The only reason why a better opportunity in the last three seasons wasn’t given to him on a struggling Nashville team was his supposed inability to play the way Andrew Brunette wanted him to from comments made in the summer.
Moving on from Tomasino didn’t make the Predators better and put another stain on the past drafting of the team. There’s doubt whether Nashville can actually get things turned around this season, but trading a young player with that skill for a weak return didn’t improve their chances at all. Keep an eye on him as this opportunity in Pittsburgh could lead to a bright future.
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