Karlsson Returns To Practice
- Penguins defenseman Erik Karlsson returned to practice today in a non-contact capacity, relays Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 35-year-old has missed the last week with an undisclosed injury. While there is no change to his day-to-day status, Karlsson will accompany the team on their upcoming four-game road trip. Through 44 games this season, he has three goals and 30 assists and is averaging a little under 24 minutes of playing time.
Penguins Activate, Reassign Rutger McGroarty, Recall Joona Koppanen
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that forward Joona Koppanen has been recalled from the club’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. In a corresponding move, the club activated forward Rutger McGroarty off injured reserve and reassigned him to the AHL.
McGroarty has been sidelined since Jan. 3 with a concussion. This reassignment allows McGroarty to build back up to NHL readiness at the AHL level after missing seven games. The 21-year-old began the year in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, scoring seven points in just five games. That performance, likely coupled with the fact that he’s widely considered one of the team’s top prospects, landed McGroarty a spot on the team’s NHL roster.
Before his injury, McGroarty had managed to dress for a total of 16 NHL contests this season. Averaging 12:13 time on ice per game without much special teams usage to speak of, McGroarty only managed three points.
As a prospect, the most significant question mark surrounding McGroarty was his skating. The Athletic’s Corey Pronman classified McGroarty’s foot speed as “mediocre,” while David St-Louis of Elite Prospects wrote that McGroarty could become a quality middle-six NHLer if he could further develop his skating stride.
While McGroarty is widely credited with having improved his skating over the course of his time in the Penguins organization, the pace of NHL hockey proved to be a steep challenge for him during his 16 games of action so far this season. As a result, he has thus far been unable to translate his offensive production from the AHL level to the NHL, even as other positive qualities in his game have begun to surface.
Not only does reassigning McGroarty to the AHL give him a chance to ramp up from his injury recovery in a lower-pressure environment, it also gives him the chance to build up some confidence as a scorer. While the Penguins have not indicated any clear timeline for McGroarty’s return to the NHL level, it would be a surprise to see him with the AHL Penguins for an extended period.
Benefiting from McGroarty’s reassignment is Koppanen, who returns to the NHL roster after almost two months in the AHL. The 27-year-old last played in the NHL on Nov. 29, skating 13:28 in a tough 7-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He’s played in 10 games this season, registering one assist on 12:28 time on ice per game.
While it’s possible Koppanen’s recall lasts only as long as it takes for McGroarty to return to the NHL, this transaction is nonetheless a significant opportunity for the winger to gain some NHL experience in advance of his unrestricted free agency in the summer.
Earlier in the season, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe wrote that Koppanen “isn’t an NHL player.” He hasn’t gotten into an NHL game since that point. The key for Koppanen to flip that narrative and earn both an extended stint in the NHL and a one-way NHL contract for next season (he’s playing this year on a two-way deal with a $475K AHL salary) will be to bring a consistent defensive and physical element to the table on a shift-by-shift basis.
Koppanen stands 6’5″ and already got some time on the penalty kill in his last NHL stint. He has all the tools necessary to be an impactful fourth-line role player, and now this recall gives him another opportunity to show he can translate those tools into meaningful on-ice value.
As a pending UFA, every strong NHL game he can add to his résumé could make a difference in the summer, so how he performs in this newfound opportunity will be interesting to monitor in Pittsburgh’s next few games.
Jones Injured During Conditioning Stint
- Earlier this week, the Penguins assigned defenseman Caleb Jones to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning stint. Unfortunately, Jones suffered an upper-body injury in his first game in the minors, according to Inside AHL Hockey’s Tony Androckitis (Twitter link). As a result, he was out of the lineup on Friday. There’s no word yet on the severity of the injury. Jones remains on Pittsburgh’s active roster while on assignment to the minors but if he’s going to be out much longer, he’ll likely be recalled and placed on injured reserve.
Penguins Place Erik Karlsson On IR, Recall Ryan Graves
Jan. 14th: Broz’s recall will end without playing a game for Pittsburgh. The Penguins announced this morning that they’ve reassigned Broz back to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Jan. 13th: The Pittsburgh Penguins made a series of roster moves this morning. Most notably, defenseman Erik Karlsson has landed on injured reserve due to an undisclosed injury. He will miss at least two weeks of action per Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports. The Penguins have recalled defenseman Ryan Graves in place of Karlsson. Pittsburgh has also recalled winger Tristan Broz and reassigned Rafael Harvey-Pinard.
This will be Karlsson’s first time missing games for the Penguins. He is riding a team-best 208-game ironman streak that dates back to Pittsburgh’s trade for the former Norris Trophy winner all the way back in 2023. Karlsson has filled a major role on the Penguins’ blue-line since joining the team but his importance has seemed to only rise this season. He leads Pittsburgh’s defense – and ranks third on the team – with 33 points in 44 games this season. He also leads the blue-line in shots on goal (94), takeaways (21), and power-play ice time (135 minutes).
That level of offense from the blue-line will be impossible for Pittsburgh to replace. Kris Letang is the blue-line’s second-highest scorer with 22 points in 44 games. He has matched a 0.5 point-per-game pace for much of the season and will certainly take on top offensive-defenseman duties in Karlsson’s absence. But who steps up for Letang is less clear. Ryan Shea has 16 points and 37 shots on goal this season, while Parker Wotherspoon has 15 points and 43 shots on goal.
Neither are known for their offense but may be called upon to fill heavy minutes with Karlsson on the shelf. Some focus will also land on Graves, who has an impressive nine points in 13 AHL games this season. That scoring hasn’t risen to the NHL level just yet – Graves has five points in his last 78 NHL games dating back to last season – but an open opportunity could be what changes that. Pittsburgh could also turn towards AHL prospect Owen Pickering, who leads the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ defense with 15 points in 33 games. He has only appeared in four NHL games this season – setting no scoring and a minus-three. He did manage three points and a minus-five in 25 NHL games last season.
The Penguins will also swap out depth forwards on the roster. Broz leads Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in scoring with 11 goals and 24 points in 33 games. He is the only member of the team with double-digit goals this season. He made his NHL debut earlier in the year and recorded no scoring and a minus-one. Back on the NHL roster, Broz will offer a nice bit of skill and scoring upside while Pittsburgh faces injuries to Bryan Rust and Rutger McGroarty. Broz would likely step into the lineup over high-speed bruiser Connor Dewar, in a bottom-six role. Meanwhile, Harvey-Pinard will return to the minors where he has already posted 13 points in 32 games.
Pittsburgh will be without Karlsson for at least seven games. That’s a big window to try and keep their ship sailing straight, after curbing an eight-game losing streak in early December with a 7-3-0 record since December 21st. The Penguins have averaged 3.7 goals-per-game on that recent win-streak, a number that could quickly dwindle with a future Hall-of-Fame, offensive-defenseman on the sidelines.
Penguins Sign Blake Lizotte To Three-Year Extension
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed depth centerman Blake Lizotte to a three-year, $6.75MM contract extension. The deal will carry an average annual value of $2.25MM. Lizotte was set to become an unrestricted free agent this summer, after spending the last two years on a deal that paid $1.85MM annually.
Lizotte has locked in his spot at the bottom of Pittsburgh’s lineup over the last two seasons. He has racked up 10 points in 35 games this season, to go with 19 shot blocks, 32 hits, and 36 shots on goal. He’s proven to be a chippy, defense-first center often tasked with pushing the Penguins out of their own zone. Lizotte ranks second on the team in defensive-zone shift starts, beginning 82.5 percent of all shifts in his own end. Despite that, Lizotte has posted a plus-six on the year – the third-highest plus-minus on the Penguins behind Ryan Shea and Anthony Mantha. Lizotte also has a 51.4 faceoff percentage, third-best among the team’s centers behind Sidney Crosby and Noel Acciari.
His knack on defense has pushed Lizotte into a prime penalty killing role. He leads the Penguins in shorthanded ice-time per-game. He has been on the ice for six power-play goals against, half as many as top penalty-killing defenseman Parker Wotherspoon. Tenacious defense has proven the marker of Lizotte’s eight-year career in the NHL. He has managed a positive plus-minus in half of those seasons, despite a routine presence on his team’s shorthanded units.
Lizotte was signed by the Los Angeles Kings asa a college free agent in 2019. He broke into the NHL right away and earned 23 points, 20 penalty minutes, and a minus-five in his first 65 career games. That was enough to keep Lizotte at the top level through the shortened 2020-21 season, where he added 10 points and a plus-two in 41 games. He continued to improve with the Kings – netting 24 points in 2021-22 and a career-high 34 points in 2022-23. Those numbers began to falter as Lizotte faced injury and healthy scratches in the 2022-23 season. He only scored 15 points in 62 games of the contract year, prompting L.A. to leave Lizotte unqualified for the 2024 summer. The Penguins signed the depth center out of the open market and have kept his NHL streak alive ever since. Through eight years in the pros, the undrafted Lizotte has only appeared in one AHL game.
It seems that streak will continue on as Pittsburgh dedicates more money to Lizotte’s role. Having his chippy, depth presence has helped the Penguins allow the 10th-fewest goals in the NHL this season, after they ranked in the bottom-three last year. He will continue on in a hard-nosed, aggressive role behind Pittsburgh’s young stars as they adjust into the NHL.
Penguins Assign Caleb Jones On Conditioning Loan
The Penguins announced they’ve assigned defenseman Caleb Jones to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning loan. Since he is on standard injured reserve and not long-term injured reserve, he can remain in the minors for up to 14 days without needing to be activated from IR or placed on waivers.
Jones, 28, hasn’t played since October. The 6’1″ lefty appeared in seven of Pittsburgh’s first eight games before sustaining a lower-body injury that’s now kept him on IR for well over two months, blowing past his initial eight-week return timeline.
Last Friday, Jones told Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that he was targeting a return next weekend. That either means his conditioning stint in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will be brief, or he won’t get into game action with the Baby Pens until then. WBS has two games this week: Wednesday at Providence and Friday at home against Hartford, marking the first half of a back-to-back.
The AHL is a familiar environment for Jones. A lineup regular with the Oilers and Blackhawks a few years back, he’s split the last couple of seasons between leagues and played almost exclusively in the AHL last season while in the Kings organization. His fortunes appeared to change after making Pittsburgh’s opening night roster. However, with their defense group stabilizing and the acquisition of Brett Kulak taking away a spot on the left side, it remains to be seen whether Jones will remain on the active roster or land on waivers once he’s activated from IR in the coming days.
The Texas native played solid bottom-pairing hockey to open the season. In seven appearances, he registered an assist and a +1 rating while averaging 17:10 of ice time per game. He was credited with 15 blocks and 10 hits, but controlled only 41.4% of shot attempts at 5-on-5 in a taxing defensive deployment.
Jones signed a two-year, $1.8MM deal with Pittsburgh in the offseason and is due $1MM in actual salary next season. If he’s placed on waivers, a claim is unlikely.
Penguins Recall Rafael Harvey-Pinard
The Penguins brought up some extra forward depth for their afternoon game against Calgary today. The team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled winger Rafael Harvey-Pinard from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He’s serving as injury insurance for winger Bryan Rust, who the team relayed (Twitter link) is dealing with a lower-body injury.
The 27-year-old is in his first season with Pittsburgh after signing a one-year, two-way deal with them in free agency following a non-tender from Montreal. While Harvey-Pinard has 84 games of NHL experience (where he has a respectable 17 goals and 14 assists), he wasn’t able to secure a roster spot with Pittsburgh in training camp and passed through waivers unclaimed back in October.
Since then, Harvey-Pinard has played exclusively in the minors with relatively middling numbers offensively. Through 32 games in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he has seven goals and six assists, along with 27 penalty minutes. While those numbers don’t scream promotion-worthy, he can play on both wings, giving the team a bit of versatility should they need to call upon him to play.
Pittsburgh had one open roster spot, so they didn’t need to make a demotion or IR placement to make room for Harvey-Pinard on the roster. However, their group is now full at 23 players.
Penguins Activate Evgeni Malkin
The Penguins announced they’ve activated Evgeni Malkin from injured reserve. They reassigned winger Ville Koivunen earlier in the day to open a roster spot, so no corresponding move is required.
Malkin will be in the lineup against the Devils tonight for the first time in 15 games. He’s been practicing for about a week as he works his way back from a lingering upper-body injury that he said had been plaguing him throughout the season, but got aggravated to the point where he needed to sit out.
Before exiting the lineup, the future Hall-of-Famer had arguably been having one of his most impressive seasons to date. Now 39 years old, he’s on pace to breach the point-per-game mark for the first time in three years. His eight goals and 21 assists are good for 29 points in 26 games, second on the Pens at 1.12 points per game.
The Penguins, still in the playoff hunt, didn’t shoulder the absence of a franchise icon well. The first game of his absence coincided with the beginning of an eight-game winless streak. They’ve won five out of six since to get back on track, but went 6-5-4 overall in his absence. They’re now 20-12-9, one point up on the streaking Sabres for the second wild-card spot.
Malkin will have some new linemates tonight in rookie Benjamin Kindel and countryman Yegor Chinakhov, recently acquired from the Blue Jackets, per Michelle Crechiolo of NHL.com. His usual wingers, Justin Brazeau and Anthony Mantha, drop to flank Thomas Novak on Pittsburgh’s third line. They’re likely looking to keep up the better underlying numbers that the duo posted with Novak in Malkin’s absence – they weren’t as productive but were more responsible defensively while still being good for a few scoring bursts.
Image courtesy of Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images.
Pittsburgh Penguins Reassign Ville Koivunen
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that winger Ville Koivunen has been reassigned to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
The move does not come as a major surprise as Koivunen has been a healthy scratch twice in the Penguins’ last three games. The 22-year-old winger, who was acquired by the Penguins as part of the 2024 Jake Guentzel trade, entered the season as a key player to watch in Pittsburgh. He scored 21 goals and 56 points for the AHL Penguins last season, and also managed seven assists in eight NHL games, the first NHL games of his career.
Koivunen entered the season ranked as the No. 2 prospect in Pittsburgh’s system according to Elite Prospects, who wrote that “he could ascend to a top-nine or even top-six role, becoming one of the keys to the Penguins’ rebuild.”
That ascension hasn’t happened so far in 2025-26. While he remained a lethal offensive weapon at the AHL level, scoring a whopping 11 points in just six games at that level, he’s struggled to make his mark at the NHL level the way he did in his short cameo last season.
One week ago, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe wrote that Koivunen “has been quite disappointing,” adding that “he isn’t ready for prime time just yet.” The 22-year-old has managed just five points in 27 games this season, averaging 12:41 time on ice per game.
Reassigning Koivunen back to the AHL gives the player an opportunity to receive a more significant level of playing time. He’ll play a leading role in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, rather than a minimal one in Pittsburgh.
In addition, getting the chance to once again play at the AHL level should help Koivunen rebuild some confidence in his scoring abilities, and that could allow him to hit the ground running the next time he’s called up to Pittsburgh.
Penguins Place Rutger McGroarty On IR, Assign Harrison Brunicke To Juniors
The Penguins have placed forward Rutger McGroarty on injured reserve, per a team announcement. McGroarty sustained a concussion after colliding with teammate Connor Clifton during Tuesday’s practice. As such, there is no timeline for his return, the team noted. Additionally, the Pens announced they’ve reassigned defenseman Harrison Brunicke to the Western Hockey League’s Kamloops Blazers after he suited up for Team Canada at this year’s World Juniors.
McGroarty entered the season as Pittsburgh’s top prospect but has had a rocky few months. After churning out 39 points in 60 AHL games as a rookie last season and making his NHL debut, he was expected to break camp with the Pens – potentially even in a top-six role – but sustained an upper-body injury that knocked him out of training camp. He was activated in November and spent his first couple of weeks in the minors on what was essentially a conditioning stint before getting added back to Pittsburgh’s roster on Dec. 1.
He’s been a staple in the lineup since returning, at least until his healthy scratch on Sunday against the Blue Jackets, but those designs of a top-six role have gone unfulfilled. McGroarty has instead spent most of his time on an all-rookie third line with Ville Koivunen and Benjamin Kindel, but the production hasn’t popped.
In 16 games, the 21-year-old has been limited to two goals and one assist with a -5 rating. Including last year’s late-season call-up, he’s only produced six points in 24 career outings. That line with Koivunen and Kindel has had great possession impacts, recording a team-high 59.8 xGF% at 5-on-5, but that hasn’t yet translated into results.
Any chance of those advanced numbers spiking a turnaround in McGroarty’s scoring will have to be put on hold. Recent trade pickup Yegor Chinakhov has slotted into McGroarty’s spot and, considering he’s got a goal and an assist in three games since his acquisition from Columbus, appears set to remain in a top-nine role for the foreseeable future.
Brunicke returning to juniors isn’t a surprise, especially with the more experienced Jack St. Ivany locking down a job as Pittsburgh’s third-pairing righty behind Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang since recovering from an early-season injury. Many still view the 19-year-old as the organization’s top defense prospect, but his initial NHL showing wasn’t much to write home about.
The 6’3″, 201-lb righty was in and out of the lineup for weeks before being loaned to the Canadian national junior team last month, only making nine appearances with one assist and a -4 rating. He averaged 15:43 of ice time per game and posted a -6 rating in his final three outings.
Since Brunicke didn’t hit the 10-game mark before being returned to Kamloops, his entry-level contract will not go into effect this season. He will still receive the $87.5K signing bonus he’s owed, though, further reducing his cap hit from its original $875K down to $816.7K when he is no longer slide eligible next year.