P.O Joseph is happy to be back with the Penguins and wants to stay this time

Things aren’t exactly the same for P.O Joseph in his second stint with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

The defenseman’s locker stall in Cranberry used to be near the backup goaltender on one of the ends of the room. Now, he’s closer to the center where Sidney Crosby is situated.

And there are definitely plenty of new faces. Veterans such as forwards Jeff Carter and Reilly Smith are gone, replaced — to some degree — by Kevin Hayes and Anthony Beauvillier.

Heck, even the coach overseeing the defensemen is different. Associate coach Todd Reirden was dismissed over the 2024 offseason and replaced by assistant coach David Quinn.

But one thing that hasn’t changed is Joseph’s comfort in being part of the Penguins once again.

“It’s a classy organization,” Joseph said recently. “So the second I came back, everything felt the same. Just the chemistry in the room has been great so far. The staff is a little different, but other than that, everything seems good. Everything seems like the old team.”

Joseph went back to his old team Dec. 18 when he was acquired from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for future considerations.

That transaction led to a reunion between player and team after something of a clunky divorce in July.

Joseph was a pending restricted free agent going into the 2024 offseason, and seemingly a simple matter such as extending him a qualifying offer would have kept him in a Penguins jersey going into the 2024-25 season.

But management was leery of him potentially receiving a high award in an arbitration hearing that would have cluttered the team’s salary cap figures going into the new season. As a result, Joseph did not receive that qualifying offer when the NHL’s deadline for such offers came June 30.

That allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent, and two days later, he signed a one-year contract worth $950,000.

His departure from the organization was surprising externally. And even internally.

Less than two weeks before the team withheld a qualifying offer, Joseph flew from his native Montreal to Pittsburgh to participate in the city’s Juneteenth celebration. He marched as part of the team’s entry in the parade for the jubilee.

“It’s part of the game. That’s part of the business,” said Joseph, 25. “I learned a lot about myself, a lot about the people that I’m around. I’m well surrounded. People just want the best for me, so they’re just looking out for me. It’s the part of the game that I don’t really like (or) like to talk about. We’re all here to play hockey.”

Since rejoining the Penguins, Joseph has appeared in five games and has no points while averaging 20 minutes, 37 seconds of ice time.

A left-handed shot, Joseph has been forced to play the right side in a handful of games because of injuries (which were the leading factor for the team bringing him back).

“He has good poise with the puck,” Penguins coach Mike Sullivan said recently. “He’s pretty good on that offensive blue line. He can join the rush. He defends well with his mobility and his stick. That’s something that we’ve tried to stress to him since we’ve had him is just trying to play to his strengths. I think his greatest attributes are his mobility, and he has a great stick.”

Upon his return, Joseph was reunited on a pairing with Kris Letang, a fellow Quebecois he is particularly close to. That duo has been broken up the past two games, however, because of an undisclosed ailment that has sidelined Letang.

“Got back to his house (Dec. 22), and it felt good to be around him,” Joseph said. “We spent the last couple of years together. Having him as a role model and an older brother kind of helped me. I’m just glad we’re reunited.

“Being around him on the ice is definitely useful and makes it easy.”

Presumably, a strong conclusion to this season would make the chances of Joseph re-signing with the Penguins a much easier process than what unfolded last summer.

Once again, he is a pending restricted free agent.

“I’ve been here for a long time,” said Joseph, who initially joined the Penguins via a trade with the Arizona Coyotes in 2019. “I want to be with these guys for as long as possible. Learning from these guys every day is phenomenal. The people that are in this room that have been through this and the people that are sticking around … people that changed my career are all here. I’m not really thinking about it as far as future-wise. I’m going day by day.

“I don’t know our schedule next week. So, I’m only going day by day with these guys. That’s the best recipe for success.”