- Penguins defenseman Ryan Shea acknowledged to Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review that Pittsburgh was the runner-up when NHL teams were pursuing him out of college back in 2020. The 26-year-old ultimately signed with Dallas at the time but never suited up for the Stars despite being recalled for a handful of days here and there. Shea somewhat surprisingly cracked Pittsburgh’s opening roster after signing with them this past summer with a good showing in training camp and could get a chance to make his NHL debut in the coming days.
Penguins Rumors
Will Butcher Close To Return
- A little over a week before the start of training camp this autumn, new depth defenseman for the Pittsburgh Penguins, Will Butcher, sustained an injury that would keep him out of all on-ice activities for over a month. Today, Matt Vensel of Post-Gazette Sports is reporting that Butcher is back to practice in a non-contact jersey, and will likely be sent to the team’s AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins very soon. Spending all of last season for the Texas Stars in the AHL, Butcher would score six goals and 37 assists in 65 games.
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Penguins And Guentzel Not Close To Extension
David Pagnotta of The NHL Network tweeted that he has heard that the Pittsburgh Penguins and winger Jake Guentzel have talked about a contract extension, but they are not close to an agreement. Pagnotta followed that up with another tweet adding that he has been told by sources that the two sides may shelve contract negotiations until after the season.
The 29-year-old is set to play out the final year of his five-year $30MM contract and will be due a big raise if he performs anywhere close to his historical averages. Guentzel is coming off back-to-back 35+ goal seasons and has averaged nearly a point a game since breaking into the league in November 2016. The knock-on Guentzel has always been that he puts up elite numbers because he plays with Sidney Crosby, but there has never been another player able to duplicate the kind of success Guentzel has had on Crosby’s line. Chris Kunitz was Crosby’s linemate for nearly a decade and posted just two seasons with more than 60 points, while Guentzel has topped 70 points three times in the last five years. Guentzel is sometimes the forgotten star in Pittsburgh playing behind Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and now Erik Karlsson. But, without the Omaha, Nebraska native in 2017, the Penguins probably don’t repeat as Stanley Cup champions.
The Penguins are in a bit of a curious spot this season as they are firmly committed to an older core of players but could find themselves with a ton of cap space next summer if they don’t sign any of their pending free agents. One might wonder if the Penguins are waiting to see if any impact free agents go to unrestricted free agency next summer before they decide whether to sign their own impact free agent.
From Guentzel’s perspective, he has earned the right to test the free agent market and might worry about the Penguins’ future when Crosby, Letang and Malkin retire, which could be sooner than later. Guentzel would likely fetch a seven- or eight-year deal. Given the ages of the aforementioned players, Guentzel’s final years in Pittsburgh could be on a rebuilding team if he elects to re-sign with the team long-term.
Latest On Will Butcher
- The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review’s Seth Rorabaugh reports that defenseman Will Butcher skated this morning, a positive development for a player who missed all of training camp and preseason due to injury. Butcher has begun this season on season-opening injured reserve, but when he eventually becomes ready to play it’s likely he’ll find himself waived and sent to the AHL. Butcher signed a one-year, league-minimum deal in Pittsburgh likely with the hope that he would compete for a depth role on the Penguins’ NHL defense, but due to this injury it’s now likely that he’ll have to work his way into NHL consideration with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. 2022-23 was Butcher’s first in the AHL, and he impressed scoring 43 points in 67 games.
Penguins’ Jake Guentzel Will Play In Season Opener
As speculated in the last few days, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jake Guentzel is healthy and will play in tonight’s home opener against the Chicago Blackhawks, the team confirmed today.
Guentzel, 29, was initially expected to miss at least three months after undergoing ankle surgery at the beginning of August. That timeline put him borderline-LTIR eligible to start the season, which at the time was viewed as a crucial step to help the Penguins alleviate their salary cap concerns. Many transactions later, however, the Penguins are ready to go with Guentzel in the lineup and a nearly full roster of 12 forwards, eight defensemen and two goalies.
Pittsburgh’s top winger aggravated the lingering right ankle injury playing summer league hockey in Minnesota and decided to undergo surgery when it became clear it wasn’t healing on its own as hoped. The Nebraska native is coming off another strong goal-scoring showing for the Penguins, notching 36 goals and 37 assists for 73 points in 78 contests last season. Sidney Crosby’s right-hand (or left-hand?) man on the team’s top unit has eclipsed the point-per-game mark three times in the last four seasons and will look to do so again this year.
His name often gets lost in the shuffle among Pittsburgh’s star power, now more than ever after the team’s highly-publicized addition of Erik Karlsson to the blue line. However, Guentzel is an incredibly important player to this Penguins squad and sits among the top pending free agents available on the 2024 market – especially after the Winnipeg Jets locked in center Mark Scheifele for an additional seven seasons yesterday.
Guentzel is projected to line up alongside Crosby and Bryan Rust in tonight’s game, potentially matched up against 2023 first-overall pick Connor Bedard in his NHL regular-season debut for the Blackhawks.
Waivers: 10/08/23
Oct. 9: Four players on this list were claimed today: A.J. Greer (Calgary), John Ludvig (Pittsburgh), Ivan Prosvetov (Colorado), and Lassi Thomson (Ottawa). All others have cleared and are expected to be assigned to their team’s respective AHL affiliates, aside from Boyd, who PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan reports remains on the Coyotes’ active roster for now.
Oct. 8: It’s expected to be a busy day on the waiver wire, as NHL teams are making their final adjustments to the roster they’ll bring into the start of the 2023-24 season. There have already been numerous notable names exposed to the waiver wire thus far this preseason, and that list could only expand today. All players from yesterday’s waiver wire have cleared.
Anaheim Ducks
D Lassi Thomson
G Alex Stalock
F Andrew Agozzino
Boston Bruins
Arizona Coyotes
F Travis Boyd
F Zach Sanford
G Ivan Prosvetov
Carolina Hurricanes
Chicago Blackhawks
Colorado Avalanche
Dallas Stars
Detroit Red Wings
Edmonton Oilers
F Raphael Lavoie
F Lane Pederson
D Ben Gleason
Florida Panthers
F Zac Dalpe
D John Ludvig
D Casey Fitzgerald
Los Angeles Kings
Montreal Canadiens
F Joel Armia
D Gustav Lindström
Ottawa Senators
Pittsburgh Penguins
G Magnus Hellberg
F Colin White
D Mark Friedman
F Vinnie Hinostroza
F Radim Zohorna
St. Louis Blues
F Mackenzie MacEachern
D Calle Rosen
G Malcolm Subban
F Nathan Walker
Tampa Bay Lightning
D Zach Bogosian
F Gabriel Fortier
Toronto Maple Leafs
G Martin Jones
F Kyle Clifford
F Dylan Gambrell
D William Lagesson
D Maxime Lajoie
Vancouver Canucks
F Jack Studnicka
D Christian Wolanin
Vegas Golden Knights
Winnipeg Jets
D Kyle Capobianco
G Collin Delia
F Axel Jonsson-Fjallby
The big surprise here out of Arizona regards Boyd. The versatile 30-year-old veteran doesn’t have an exorbitant contract (just $1.75MM through the end of the season) and has scored 69 points across the last two seasons.
He’s been something of a breakout player for the Coyotes as his 17-goal, 35-point 2022-23 was far and away his best season in his career, so it’s definitely a surprise to see him exposed on waivers.
For Anaheim, the move to waive Stalock likely means that Lukáš Dostál has won the Ducks’ backup goalie job behind John Gibson, as should Stalock clear the Ducks will have the option to send him down to the AHL’s San Diego Gulls.
In Edmonton, it comes as a little bit of a surprise to see Lavioe waived. The 23-year-old power forward was drafted just outside of the 2019 first round, and took a real step forward in his development last season. He became a genuinely impactful AHLer, scoring 25 goals and 45 points. He’s a name to watch in terms of players with the potential to be claimed out of this group.
Anderson-Dolan finally made the NHL on an extended basis last season, and scored 12 points in 46 games. He even got some playoff action under his belt, but seeing as he was a near-point-per-game scorer in his last season in the AHL, it seems the Kings could prefer to have him start the season with the AHL’s Ontario Reign.
Rosen appears the likeliest candidate from the Blues’ group of waived players to be of interest to other teams, as he’s owed just a $762.5k cap hit this season and impressed in 49 games of NHL action last season. He scored 18 points in that span and could interest teams in need of some additional defensive help.
Out of Tampa is Bogosian, and it’s reported that the Lightning are hoping to put the veteran blueliner in a position to land on another team where he can play a bigger role than he’d be offered in Tampa. The 33-year-old won a Stanley Cup for the Lightning and it seems that the organization is looking to do right by the player while also turning to other options to staff their defense.
One of the biggest names on waivers comes out of Toronto, as Jones played in 48 games last season but now finds himself exposed to 31 other clubs. With an $875k cap hit, the veteran netminder could end up claimed by teams in need of instant goaltending support, such as the Lightning who don’t have much depth after the injury to superstar Andrei Vasilevskiy.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Penguins Claim John Ludvig Off Waivers From Panthers
The Pittsburgh Penguins have claimed defense prospect John Ludvig off waivers from the Florida Panthers, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports Monday.
Ludvig, 23, was a third-round pick of the Panthers in the 2019 NHL Draft. He turned pro in 2020 but dealt with significant injuries over the following two seasons, only gaining an extended look in the pros for the first time last season. With AHL Charlotte, Ludvig skated in 54 games, recording 17 points and a +18 rating – finishing second on the team in that regard. There’s obviously some defensive upside here with Ludvig, who broke out for 62 points in 60 games while serving as captain of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks during his final season in juniors.
Ludvig signed his first deal with the Panthers in 2020, following his 62-point season in Portland. He immediately moved to the Syracuse Crunch of the AHL, playing in 13 games and recording eight points during an early taste of professional hockey – shortened by the AHL only playing during part of the 2020-21 season.
This move brings competition in for Ryan Shea, who was already slated to be Pittsburgh’s seventh-man. It also brings Pittsburgh within $170K of the cap ceiling – adding to the tension caused by the claim. Luckily, Dubas has a proven ability to find little bits of cap space throughout the season, although that doesn’t settle the competition for the seventh-man role. Like Ludvig, Shea has yet to see his NHL debut, playing his last three seasons in the AHL. This includes 70 games last year, where Shea recorded 28 points. Pittsburgh will need to decide which of the two young defenders is fit to back up a defense room filled with proven NHL veterans.
PHR’s Gabriel Foley added to this report.
Players Still On Training Camp Tryouts
While there have been many players who had been in training camps on tryout deals cut over the past week or so, there are quite a few whose fates have not yet been determined. Here’s a rundown of players who are still on PTO agreements with their respective teams.
Boston Bruins
Edmonton Oilers
F Adam Erne
F Sam Gagner
Gagner did not play in the preseason as he works his way back from hip surgery.
Florida Panthers
New York Islanders
Pittsburgh Penguins
D Libor Hajek
D Mark Pysyk
F Austin Wagner
Tampa Bay Lightning
Toronto Maple Leafs
Vegas Golden Knights
Some of these players will likely receive an NHL contract but cap-strapped teams will wait until it’s absolutely necessary to convert them to a guaranteed deal, either to optimize their LTIR pool or to try to save a day or two worth of cap space. Meanwhile, other teams could also come calling if a waiver target doesn’t make it to them. One way or the other, their fates will likely be decided soon.
West Notes: Coyotes, Blueger, Beauvillier
After sending them down to AHL Tucson earlier in the week, the Arizona Coyotes announced Sunday they’ve recalled defensemen Michael Kesselring and Vladislav Kolyachonok. The 23-year-old and 22-year-old defensemen, respectively, combined for 11 games played in the NHL last season.
Arizona makes the recalls as they battle injury uncertainty with some of their defensemen. Head coach André Tourigny told PHNX Sports’ Craig Morgan earlier Sunday that multiple defenders were “dinged” up in Saturday’s 7-1 preseason drubbing of the Anaheim Ducks. Carrying Kesselring and Kolyachonok on the active roster for now gives the Coyotes some flexibility as they make their final roster choices ahead of Monday’s opening night roster deadline. Arizona must submit a cap-compliant roster of no more than 23 players before 4 p.m. CT tomorrow. That roster limit may have precipitated today’s choice to send forward Dylan Guenther, who does not require waivers, to AHL Tucson. While the team has not issued a comment, it may be that the Coyotes plan on carrying 12 forwards and nine defensemen when they submit their roster tomorrow to account for the uncertainty surrounding some of their defenders’ availability for Friday’s season opener against the New Jersey Devils. With Kesselring and Kolyachonok in the ranks, the Coyotes are now carrying ten defenders, so it’s likely one of them will return to Tucson within the next 24 hours.
Elsewhere in the Western Conference this weekend:
- Vancouver Canucks forward Teddy Blueger is sidelined on a day-to-day basis with an undisclosed bruise, which left him off the ice today for practice. That wasn’t Blueger’s idea, however, as head coach Rick Tocchet told Sportsnet’s Randip Janda that he didn’t want to risk exacerbating the Latvian pivot’s injury. The Canucks’ regular season opener is in three days against the Edmonton Oilers, and the offseason free-agent addition is expected to make his Vancouver debut centering the fourth line. Blueger, 29, recorded 16 points in 63 contests last year split between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights, for whom Blueger was the 13th forward en route to their first Stanley Cup championship.
- Sticking with Vancouver, winger Anthony Beauvillier is also currently absent from the team’s practice ranks thanks to a bout with the flu. He is day-to-day and, as it stands, could miss the season opener Wednesday. The Canucks, who are currently roster juggling to maximize the potential LTIR relief from defenseman Tucker Poolman’s contract, will need clarity on Beauvillier’s status after tomorrow’s roster deadline to make any corresponding recalls from AHL Abbotsford.
Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Colin White To Two-Way Deal
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed former first-round pick Colin White to a one-year, two-way contract, a team release states. The contract carries an NHL cap hit and salary of $775K and a minors salary of $500K, reports PuckPedia.
White, 26, had been in Penguins camp on a professional tryout signed nearly one month ago. Three others remain in Penguins camp on PTOs without a contract – defenseman Libor Hájek, defenseman Mark Pysyk (who sustained an injury during camp), and forward Austin Wagner.
Selected 21st overall in 2015 by the Ottawa Senators, White’s tenure in Canada’s capital came to an end last summer when the Senators bought out the final three seasons of a six-year, $28.5MM contract he’d signed in 2019. He found a home on the Florida Panthers’ fourth line in 2022-23, skating in all 21 playoff games as they advanced to the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 1996. Injuries have thrown White’s career off-course since he posted 41 points in 71 games as a 22-year-old rookie in the 2018-19 campaign, finishing 11th in Calder Trophy voting and earning himself the now ill-advised payday on behalf of the Sens. Even when healthy, he hasn’t been able to manage the same production – he’s registered just 28 goals and 66 points in the 198 games since and averaged under ten minutes per game with Florida last season.
It’s likely the Penguins will waive White before Monday when opening night rosters are due. However, a league-minimum salary and, evidently, a strong showing in camp keeps his chances of a call-up high. He also earned a longer stay in camp than some other Penguins’ depth pieces competing for jobs, namely Alexander Nylander and Rem Pitlick, who both cleared waivers and were assigned to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton earlier this week.