The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled forward Jonathan Gruden from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. Since the Penguins had an open spot on their roster, no corresponding move was needed to make this recall possible.
This move puts Gruden in a position to potentially make his NHL debut. The 22-year-old forward has been with Wilkes-Barre Scranton this season and has scored decently well there, notching 11 goals and 16 points in 32 games.
The 22-year-old forward arrived in Pittsburgh in the summer of 2020, sent with a second-round pick by the Ottawa Senators in exchange for current Toronto Maple Leafs netminder Matt Murray.
Gruden, a fourth-round pick at the 2018 draft, made his professional debut in the fall of 2020 with the Penguins’ AHL affiliate. Before that point he had taken a somewhat unconventional development journey, first playing for the U.S. National Team Development Program, then heading to the NCAA, before finally playing one season as a star scorer for the London Knights.
Now that Gruden finally has had some stability in the location of his development, he’s grown nicely into a call-up option for the Penguins. While it’s no guarantee that head coach Mike Sullivan dresses him for a game, this recall indicates how far Gruden has come since being selected in the middle rounds of the 2018 draft.