2024-25 Season in Review: Connor Dewar

Connor Dewar made a strong impression while auditioning for a new contract with the Penguins.

Vitals

Player: Connor Dewar
Born: June 26, 1999 (Age 25 season)
Height: 5’ 10”
Weight: 192 pounds
Hometown: Gilbert Plains, Manitoba, Canada
Shoots: Left
Draft: 2018 third round (92nd overall) by the Minnesota Wild
Acquired: Trade with Toronto Maple Leafs on March 7, 2025
2024-25 Statistics: 48 games played, 4 goals, 6 assists = 10 points; 17 games played, 4 goals, 3 assists=7 points with Pittsburgh Penguins
Contract Status: Dewar spent 2024-25 on a one-year, $1.18 million contract signed with the Toronto Maple Leafs in July 2024. Dewar is set to become a restricted free agent this offseason.

Monthly Splits

via Yahoo!

Story of the Season

After signing a one-year deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs in July 2024, Connor Dewar had his sights set on earning a spot on a deep Maple Leafs roster. While he did not make the team out of training camp, Dewar was eventually recalled to the NHL and made his season debut in November.

From that point forward, Dewar was mostly a regular in the Leafs lineup until falling back out of favor after the new year. From January 20th to March 2nd, Dewar saw no NHL game action and was dealt to the Pittsburgh Penguins at the NHL trade deadline on March 7th.

After being acquired by the Penguins, Dewar made his debut on March 9th and played in the Penguins final 17 games of the season, scoring all four of his 2024-25 goals with the team, adding three assists in the process and averaging nearly 15 minutes of ice time.

Regular season 5v5 advanced stats

Data via Natural Stat Trick. Ranking is out of 17 forwards on the team who qualified by playing a minimum of 150 minutes.

Corsi For%: 50.1% (11th)
Goals For%: 47.1% (6th)
xGF%: 50.8% (8th)
Scoring Chance %: 51.2% (7th)
High Danger Scoring Chance%: 49.3% (11th)
5v5 on-ice shooting%: 10.5% (3rd)
On-ice save%: .898% (8th)
Goals/60: 0.86 (5th)
Assist/60: 0.86 (7th)
Points/60: 1.7 (6th)

His sample size was small, but Dewar finished middle of the pack in terms of analytics for the Penguins in 2024-25, just making the 150 minutes cut with 201 minutes of ice time. Although there is limited data to work with, the numbers do back up what our eyes saw from Dewar on the ice in his 17 games with the Penguins.

Charts n’at

Via Advanced Hockey Stats and NHL Edge

As a bottom six player, defense is crucial to Dewar getting a lineup spot and that’s been his best area over most of his career. His offensive game may have impressed during his short stint with the Penguins, but it’s not something he’s been known for throughout his career. Dewar can also be deployed on the penalty kill where he has shown good numbers.

Again, nothing Dewar does will be especially eye opening in terms of skating or shooting, he’s more of a player who thrives on providing solid play with all the bells and whistles. He may not be the most exciting player on the ice, but what he does provide can serve a team well in the long run.

Nothing flashy from Dewar and he certainly won’t be a favorite to a foot race with the speedier skaters across the league, but he does a a decent burst that he can cut loose from time to time. Just don’t expect to see much top end speed from the fourth liner.

Highlights

Question to ponder

Did Connor Dewar do enough in his audition to earn a contract with the Penguins?

If the last 17 games were indeed an audition for Connor Dewar, then you have to think Kyle Dubas has to be impressed by what he saw. Dewar was a regular in the lineup after being acquired at the trade deadline and fit in nicely with the Penguins style of play. How that style of play could transfer over to a new coach remains to be seen, but the early returns on Dewar seem to have left a positive impression on those who watched him.

Ideal 2025-26

For a player getting primarily bottom six minutes, seven points in 17 games, including four goals, is a pretty solid stat line even with a small sample size. Over the course of an entire 82 game season, that works out to a 19 goal pace, not likely a number that Dewar will ever hit over a full slate, but he did show some offensive upside in his short time with the Penguins.

If Dewar does return to the Penguins in 2025-26, then just consistently solid play in the bottom six with a splash of offense to help carry the load from time to time is about the perfect scenario you could draw up for a a player like Dewar.

Bottom line

For a player who came over at the deadline and had not seen much action in the six weeks prior, Connor Dewar provided the Penguins solid production at the bottom of the lineup in the latter half of the 2024-25 season. Dewar hasn’t played a full season for a single team since suiting up for the Minnesota Wild in 2022-23, but his end of season display may have booked him a spot in Pittsburgh for next season.