Penguins A to Z: Injuries derailed hopes for Filip Lindberg
With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract – including those whose deals do not begin until next season - with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28-29.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)
Filip Lindberg
Position: Goaltender
Catches: Left
Age: 24
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 188 pounds
2022-23 AHL statistics: 19 games, 6-11-1 record, 3.13 goals against average, .896 save percentage, zero shutouts
Contract: In the final year of a two-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $925,000. Pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason.
(Note: Lindberg does not require waivers for any transaction involving a minor league affiliate.)
Acquired: Unrestricted free agent, July 28, 2021
Last season: Filip Lindberg’s second professional season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton was a considerable improvement over his first in at least one sense.
He didn’t suffer a season-ending injury in November.
But in just about every other sense, Lindberg’s 2022-23 campaign was a clunker. And as a result, his tenure with the Penguins organization looks to be over after two years.
After showing promise to open the 2021-22 season, Lindberg suffered a season-ending left ankle injury in November of 2021. Rested and recovered, he was poised to stake a future with the organization this past season and opened the campaign with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in a platoon with veteran newcomer Dustin Tokarski.
His campaign got off to a bizarre start when in his season debut on Oct. 17, a road game against the Utica Comets, play was halted in the second period due to a power outage at the venue.
But beyond that, his numbers in his first two-plus months of the season were good. In 11 games, he had a 5-4-1 record, a 2.39 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
But things started to go catawampus on Dec. 21 when he suffered an undisclosed injury during a 3-1 road loss to the Belleville Senators.
Back in the lineup by Jan. 14, Lindberg just never regained the form he displayed at the start of the season. In his final eight games of 2022-23, Lindberg posted a 1-7-0 record along with a 4.25 GAA and an .884 save percentage.
A suspected head injury led to Lindberg’s season coming to an end by Feb. 11.
On May 5, Lindberg, a native of Finland, signed with TPS of that country’s top-tier league, the Liiga.
The future: Officially, the Penguins can retain Lindberg’s NHL rights with a qualifying offer, but there really wouldn’t be much of a point in that.
His poor luck with regard to his health led to a lack of meaningful development in his two seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. And with the ascension of other goaltending prospects such as Joel Blomqvist, Taylor Gauthier and Sergei Murashov, there really isn’t room for Lindberg in the organization moving forward.
Lindberg was a seventh-round pick (No. 197) with the Minnesota Wild in 2019 but never signed with that organization. When he came out of the NCAA ranks after helping Massachusetts win the national title in 2021, it small triumph for former Penguins general manager Ron Hextall and staff. There were lofty aspirations that he could develop into something meaningful for the franchise.
But fairly or unfairly, injuries derailed Lindberg’s hopes with the Penguins.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.