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Penguins Place Matthew Phillips On Waivers

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The Penguins placed forward Matthew Phillips on waivers Monday for the purposes of assignment to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.

This is Phillips’ second time on waivers this season. He’s been claimed once, heading to Pittsburgh from the Capitals last month.

Once an AHL standout in the Flames organization, Phillips has struggled to adapt in his first shot at a full-time NHL role this season. He had one goal and four assists in 27 games with Washington before landing on waivers, and he was a healthy scratch in five straight games for the Penguins after making three consecutive appearances post-claim. He didn’t record a point in Pittsburgh and averaged 11:20 per game, slightly up from his 10:16 average with Washington.

Phillips, 25, inked a one-year, one-way deal with the Caps last summer. He was coming off a second straight AHL season in which he produced over a point per game, notching 36 goals and 76 points in 66 games with the Calgary Wranglers in 2022-23. It appears unlikely he’ll be claimed off waivers a second time this season after failing to impress with two organizations, although he could get a chance to rebuild his value with a strong stretch of play in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Phillips will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of the season, although it seems unlikely Pittsburgh will issue him a qualifying offer to retain his rights. The Calgary native was a sixth-round pick of the Flames in 2016.

Penguins Set Asking Price For Jake Guentzel

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  • Lastly, Friedman confirmed that the Pittsburgh Penguins had set the asking price for forward Jake Guentzel at two prospects; not one prospect and a first-round pick. Friedman’s report comes a few days after President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas said to reporters that the Penguins’ primary focus at this year’s trade deadline would be to get younger overall. With several buyers not interested in parting with a first-round pick at this year’s trade deadline, the asking price for Guentzel may lead to a larger market for Pittsburgh to choose from.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Guentzel Takes Part In Morning Skate

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  • Penguins winger Jake Guentzel took part in today’s morning skate in a non-contact jersey, notes Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette (Twitter link). The 29-year-old has been his usual point-per-game self this season with 52 in 50 games but he may have played his last game in Pittsburgh.  Guentzel is currently on LTIR with an upper-body injury and isn’t eligible to return until March 10th, two days after the trade deadline.  The fact he took part in the skate today is a promising sign that he’ll be able to return as planned on the 10th or soon after.

Penguins Receiving Strong Interest In Reilly Smith

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At the trade deadline, the focus is often on the rental market.  Contending teams are looking for that final piece but want a short-term acquisition as they can’t afford to keep the player beyond the current season.  However, some non-rentals also attract some interest at this time of year.  It appears one of them is in Pittsburgh as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports that the Penguins are receiving a lot of calls on winger Reilly Smith, even more than Jake Guentzel, one of the top rentals potentially available between now and March 8th.

The 32-year-old was acquired by Pittsburgh last summer in a move that basically amounted to a salary cap dump from Vegas with Smith, an important part of their Stanley Cup run, yielding just a third-round pick in return.  For a player who reached the 50-point mark in four of his six seasons with the Golden Knights, the return was on the light side but in a flat-cap environment, several teams had to make tough decisions like that.

While Penguins GM Kyle Dubas was hoping that Smith would be a key two-way contributor, that hasn’t exactly been the case.  Instead, his offensive numbers are down as he has just 10 goals and 15 assists in 51 games so far, not a great return on a $5MM price tag.  He’s still averaging over 16 minutes a night, however, and is seeing some action on the penalty kill.  In terms of a player profile, Smith is the type of player a lot of teams can use.

Fitting that contract onto the books is difficult enough for this season with half the league currently using LTIR to stay salary cap-compliant.  The fact that Smith has another year left on his deal after this one adds to the allure but also adds to the complications of making such a deal work.

Seravalli suggests that Smith could be a candidate for salary retention to help open up his market.  Pittsburgh has two of their three slots left while the one they’ve used (Jeff Petry) is on the books through next season.  If Dubas isn’t concerned about using a second slot through 2024-25, paying down Smith’s contract to just a $2.5MM AAV would certainly bolster his market and should allow them to get a considerably better return than what they gave up to get him.  While it’s not the direction they were hoping for, it looks like Smith could help yield a quality piece for a potential rebuild or retool this offseason.

Penguins Recall Jonathan Gruden

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  • The Penguins have recalled left-winger Jonathan Gruden for the second time in the past two days, per a team announcement. The 23-year-old was brought up under emergency conditions before yesterday’s loss to the Kraken but did not play, and was briefly returned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton over the night. He’s skated in five NHL games this year, going without a point while averaging 7:20 per game.

Noel Acciari, Drew O'Connor Okay After Sustaining Injury

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Penguins Place Bryan Rust On IR, Recall Jonathan Gruden

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have placed winger Bryan Rust on injured reserve. The team designated Rust as week-to-week on Tuesday, as he’s recovering from an upper-body injury. Many of the details around the injury, including when exactly Rust may return, are still unclear.

This news comes with an extra sting, as Rust’s linemate Jake Guentzel is also out until mid-March with an upper-body injury of his own. This leaves Sidney Crosby as the last healthy member of the team’s top line, now flanked by Reilly Smith and Rickard Rakell. The Penguins have had Guentzel and Rust both healthy for just 37 games this season. They’ve outscored opponents 108-to-103 in those matchups, setting a 15-16-6 record. Guentzel is one of just two Penguins, along with Crosby, still scoring at a point-per-game pace, with 52 points in 50 games. Rust has fallen a bit behind his co-leads, scoring 36 points in 42 games of his own.

Pittsburgh recalled forward Jonathan Gruden in response to Rust’s IR placement. Gruden has already played in five NHL games this season, going without a point and setting a -2. The outings have brought his career totals up to eight NHL games – the other three coming last season – with Gruden still looking for his first appearance on the scoresheet. The 23-year-old centerman has also appeared in 41 AHL games this season, scoring 13 goals and 23 points. Gruden will join a Penguins lineup with spots open – likely set to battle with Jesse Puljujarvi, Valtteri Puustinen, and newcomer Matthew Phillips for key depth roles.

Bryan Rust Out Week-To-Week With Upper-Body Injury

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  • 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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Bryan Rust Undergoing Evaluation For Upper-Body Injury

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  • 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

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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.

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