Bennett MacArthur called it a “bit of a shock” to get the call that he was traded to the Penguins a few weeks ago. But he’s looking forward to the new chapter.
MacArthur, a 23-year-old left-handed winger, was acquired by the Penguins on June 30 in a trade that sent forward prospect Lukas Svejkovsky to the Lightning. Neither player had quite been able to establish themselves at the AHL level in their young professional careers so far, so the trade aimed to give both players a fresh start in a new organization.
MacArthur, who is listed at a 6 foot 1 and 196 pounds, was an undrafted free agent signing by the Lightning out of the QMJHL’s Acadie-Bathurst Titan in 2022. He’s played two seasons of this three-year entry-level deal, and the bulk of it has been in the ECHL. He played four AHL games with Syracuse in his rookie 2022-23 season, and two games in the AHL this past season, all scoreless. Most of his rookie season was spent with Tampa’s ECHL affiliate in Orlando, where he had 10 goals and 18 assists in 53 games.
This past season, MacArthur played 12 games with Orlando and got off to a slow start, recording a goal and two assists. Tampa opted to loan him to a different ECHL team, the Senators’ Allen Americans, for the remainder of the season, a move MacArthur told me was about getting him “a little more opportunity.” He finished the year with 10 goals and 19 assists in games with Allen:
Click -> AllenAmericans
He had a pair of goals in five playoff games before the Americans were eliminated:
“It’s just part of the pro game,” MacArthur told me of his path at the Penguins’ development camp in Cranberry, Pa. “You see a lot of guys going through some organizations, it doesn’t necessarily work out the best, but it’s all about the next opportunity. I’m just really looking forward to that.”
MacArthur describes himself as a “two-way forward who can put the puck in the net, and is obviously sound defensively. You expect a complete game for me.” He likes looking up to Ducks (and former Lighting) forward Alex Killorn, for his “touch around the net.” He had some of that touch himself last season, going to the net looking for tips or rebounds:
MacArthur said that in his brief time being a Penguins prospect so far, it’s clear that the organization values “compete and speed,” and so that’s what he’s going to look to improve the most in his game moving forward. But he knows it’s going to take a lot more to earn a regular AHL role with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season.
“You know, it took a couple years to understand my game,” MacArthur told me. “There were some things I had to improve on, but I’m ready to take the next step here and be a full time player in Wilkes this year. I’m going to have to come to the rink every day in camp ready to steal a job. I’m ready to do that.”
