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Penguins’ Matt Nieto Clears Waivers

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Feb. 27: Nieto cleared waivers and can be sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Frank Seravalli of Daily Faceoff reports.

Feb. 26: According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed forward Matthew Nieto on waivers. Should he clear waivers over the next 24 hours, the Penguins can safely reassign him to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

It’s the second time in his career that Nieto has been placed on waivers and his first as a Penguin. His last time on the waiver wire came back in 2017 when Nieto was claimed off waivers from the San Jose Sharks by the Colorado Avalanche.

The news is unsurprising given Nieto has been an oft-scratched member of Pittsburgh’s forward core for much of February. Since being activated from the team’s injured reserve in mid-November, Nieto has played in 31 of the Penguins’ 42 games despite being healthy for all of them.

Similarly to last year, Nieto hasn’t been all that productive when healthy, either. Nieto signed a two-year, $1.8MM contract with Pittsburgh in the 2023-24 offseason and has scored two goals and seven points in 53 games since.

Although he’s been confined to a bottom-six role for much of his tenure in Pittsburgh, the team was likely hoping for more offensive production. He’s been a productive bottom-six scorer for much of his career with several multi-goal and 20-point campaigns, but things haven’t worked out positively in western Pennsylvania. The 12-year NHL veteran may find a home in another team’s bottom-six but odds are he’ll be packing his bags for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton by tomorrow.

Penguins’ Michael Bunting Out Indefinitely Following Appendectomy

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Penguins left-winger Michael Bunting underwent surgery to remove his appendix yesterday, head coach Mike Sullivan told reporters, including Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. He doesn’t have a timeline for a return but will miss at least a few weeks.

The 29-year-old Bunting had two points in his last five games, including an assist in Tuesday’s 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Flyers. He’s the third NHLer to undergo an appendectomy this season (at least among what’s been publicly disclosed), joining Ducks netminder John Gibson and Canadiens blue-liner Kaiden Guhle.

His absence is relatively insignificant for Pittsburgh at this stage of the season. Now out of the Eastern Conference playoff race and on pace to finish the season with 75 points, the Penguins will likely be selling off additional assets ahead of the trade deadline after dealing Drew O’Connor and Marcus Pettersson to the Canucks before the 4 Nations break. Bunting, signed through next season at a $4.5MM cap hit, wasn’t expected to be one of them.

Acquired from the Hurricanes in last season’s Jake Guentzel trade, Bunting has been underwhelming in 2024-25 after finishing the 2023-24 campaign with 19 points in 21 games for the Pens. He’s been durable, playing 58 of 60 games, but his point production has dropped to 14-15–29. His 0.50 points per game are tracking as his worst offensive performance in his five seasons’ worth of extended NHL ice time, accompanied by his lowest usage at 15:15 per game.

A solid complementary top-six winger for Auston Matthews during his time in Toronto, the late-blooming Bunting burst onto the scene with a 23-goal, 63-point campaign for the Leafs at age 26 in 2021-22. He had just 26 NHL games to his name with the Coyotes before signing a two-year, $1.9MM deal in Toronto in the 2021 offseason, arguably the highest-value contract in the league during his time in the Canadian metropolis. He’s struggled to replicate that level play in a similar role alongside Evgeni Malkin in Pittsburgh, though, despite how promising his scorching finish to the 2023-24 campaign was. The duo hasn’t had a consistent right-winger this year, seeing names like Anthony Beauvillier, Cody Glass, and Philip Tomasino rotate through. With Bunting and Malkin on the ice together, the Pens have been outscored 19-10 at 5v5, per Natural Stat Trick. They’ve each fared far better apart from each other.

If Gibson’s and Guhle’s return timelines are any indication, Bunting should miss around four to six weeks. That means he should be back in the lineup with a few games left on the Penguins’ schedule, although it’s fair to describe his likelihood of returning this season as uncertain.

Pittsburgh’s injury list is relatively brief. Bryan Rust recently returned from a lower-body injury and illness, and recent AHL call-up Bokondji Imama is the only other forward carrying an injury designation. He’s on IR but could come off today to face the Flyers after missing four games with an upper-body injury. Bunting’s absence, however, could mean the Penguins wait before demoting Matthew Nieto to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton if he clears waivers today.

Penguins Activate Bryan Rust From Injured Reserve

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Penguins winger Bryan Rust will be back in the lineup tonight against the Flyers after a brief absence. The team announced he’d been activated from injured reserve after missing three games with a lower-body injury, which he sustained before the 4 Nations break. They placed winger Bokondji Imama on IR in a corresponding transaction.

Pittsburgh is now entirely out of the playoff picture. Their record is 23-27-9, and based on points percentage, they only slightly lead the Sabres for last place in the Eastern Conference. They’ve already begun selling off pieces ahead of the trade deadline and could do more, but Rust won’t be one of them with a full no-movement clause and three seasons left on his contract at a $5.125MM cap hit.

Things got off to a tough start for Rust in 2024-25. He limped out of the gate along with the rest of the team, limited to eight points and a staggering -16 rating through 16 games. A three-point effort against the Canucks just before Thanksgiving re-ignited his season, however. He’s now up to 20-22–42 in 48 appearances, and while his -21 rating is still set to be the worst of his career, he’s at least stopped the bleeding in that regard. He continues to see solely first-line deployment alongside Sidney Crosby, averaging over 19 minutes per game, and has secured his sixth consecutive 20-goal season.

One of the most consistent secondary scorers of the last decade, Rust will return to his usual spot on the top line with Crosby and Rickard Rakell. He’s now missed 11 games with lower-body issues this season, cause for concern as he turns 33 this offseason, but the 5’11” winger remains one of the Penguins’ top few scorers.

While Pittsburgh’s goaltending issues have dragged down nearly every skater’s rating this season, concerns about Rust’s defensive impact are legitimate. His -3.4 expected rating is better than only Noel Acciari and Matt Grzelcyk among active Penguins, and his 49.2 CF% at even strength is the worst of his career. The Crosby-Rakell duo has also posted higher expected goal shares at 5v5 when paired with either Anthony Beauvillier or Evgeni Malkin, per MoneyPuck.

Nonetheless, he looks to end the season on a high note in advance of his NMC expiring on July 1. If the Penguins continue to aggressively retool their roster, he could find himself on the move later in the offseason after his trade protection lapses.

Imama, a 28-year-old enforcer, has been on the roster since a recall from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in late January. He’s been out since sustaining an upper-body injury against the Rangers on Feb. 7, so he can return at any time. The 221-lb winger has a plus-one rating and seven penalty minutes in six showings for Pittsburgh since being called up, averaging just 5:28 per game.

Penguins Shopping Erik Karlsson

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The Penguins have star defenseman Erik Karlsson’s name on the trade market and would move him “in a heartbeat” if the opportunity arises, sources tell Josh Yohe of The Athletic.

A move would mark the third trade of the three-time Norris Trophy winner’s career and the second within two years. Pittsburgh acquired him from the Sharks following his renaissance 2022-23 campaign when he erupted for a career-high 76 assists and 101 points on a San Jose team that won just 22 games. They paid a significant price to do so in the three-deal deal with the Canadiens, parting ways with assets like a 2024 first-round pick and serviceable backup, Casey DeSmith, but also partially shedding some dead-weight contracts like Mikael Granlund’s and Jeff Petry’s.

That return meant the Sharks aren’t retaining much salary on the high-paid, aging defenseman. His initial cap hit of $11.5MM, attached to his contract that runs through the 2026-27 season, was reduced to $10MM for Pittsburgh. As Yohe reports, the Penguins must retain additional cash to move him. For a contract with two years left on it, there’s a limit to how far they’re willing to go. They only have one salary retention slot remaining until Petry’s and Reilly Smith’s deals come off the books on July 1. If he moves before the deadline, they won’t be able to retain additional salary on potential trade chip Rickard Rakell.

Any trade talk could also be thrown out the window if Karlsson isn’t willing to waive his no-movement clause upon being asked. He initially waived it to facilitate the move to Pittsburgh, but it travels with him, retaining his power to block a move or waiver placement. While “many assume he would be willing to move on if asked,” Karlsson “seems to genuinely like playing for the Penguins,” Yohe said.

In any event, he and Rakell will remain Pittsburgh’s highest-value trade bait heading into the March 7 deadline after they shipped Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor to the Canucks a few weeks ago. Any rumors regarding players like Kris Letang’s or Bryan Rust’s availability are unfounded, as Yohe adds general manager Kyle Dubas remains unwilling to ask them to waive their NMCs before the end of the season.

Individual defensive acumen has always been Karlsson’s biggest weakness, and it’s come to a head in Pittsburgh amid his age-34 season. The dynamic Swede remains a minute-muncher, averaging over 23 minutes per game for the Pens, but his overall possession numbers have continued to deteriorate. He remains an above-average player in that regard because of the sheer amount of offense he generates, though, logging a 52.4 CF% and -2.0 expected rating at even strength that still checks in above a good chunk of his Penguins teammates.

That, plus his three points in three games for Sweden at the 4 Nations Face-Off, is beginning to draw out trade interest, Yohe writes. A move remains possible ahead of the deadline but is more likely to happen this summer, a league executive told him.

Karlsson has played in all 59 games for the Pens this season and hasn’t missed a game since the 2021-22 campaign, so injury concerns won’t be much of a limiting factor. But after his explosion in San Jose, he’s averaged just 56 points per 82 games as a Penguin. He still leads Pittsburgh defenders with 6-34–40 this year, and a good portion of that has come at even strength. Whether that’s enough point production to sway teams to take a flyer on him at a cap hit that’s still likely to be in the $7MM-$8MM range with retention remains to be seen.

Image courtesy of USA Today Sports.

Matt Grzelcyk Leaves Game With Upper-Body Injury

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Before today’s game against the New York Rangers and Pittsburgh Penguins, the former announced a minor injury just before puck drop. The Rangers shared winger Chris Kreider is out with an upper-body injury although his recovery timeline is only considered day-to-day.

[SOURCE LINK]

  • Hopping over to the other side of today’s Metropolitan Division tilt, the Penguins announced defenseman Matt Grzelcyk won’t return to the game due to an upper-body injury. The pending unrestricted free agent only skated in five minutes of today’s action before being hit from behind by Ranger forward Matt Rempe. Rempe was originally reprimanded with a five-minute major only to be downgraded to a two-minute minor call.

Penguins Activate Evgeni Malkin, Assign Emil Bemstrom To AHL

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The Penguins will welcome back a key veteran to their lineup today against Washington.  The team announced (Twitter link) that center Evgeni Malkin has been activated off injured reserve.  To make room on the roster, winger Emil Bemstrom was sent down to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Malkin suffered a lower-body injury early in their game on January 25th and hasn’t played since.  However, he was a full participant in practice in recent days which made this announcement an expected one.

The 38-year-old got off to a hot start to his season with 24 points in his first 27 games but has seen his production taper off since then with just 10 points in his last 20 outings.  Nonetheless, the 19-year-veteran still is a key part of Pittsburgh’s attack, anchoring their second line while averaging over 18 minutes a night once again and ranks fifth on the team in scoring.  With the Penguins entering play today six points out of the final Wild Card spot, they’ll need Malkin to get back to his early-season form if they have any hopes of a late push to get back into the playoff picture.

As for Bemstrom, he has only played in two games with Pittsburgh this season on his two recalls, something that probably wasn’t expected after he played a regular role down the stretch last season after being acquired from Columbus.  He’s having a strong year in the minors, however, as he has 20 goals and 24 assists in 41 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.  Bemstrom will now return to a prominent role with them while hoping that his scoring prowess down there will earn him another look at some point.

Sidney Crosby Made A Game-Time Decision

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  • Despite playing in all four of Canada’s games for the 4 Nations Face-Off, captain Sidney Crosby may not be ready to return to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Josh Yohe of The Athletic reported earlier that Crosby will be a game-time decision for tomorrow afternoon’s action against the Washington Capitals. Yohe didn’t specify whether Crosby is dealing with a minor injury or needs another day of rest from the hotly-contested event. The future Hall of Famer finished his sixth championship-winning international event with one goal and four assists.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Legendary Penguins Broadcaster Mike Lange Has Passed Away

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Pittsburgh Penguins Hall of Fame broadcaster Mike Lange has passed away at the age of 76 (Twitter Link). Lange was beloved in Pittsburgh and around the hockey community for his magical calls and inventive catchphrases. He called all five of the Penguins Stanley Cup Championships and brought authenticity and humor to every broadcast he worked on. He was even featured in the 1995 Jean-Claude Van Damme film Sudden Death.

Lange was a native of Sacramento, California, which was not exactly a hotbed for hockey during his childhood. He went to school at Sacramento State University before getting his first job as a hockey broadcaster doing radio for the Phoenix Roadrunners of the Western Hockey League back in 1970. He made a stop in San Diego, doing play-by-play for the Gulls of the AHL before being hired by the Penguins as their radio play-by-play man in 1974. Lange was with the Penguins for all but one season (1976) up until 2021.

During his 46 years with the Penguins, Lange worked in both television and radio and made the most iconic calls in franchise history. He, along with Mario Lemieux, also inspired a generation of young kids in Pittsburgh to get into hockey, including Jesse Marshall of The Athletic, who tweeted about his admiration of Lange.

Lange became known for his one-liners, such as “He’s smiling like a butcher’s dog,” but his ability to anticipate what was going to happen in a game was truly unique. Marshall notes one such occurrence where Lange warned the audience to keep their eyes on Lemieux in a game and to “be careful” with him. Lemieux went on to score eight points in the game.

Lange was the recipient of the Hockey Hall of Fame’s Foster Hewitt Award in 2001 and was inducted into the broadcasters’ wing of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Lange called his final Pittsburgh game in 2021 before his retirement due to health issues.

We at Pro Hockey Rumors send our condolences to Lange’s family, friends, and peers.

Trade Deadline Primer: Pittsburgh Penguins

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With the 4 Nations Face-Off break now almost over, the trade deadline looms large and is less than three weeks away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league with the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Things haven’t gone exactly as planned for the Penguins this season.  After tweaking their roster, GM Kyle Dubas hoped that this group would be able to hang around the playoff picture.  While they’re still within striking distance of a playoff spot, they’ve already dealt away their top rental, signaling that they will likely be subtracting from their roster once again at the deadline.

Record

23-25-9, 7th in the Metropolitan

Deadline Status

Seller

Deadline Cap Space

$9.88MM on deadline day, 2/3 retention slots used, 49/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.

Upcoming Draft Picks

2025: NYR 1st*, PIT 1st, MIN 3rd, OTT 3rd, PIT 3rd, PIT 4th, CHI 5th, NYR 5th, PIT 5th, PIT 6th, PIT 7th
2026: PIT 1st, PIT 2nd, STL 2nd, PIT 3rd, SJ 3rd, PIT 4th, NSH 6th, CHI 7th, PIT 7th

*-Top-13 protected; if it doesn’t convey this year, it becomes New York’s unprotected 2026 first-round selection.

Trade Chips

With Marcus Pettersson now in Vancouver from the trade at the beginning of the month, Pittsburgh’s top rental blueliner is long gone but Matt Grzelcyk is another who could draw interest.  He struggled to start the season as he adjusted to his new team but he has played better in recent weeks leading up to the break.  The 31-year-old has set a new career-high in points with 28 in 57 games, putting him second on the Penguins in points by a defenseman (behind Erik Karlsson but ahead of Kris Letang) while he’s logging over 20 minutes a night for the first time in his career.  While Grzelcyk would likely be more of a third-pairing option on a contending team, his $2.75MM AAV is one that is reasonably affordable which should give Dubas some options if he wants to move out another rearguard.

Their other rental options are more of the depth variety.  Anthony Beauvillier has a dozen goals in 56 games despite not even averaging 13 minutes a night and isn’t too pricey at $1.25MM.  For a team looking for some low-cost scoring depth, he could be a viable option.  When healthy, Matthew Nieto has been a capable checking winger.  Staying healthy has been a challenge lately and he has struggled this year but at just $900K, it’s possible a team could flip a late-round pick to bring in some extra depth.

While Pittsburgh would undoubtedly want to get out of Tristan Jarry and Ryan Graves’s contracts, that’s probably not happening.  Nor is it likely that they’d move their older core group that they’re trying to build around.  But even with that in mind, there are a few other possible trade options.

Rickard Rakell’s tenure with Pittsburgh has been a bit uneven but this has been one of the good years.  He already has 25 goals this season, giving him a chance to surpass 30 for the first time since the 2017-18 campaign and sits second in team scoring behind Sidney Crosby while often playing with the captain on the top line.  As far as trade value goes, it’s reasonably high, especially since he’s signed for three more years at $5MM.  It doesn’t seem likely that the Penguins would embark on a larger-scale rebuild so he’s someone they’d probably prefer not to move so it will take a big offer to get him.  That same sentence applies to winger Bryan Rust who is also in that price range.

Pittsburgh has a pair of bottom-six forwards who could attract some interest as well.  Noel Acciari is a physical fourth-line center who has seven different seasons of playoff experience and had some success as a deadline pickup two years ago.  He has one year left on his deal after this one at $2MM which is a salary that looks a bit more affordable with the big jump coming in the salary cap.  The other is Blake Lizotte.  He provides a bit more offense than Acciari and is capable of playing both center and the wing although he’s also undersized.  He’s in Acciari’s price range with one year left on his deal as well at a $1.85MM price tag.  Neither player would command a significant return but moving one of them would open up a roster spot to give one of their prospects in AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton an extended look.

Team Needs

1) Young Pros: Last year, we saw Dubas prioritize a nearer-future return in the Jake Guentzel trade, adding Vasiliy Ponomarev and Ville Koivunen as part of the package instead of picking up more draft picks.  We also saw them add Rutger McGroarty, the more pro-ready piece, in a swap of first-round prospects with Winnipeg over the offseason.  The emphasis is getting players who are closer to being NHL-ready who could still fit with the current veteran core.  There’s no reason to think they won’t take a similar approach this time around.

2) Contract Flexibility: With only one open contract slot at the moment, that doesn’t give the Penguins much flexibility on that front, either in terms of adding more minor-pro players in a trade or even for the college free agent market if they need to burn a year now to entice a signing.  Freeing up two or three slots would certainly help them on that front, especially when you keep in mind that contracts don’t expire until July 1st so having that extra wiggle room could also help them at draft time in trade discussions.  It’s not a must-do but it would certainly be beneficial for them.

Photo courtesy of Imagn Images.

Penguins’ Evgeni Malkin To Return, Squashes Retirement And Trade Rumors

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Pittsburgh Penguins star Evgeni Malkin has shared that he is planning to play when the team returns from break on Saturday, per Rob Rossi of The Athletic. Malkin has missed Pittsburgh’s last six games after suffering an injury in the team’s January 25th loss to Seattle. He sustained the injury roughly halfway through the first period, after the skate of Kraken forward Chandler Stephenson seemed to catch Malkin in the thigh. He attempted to return for a brief shift later in the first, but was ruled out before the game’s second period. Pittsburgh placed Malkin on injured reserve just two days later. He’ll need to be activated off of IR before Saturday’s game, which will force Pittsburgh to reassign a player like Vasiliy Ponomarev or Bokondji Imama.

The return of one of their lineup pillars will be great news in Pittsburgh. Malkin has continued to perform at a premier level this year, with his 34 points in 47 games ranked fifth on the team in total scoring. In even better news, Malkin went on to emphasize to Rossi that he has no intentions of retiring this summer or playing anywhere else. He told The Athletic, “[I’ll] retire with Pittsburgh. The Penguins are my team… When I retire, [it’ll be] here.” Malkin added that, despite speculation, he has no plans of playing anymore Russian hockey either – save for potentially a one-game send-off with his hometown Metallurg Magnitogorsk when all is said and done.

Malkin is signed through the end of the 2025-26 season, setting him up for at least one more full year in Pittsburgh’s black-and-gold. He’s squashed talks of a potential retirement this summer, which will naturally push attention back until his deal ends in 2026. But Malkin continues to hold down a strong, middle-six role for the Penguins, averaging north of 18 minutes of ice time each game this season. Fellow Penguins legend Sidney Crosby is signed through the end of the 2026-27 campaign, which could be enough to convince Malkin to find an extra gear and retire alongside his longtime partner-in-crime. Malkin entered the NHL in 2006-07, one year after Crosby’s debut. Crosby scored a career-high 120 points in his first year alongside Malkin, while the latter managed his career-high of 113 points in their second year together.

Few duos in hockey history have stood as tall as Crosby and Malkin. The two have led three Stanley Cup wins and recorded the sole assist on each the other’s 500th NHL goal. They’re a ubiquitous tandem, and Malkin’s imminent return from lower-body injury sets him up to continue his role second to Crosby on the depth chart.

Malkin’s return will likely push one of Ponomarev, Blake Lizotte, or Emil Bemstrom out of the lineup. Lizotte and Bemstrom have each scored one goal through their last 10 games, while Ponomarev is still searching for his first point after four NHL games this season. Should Ponomarev be the odd man out, he’ll likely head back to a red-hot minor-league season. Ponomarev ranks fourth on the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in scoring with 29 points in 34 games.

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