- Matt Vensel of Post-Gazette Sports is reporting that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bryan Rust will be out week-to-week with an upper-body injury. Falling further and further out of contention, the loss of Rust for the next few weeks will certainly not help Pittsburgh rise in the standings. Potentially becoming one of the deadline’s more important sellers, losing both Rust and Jake Guentzel over the last few days may ultimately force the Penguins’ hand in their eventual deadline approach.
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Penguins Rumors
Bryan Rust Undergoing Evaluation For Upper-Body Injury
- Penguins winger Bryan Rust is being evaluated for an upper-body injury after leaving Sunday’s crucial win over the Flyers in the third period, head coach Mike Sullivan said. The Penguins aren’t yet sure if he’ll travel on their four-game road swing through Canada and the Pacific Northwest that could potentially decide their playoff fate. Rust had two goals in yesterday’s contest and has six in his last seven games. The 31-year-old has rebounded after a tough season last year, overcoming multiple injuries throughout the campaign to post 18 goals and 36 points in 42 games alongside his usual linemate, Sidney Crosby. Signed to a $5.125MM cap hit through 2028, Rust missed a trio of games in November with a lower-body injury and most of December with an upper-body injury. It’s unclear if this new injury is related to his previous upper-body ailment. If he’s not able to dress for Tuesday’s game against the Canucks, expect Matthew Phillips or Jesse Puljujärvi to re-enter the lineup after being scratched against Philly. The Penguins have cap space to make a corresponding recall in Rust’s absence if he’s placed on injured reserve.
Trade Deadline Primer: Pittsburgh Penguins
With the All-Star break in the rearview, the trade deadline looms large and is now less than two 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.
When new Penguins GM Kyle Dubas traded for Erik Karlsson over the summer, it looked as if Pittsburgh was aiming to take another crack at a long playoff run. However, things haven’t gone according to plan as they find themselves outside the playoff picture at the moment although they do have enough games in hand to get right back into the mix. Accordingly, they’re a team whose decision on buying or selling could come right down to the last minute.
Record
26-21-8, 6th in the Metropolitan
Deadline Status
Light Buyer or Reluctant Seller
Deadline Cap Space
$4.5MM of LTIR space on deadline day, 1/3 retention slots used, 48/50 contracts used, per CapFriendly.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2024: PIT 2nd, PIT 4th, PIT 6th, NYR 7th, PIT 7th
2025: PIT 1st*, PIT 3rd, PIT 4th, PIT 5th, PIT 6th, PIT 7th
*-If Pittsburgh’s first-round pick this season lands in the top ten, the Penguins have the option to keep it and send San Jose an unprotected 2025 first-round selection as part of the Karlsson trade.
Trade Chips
If the Penguins become sellers, the top chip they have to play is winger Jake Guentzel who could very well be the top forward that moves in the next week and a half. What doesn’t help their cause, however, is that he’s currently on LTIR with an upper-body injury although he’s at least expected back soon after the minimum required absence of 10 games and 24 days. Guentzel sits second on the team in scoring with 52 points in 50 games so far and is the type of top-line addition that doesn’t become available too often at the deadline. On an expiring $6MM contract, the 29-year-old will be eyeing a significant raise on a long-term (or even max-term) agreement; wherever he is after the deadline passes will be the only team that can give him an eighth year directly without needing a sign-and-trade. Worth noting, it’s his LTIR placement that covers all of their current cap space at the moment; Pittsburgh will be quite tight to the Upper Limit when he’s activated.
[Related: Poll: Which Team Will Trade For Jake Guentzel?]
Whether they buy or sell, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic could attract some interest. The 28-year-old has had a nice bounce-back year after spending a lot of last season in the minors and a 2.67 GAA and a .915 SV% along with a $1.5MM price tag could be appealing for teams looking to upgrade their second-string netminder. If the Penguins are comfortable with veteran Magnus Hellberg as their backup, that would give them a bit of extra spending room ($615K pro-rated).
Buyers are always looking for depth down the middle and while Pittsburgh doesn’t have any viable rental options (Jeff Carter likely isn’t moving with a full no-move clause and a $3.125MM price tag), Lars Eller and Noel Acciari are non-rental veterans who would attract some interest. Both moved at last year’s deadline and had some success with their new teams so they’ve demonstrated they can come in late and still contribute. Eller has one year left after this at $2.45MM while Acciari has two more at $2MM per, price tags that shouldn’t be overly prohibitive for some buyers.
If they wind up being light buyers, prospect Samuel Poulin is someone who stands out as a prospect teams might inquire about. The 23-year-old is wrapping up his entry-level deal this season and is having a good year although he’s currently out with an injury. Waiver-eligible next year, there should be some teams that want to take a look at him at the NHL level that might move someone who could help Pittsburgh’s playoff push.
Other Potential Trade Chips: F Joona Koppanen, D Chad Ruhwedel, D Dmitri Samorukov, D Ty Smith
Team Needs
1) Youth – This one comes directly from Dubas who noted earlier this week that he’d like to see this team get younger. Considering they have the oldest average age in the NHL at 31.3, he’s not wrong about that. With a core group that’s considerably older than the average, getting younger won’t be an easy task or a short-term one but they can start it here by moving out a couple of veterans if they sell and either give the likes of Poulin a chance or acquire a youngster in a trade and get them on the NHL roster. It won’t move the needle much but they need to start somewhere if they’re going to sell.
2) Secondary Scoring – Let’s flip the strategy and look at them as a buyer now in case they go on a bit of a run in the next few games and decide to try to add to their core. Going into today’s action, the Penguins ranked 27th in the league in goals scored. That has largely negated the value of being one of the stingiest defenses in the NHL; even with their scoring struggles, they have the third-best goal differential in the division. Getting Guentzel back would help but if they could find a way to add a top-six winger (or, failing that, a good third-line piece), that might be worth an extra win or two which might be the difference between making and missing the postseason.
Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.
Morning Notes: Zucker, Dumba, Villalta, Hellberg
The Arizona Coyotes are open to trading veteran forward Jason Zucker and defenseman Matt Dumba, The Fourth Period reports. Both players are on expiring contracts and could be cheap options for added depth. Zucker has scored eight goals and 22 points in 46 games this season, while Dumba has managed just nine points in 52 games of his own.
This update doesn’t come as much of a surprise, although it does deviate from reports earlier in the season that shared the Coyotes were focused on adding older, veteran presences. But the Coyotes’ season has fallen to shambles since the calendar turned over, with the team currently riding an 11-game losing streak and sporting a 4-15-2 record in 2024. It’s been a heavy fall for a team that carried a winning record through early December. But with the losses has come a return to form for Arizona, who are once again focused on selling veteran talents to bolster their future capital. Arizona has two available salary retention spots open and may need to use them to make any trade of Zucker, who carries a $5.3MM cap hit, or Dumba, who has a $3.9MM cap hit, work for cap-strapped teams. Even then, the return for either player – one now 32 and the other struggling to produce – likely wouldn’t be too profitable for the Coyotes.
Other notes from around the league:
- The Coyotes have sent down goaltender Matthew Villalta, suggesting that Connor Ingram could be nearing a return from an undisclosed injury that’s held him out for the last week. Villalta played in his first two NHL games while filling in for Ingram, saving 24 of the 29 shots he faced in 72 minutes of ice time. He’s primarily operated as the starting goalie for the AHL’s Tuscon Roadrunners, where he’s managed 22 wins and a .913 save percentage in 34 games.
- The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-assigned goaltender Magnus Hellberg to their AHL affiliate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins just three days after recalling him. It appears the Penguins made the move as a precaution in case one of their NHL netminders were unable to play. The 32-year-old did see NHL action earlier in the year, dressing in three games for the Penguins in which he went 1-0-0 with a 2.50 goals against average and a .922 save percentage.
Penguins Acquire Emil Bemstrom From Blue Jackets
A day after speaking to the media, Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas has swung a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets. The Penguins have acquired forward Emil Bemstrom from Columbus in exchange for forward Alex Nylander and a conditional sixth-round pick in 2026.
From the Penguins perspective, it didn’t look as though Nylander was a fit with head coach Mike Sullivan’s style of play as he spent most of his time with the Penguins organization in the AHL. In the past two seasons, Nylander dressed in 14 NHL games and had a goal and an assist while getting several looks in the Penguins top six, something he was never able to turn into offensive production. The eighth overall pick in the 2016 NHL entry draft has never lived up to his pre-draft expectations and now finds himself with his fourth NHL franchise in eight years.
The Blue Jackets likely view the draft pick as the central piece of the deal. Although a sixth-round pick in two drafts isn’t exactly a haul, Aaron Portzline of The Athletic is reporting that the pick becomes a third-round pick if Bemstrom scores six goals the rest of this season with Pittsburgh.
In Bemstrom, the Penguins are acquiring a 24-year-old with some speed who was available on waivers just a few months ago. The former fourth-round pick his five goals and six assists in 32 games this season after posting a career-high 22 points in 55 games last year. He spent eight games in the AHL this season where he was dominant with 10 goals and four assists.
The move could be the first of many for the Penguins as Dubas mentioned yesterday that getting younger would be a priority and the Penguins could also make a bigger move if they elect to move on from pending free agent Jake Guentzel.
Penguins Activate Noel Acciari Off IR
The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated forward Noel Acciari off the injured reserve, and he is in their lineup tonight as they take on the Montreal Canadiens. The 32-year-old has missed the past six games after suffering a concussion back on February 6th in a game against the Winnipeg Jets. Acciari was hit up high in the neutral zone by Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon in a scary incident that led to a match penalty and game misconduct for Dillon.
Like many Penguins forwards, Acciari has struggled to produce much in the way of offense this season. He has spent most of the season as the team’s fourth-line center and is back there tonight sandwiched between Jansen Harkins and Jeff Carter. Acciari has dressed in 39 games this season and has three goals and one assist. Last season the Johnston, Rhode Island native posted 14 goals and nine assists in 77 games.
While his offensive production has been the lowest of his career, Acciari has been good defensively and, on the penalty kill. He has had nearly 90% of his zone starts in the defensive zone and has been one of the few Penguins who has been consistently physical. Acciari has also been solid in the faceoff circle which has been a key contributor to Mike Sullivan using him for so many defensive zone faceoffs.
Latest On Penguins’ Deadline Plans, Jake Guentzel
The Penguins are trending toward being a toss-up at the trade deadline at best after a 3-5-2 skid in their last 10 games. Despite boasting a +11 goal differential, the third-best in the Metropolitan Division, they have four teams to leapfrog to work their way into a Wild Card berth in the Eastern Conference without a significant number of games in hand.
General manager Kyle Dubas said Wednesday that this year’s deadline won’t be so much about buying or selling as it is about getting younger. How that approach influences their decision on trading pending UFA winger Jake Guentzel, who will be out for at least a week past the deadline with an upper-body injury, remains to be seen, Dubas said:
We have to take stock of where we are and be realistic about the fact that one of the issues we have is that we need to get younger. We have a lot of guys in their 30s signed – some of them are the best players in the history of the franchise… It’s tough with Jake [Guentzel] because he is an excellent player playing at an elite level… We need to find a way to have some of those veteran guys while continuing to get younger at the same time.
The iron is still hot surrounding Guentzel’s trade talk, and it doesn’t appear that his injury will impact Pittsburgh’s ability to field offers for him. Dubas confirmed that he has not asked any Penguin to waive his no-move or no-trade clause – Guentzel has a modified NTC that allows him to submit a 12-team no-trade list.
Youth being Dubas’ primary objective is no surprise. After taking over the reins of Pittsburgh’s front office last summer, he inherited an already-aging roster. The team’s most prominent offseason additions – reigning Norris winner Erik Karlsson and 2023 Stanley Cup champion Reilly Smith, pushed the average age further. More than half of their 18 skaters projected to dress in tonight’s game against the Canadiens are over 30.
Guentzel isn’t far behind at 29 – he’ll turn 30 right as the 2024-25 campaign begins. It’s understandable that while the Pens’ core (namely Sidney Crosby) would love to keep him around, there will be some internal hesitancy about signing him to a long-term extension with Karlsson, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Kris Letang, Ryan Graves, and Tristan Jarry already locked up for three years or more.
Herein lies the Penguins’ true problem. If Pittsburgh doesn’t plan to leverage high-end draft picks to acquire younger win-now talent, as Dubas claims, none of their veterans besides Guentzel can fetch the type of youngster they’re looking for. Rust’s, Rakell’s, and Smith’s contracts are all either too pricey or too long to carry much trade value. The same goes for other aging depth players like 2023 free agent signing Noel Acciari, who’s disappointed in the first year of a three-year, $6MM deal.
Very little of their roster can be turned over in free agency this summer, either. Guentzel, Jeff Carter and Jansen Harkins are the only pending UFA forwards on the active roster, and depth defender Chad Ruhwedel is the only pending UFA on the blue line. Backup netminder Alex Nedeljkovic is destined for free agency, too, but it’s feasible they’ll attempt to re-sign him given his bounce-back campaign (.915 SV%, 2.67 GAA, 9-4-4). Getting out of Carter’s $3.125MM cap hit should offer some flexibility, but not enough for the more aggressive level of a retool that Pittsburgh is looking for.
As an aside on the Guentzel front, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet pointed out Wednesday night that if Pittsburgh makes Guentzel available to discuss extensions with trade suitors in the coming weeks, that takes the Oilers out of the running for his services. Edmonton doesn’t have the long-term cap space to offer Guentzel a long-term deal upwards of the $8MM per season he’ll receive, leaving them to pursue cheaper targets to find an upgrade on the wing for their Leon Draisaitl-anchored second line.
With only one season after this remaining on his $5MM AAV deal, Smith is the second-most likely candidate to be moved out behind Guentzel. He’s underwhelmed with 10 goals and 23 points in 47 games this year despite primarily playing alongside Evgeni Malkin. However, the Penguins would likely need to retain some salary to ship him to any contender looking to bolster their third line, where he probably fits in on a championship-bound team. They’re already using one of their three retention spots on Jeff Petry, which helped facilitate last summer’s Karlsson mega-deal.
Penguins Place Colin White On Waivers
The Penguins placed forward Colin White on waivers Wednesday for the purpose of assignment to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
White, 27, has no points in 11 games since Pittsburgh recalled him from WBS on Jan. 13. The former Senators and Panthers forward played less than 10 minutes in each of his last two games and was likely to come out of the lineup with Noel Acciari expected to return from a concussion tomorrow against the Canadiens.
The 2015 first-round pick signed a PTO with the Penguins after being cut loose by Florida after their run to the 2023 Stanley Cup Final. A decent training camp resulted in him earning a one-year, two-way deal worth $775K in the NHL and $500K in the minors, but he did not crack the team’s opening night roster and was waived prior to the start of the season.
White remained with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for over three months, underwhelming on the scoresheet with five goals, 10 points and a -2 rating in 21 games. It was his first AHL action since a one-game conditioning stint in the 2019-20 campaign after holding down a fourth-line role with the Panthers for much of last season.
Given his performance, it’s unlikely White will get claimed off waivers, and it’s looking additionally unlikely that he’ll receive an extension from the Penguins before reaching UFA status this summer. He’s still getting paid $875K per season by the Senators, who bought out the last three seasons of his six-year, $28.5MM contract in 2022, for the next four years.
Noel Acciari Upgraded To Full-Contact Jersey
- Penguins forward Noel Acciari is on a fast-track recovery from his concussion, skating in a regular jersey at Wednesday’s practice after being cleared for non-contact practice yesterday (via Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports). He’s missed six games after sustaining the concussion on a hit from Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon, which earned him a three-game suspension. It’s been a trying first season in Pittsburgh for the 32-year-old, who’s mustered three goals and one assist in 39 games despite averaging nearly 13 minutes. Acciari joined former Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas on the Toronto-to-Pittsburgh pipeline last summer, signing a three-year, $6MM contract with a modified no-trade clause that’s looking like a regrettable decision for the Penguins’ front office.
Noel Acciari Returns To Practice
- Out with a concussion ever since a blow to the head from Winnipeg Jets’ defenseman Brenden Dillon on February 6th, Pittsburgh Penguins’ forward Noel Acciari has returned to practice in a non-contact jersey (X Link). Brought in as an unrestricted free agent last offseason, the Penguins were hoping that Acciari could give a major boost to Pittsburgh’s bottom-six. In 39 games before entering concussion protocol, Acciari scored three goals and four points for the Penguins as well as delivering 92 total hits to opponents.
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