Sunday: Both Sceviour and Riikola have cleared, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
Saturday: The Penguins are trying to give themselves a bit of roster flexibility heading into Monday’s trade deadline as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that forward Colton Sceviour and defenseman Juuso Riikola have been placed on waivers.
Sceviour was acquired from Florida back in September as part of the Mike Matheson-Patric Hornqvist deal but while he had been a capable secondary scorer during his time with the Panthers and Stars, that hasn’t materialized with the Pens. Instead, the 31-year-old has just three goals and three assists in 31 games this season while averaging a career-low 9:30 per night of playing time. This led to him clearing waivers back in early March and he has played in 14 games since then, requiring him to pass through waivers before he can be loaned back to the taxi squad. Sceviour is in the final year of his contract which carries a $1.2MM AAV, meaning all but $125K can be buried on the taxi squad. He’s set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As for Riikola, the defenseman has had a limited role with Pittsburgh since signing with them back in 2018. While he played in at least 36 NHL games in each of his first two seasons in North America, he has been limited to just two this season. Part of that is due to an upper-body injury that cost him 22 games but as a result of the moves the Penguins made to add defensive depth when they were hit hard with injuries, he has yet to play since being cleared to return. The 27-year-old has another year left on his deal after this one with a $1.15MM AAV and if a team is willing to absorb a low seven-figure cost next season to add some free defensive depth, there’s a chance he could be claimed. If not, all but $75K of his cap hit can be wiped out by a taxi squad assignment.
The one actual bad move Jimmy made in the last few years was this Riikola contract.
One??????
Yeah. One. Yinzers whined about all of the other recent moves, but…
Kapanen has been great.
Matheson has been great.
Ceci has been great.
Tanev has been great.
Rodrigues has been great.
Even Jankowski relative to his salary and role has been OK.
And a team they declared a dumpster fire is battling for first in the NHL’s best division.
But, why revisit ill-conceived hot takes with actual reality, right?
I’d say he’s made several bad moves, but I’m totally with you that his good moves have outweighed the bad. He loved to wheel and deal, which meant he was going to lose on some of them. I think the back-to-back cups are what throws those Yinzers off. It’s almost as if they count it as only winning one cup. I guarantee if they, say, won one in 2015 and one in 2018, those critical fans would have been more satisfied with JR’s tenure. Bottom line is that 2 cups in 6 years is pretty damn good.
Well said
There were some bad moves in the immediate aftermath of the Cups. My comments referenced the past few years.
I believe Rutherford’s one true mistake was trading Ian Cole. Most of the other bad moves came as a result or as a part of that. Brassard, Johnson, etc. Also, a good move can become a bad move if the player suddenly turns into a DOG. Hey, Derrick.
But in recent years, EVERY move JR made was greeted with the equivalent of “WTF is Mr. Magoo doing now!?!?!?!?” by these Yinzgrates.
“Kapanen is a third liner. A first round pick for a THIRD liner!!?!?!?” Yeah, a third liner behind Marner and Nylander, Johnny SuperScout.
Matheson and Ceci were supposed to be disasters of the Jack Johnson proportion. Ceci has had such a good year, there’s no way we’ll be able to keep him after this year. Matheson has been a poor man’s Quinn Hughes, some defensive miscues but overshadowed by his ability to drive the play.
Tanev was “totally overpaid” even though he’s one of the rarest commodities in the league, an IMPACT bottom six player. He’s been our best player not named Crosby since joining the team.
Even I have to eat crow on Evan Rodrigues, he’s been very good. When you consider his price, he’s been amazing. He’s earned his place in the lineup. Same with DeSmith, I was lukewarm on him, but he’s been great, too.
We got “ripped off” in the Kessel deal…said the same people who were later talking up P.O. Joseph for the Calder and future Norris trophies a week after his debut.
But, basically, unless the Pens win the Cup every year, we have a group of know nothing bandwagon fans who circle (talk) each other on DK’s comment section and other spots, convincing themselves that they know more than the HOF’er with 3 rings.
And reality NEVER changes the narrative.
Spot on. I miss GM JR!