Matt Grzelcyk makes his thoughts extremely clear on future plans with Pittsburgh Penguins

After a disappointing 2023-24 season, Matt Grzelcyk signed a one-year, prove-it deal worth $2.75 million with the Pittsburgh Penguins last offseason.

With the Penguins being a team in transition, it was thought that the veteran blueliner would only stick around for the short term and could be moved at the trade deadline as a rental. However, general manager Kyle Dubas opted to keep Grzelcyk, who's turned out to be a very nice fit on the backend.

The former Boston Bruin struggled to begin his Penguins tenure, but once he got paired up with Erik Karlsson, Grzelcyk found his game and has been one of the team's more reliable players ever since.

The pending UFA's future remains uncertain, though he's made it clear he would love to stay in Pittsburgh beyond this season. Penguins writer Seth Rorabaugh spoke to Grzelcyk about his future in a recent article for Tribune-Review Sports.

"I would love to be here," Grzelcyk said. "We have eight games left, my only focus is obviously trying to win every game but trying to leave a good impression as well. Kind of, it feels like a little bit of a tryout in order to hopefully earn a contract here next year."

The Penguins would be smart to extend Matt Grzelcyk, who's built some good chemistry with several of Pittsburgh's top players as the season has progressed. While they're going through a re-tool and looking to get younger, it's not easy to always replace veteran players who fit in well with the group.

Matt Grzelcyk has had a career-best season with the Pittsburgh Penguins

In his first season as a Pittsburgh Penguin, Matt Grzelcyk has enjoyed plenty of individual success.

The 31-year-old has already produced 35 points (one goal, 34 assists) through 74 games on the campaign, well surpassing his previous career-high of 26 points during the 2022-23 season with the Boston Bruins. Grzelcyk has also shouldered the heaviest workload of his NHL career, averaging 20:27 minutes of ice-time per game, surpassing his 19:45 from the 2020-21 season.

Head coach Mike Sullivan has relied on the veteran defenseman in all situations of the game, including power play and some time on the penalty kill. He's been as good as fans could have hoped for as a one-year free agent signing.

Matt Grzelcyk and the Penguins continue to finish out their season on Sunday when they host the Ottawa Senators. The puck drops at 5 p.m. EDT at PPG Paints Arena.