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Penguins Should Look To Re-Sign Matt Grzelcyk

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Kelsey Surmacz of The Hockey News made the case that the Pittsburgh Penguins should re-sign pending UFA defenseman Matt Grzelcyk before he hits the market on July 1st. The veteran has been a good fit in Pittsburgh, and bringing him back on a short-term deal makes sense in a vacuum as the Penguins are very thin on the left side going forward. Grzelcyk has set career highs this season in multiple offensive categories, as the 31-year-old has a goal and 31 assists in 71 games while averaging over 20 minutes a night for the first time in his career.

He’s become an important piece of the Penguins’ defense core, and the team opted to hang onto him rather than move him at the NHL Trade Deadline. Grzelcyk’s veteran presence has mentored some of Pittsburgh’s younger players and could be valuable during a re-tool. Surmacz believes that Pittsburgh should look at a one or two-year deal for Grzelcyk, which would make sense as the Penguins don’t look like they’ll be bottoming out, and they likely won’t be making any major additions over the next year. Many Penguins insiders believe that Pittsburgh hopes to contend for the playoffs again in the 2026-27 season, and while Grzelcyk shouldn’t be a top-four defenseman on a contending team, he could serve as valuable depth when the Penguins are ready to make a push.

While a short-term deal would suit Pittsburgh, it likely wouldn’t be Grzelcyk’s preferred outcome. The Charlestown, Massachusetts native has rebounded this season and could be looking at his last opportunity to cash in a lucrative contract. Playing under a one-year,  $2.75MM deal that he signed in free agency last summer, it’s not hard to imagine him receiving three-year offers this upcoming summer with an increased salary cap and very few options available.

Aho Sent Back To Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

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  • The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned defenseman Sebastian Aho to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 29-year-old has been up and down in recent days on emergency recall but it appears he’ll now go back to an extended stay in the minors.  Aho is in his first season in Pittsburgh’s organization but injuries have limited him to just 17 outings in the AHL where he has seven assists.

Penguins Reassign Matthew Nieto

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The Penguins announced today they’ve reassigned winger Matthew Nieto to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. While he’s been shuttled between leagues frequently in the past couple of weeks as an emergency recall, this demotion is of a more permanent nature, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

Despite the recalls, Nieto hasn’t appeared in a game for the Pens since Feb. 23. The 32-year-old has struggled mightily – as expected after missing a good portion of the past two years due to multiple knee surgeries. Since signing a two-year, $1.8MM deal in Pittsburgh during the 2023 offseason, Nieto has just 2-5–7 with a minus-three rating in 53 games.

Those struggles led to Nieto landing on waivers for the second time in his career in February. He hadn’t been on the wire since January 2017, when the Avalanche claimed Nieto off waivers from the Sharks. He promptly had a career-high 15 goals the following campaign. While on assignment to the Baby Pens, Nieto has a goal and two assists for three points in eight games.

An unrestricted free agent this summer, a return to the Penguins organization seems unlikely for Nieto – as does an NHL contract. The 5’11” forward’s calling card has always been his speed, something that’s obviously taken a hit with his knee issues. An AHL deal, a commitment from a European club, or even retirement could be on the table for the 12-year veteran in a few months.

As for the Pens, they intend to give Bokondji Imama and Joona Koppanen extended runs in their bottom six until injured forwards Emil Bemström and Thomas Novak are ready to return from their day-to-day ailments. Nieto’s demotion likely suggests one of Bemström or Novak could be an option to return against the Panthers on Sunday. They’ve both already been ruled out of tonight’s game against Columbus.

Penguins To Play In 2025 Global Series

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The Pittsburgh Penguins will return to Stockholm next season to face-off against the Nashville Predators in the 2025 NHL Global Series in Sweden, per an NHL announcement.

The games are slated for Nov. 14 and Nov. 16 and will be played at Avicii Arena. The Penguins are returning to Sweden after taking part in the 2008 NHL Premiere Series. It will represent the second time leaders Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang will take part in games overseas.

The series will represent a homecoming for players on both sides. For the Penguins, Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson, as well as 30-goal winger Rickard Rakell will participate (barring injury of course), while the Peds will be represented by forward Filip Forsberg and defenders Adam Wilsby and Andreas Englund.

In the 2008 Global Series, the Penguins split two games with the Senators. In those games, Crosby registered two assists, Malkin had a goal and an assist, and Letang registered nearly 50 minutes of total ice time between the two contests.

Penguins Recall Joona Koppanen

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled forward Joona Koppanen from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. The 27-year-old’s recall is on an emergency basis, and he will likely serve as insurance when the Penguins take on the New York Islanders this evening. Koppanen is in the second season of a two-year, two-way contract he signed with the Penguins back on July 1st, 2023.

Koppanen dressed in four games for the Penguins last season, tallying no points while playing 7:49 per game. It wasn’t his first taste of NHL action as the native of Tampere, Finland also played five games for the Boston Bruins during the 2022-23 season. He has never produced much offense at any level and has just a single assist in nine career NHL games.

In the AHL this season, Koppanen has served as a depth player for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, registering six goals and 15 assists in 53 games. His scoring numbers are almost a mirror image of last year’s totals which were six goals and 15 assists in 58 games.

The 6’5” Koppanen has been an AHL regular since the 2018-19 season, spending most of his career with the Providence Bruins. Despite a slow start offensively in his first four seasons, he has rounded into more of a contributor in recent years, topping 30 points twice with Providence. In 356 career AHL games, Koppanen has posted 51 goals and 84 assists.

While Koppanen might not see game action during his recall, he is coming into Pittsburgh on a bit of a heater, having notched two goals and three assists in his past four games.

Mike Sullivan Wants To Remain With Penguins Long-Term

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Josh Yohe of The Athletic recently spoke with Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan and the long-time Penguins bench boss pledged his loyalty to the franchise saying that he doesn’t want to coach anywhere else except Pittsburgh. Sullivan has seen a ton of success with the Penguins, leading them to back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships in 2016 and 2017, but the franchise has fallen on hard times in recent seasons, missing the playoffs in two consecutive years and set to make it a third this season, unless they pull off a historical run. Despite all of this, Sullivan remains committed to the Penguins and by all accounts, it appears that Pittsburgh remains committed to him as he has two years left on his contract and there has been no talks of moving on from the most successful coach in franchise history.

Sullivan took over the Penguins back in December of 2015 as they were spiralling out of control. Despite having a roster full of superstars, the team was out of the playoff picture. Sullivan righted the ship and took the Penguins on two straight playoff runs that resulted in championships. But since defeating the Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2018 postseason, Pittsburgh has yet to win a postseason series. They were swept in 2019, eliminated in the play-in series in the pandemic bubble in 2020, and then knocked out of the first round by both New York franchises in 2021 and 2022.

Despite the lack of success over the last eight years, the Penguins have stuck by Sullivan, and he by them. There have been calls for Sullivan to be fired since at least 2021, if not sooner, but none of Jim Rutherford, Ron Hextall, or Kyle Dubas made the move to replace him.

Yohe has long spoken of the bond between Penguins captain Sidney Crosby and Sullivan, and they no doubt have a desire to turn the Penguins around while both men are still in Pittsburgh. The Penguins haven’t called their current situation a rebuild, but it certainly appears like one. Pittsburgh has made moves with an eye toward the future, but Dubas has stated that he wants to turn the Penguins back into a winner as quickly as possible. Given that is Pittsburgh’s mandate, it would make sense that a winner like Sullivan would want to stick around with Crosby, and as Sullivan put it in his chat with Yohe, “I have a certain loyalty to all of the people who are a part of it here, and all I want to do is help this team win.”

Shea And Joseph Skate Before Practice, Novak Hasn't Skated Since Injury

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  • Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette provided updates on a few injured Penguins. Defensemen Pierre-Oliver Joseph (upper body) and Ryan Shea (upper body) both skated before practice today while center Thomas Novak (lower body) has yet to hit the ice after being injured last week.  Joseph was injured at the beginning of the month and quickly landed on IR while Shea was injured last week.  Both blueliners have week-to-week designations while a timeline for Novak’s return remains uncertain.

Penguins Prospect Ville Koivunen Breaking Out In Second Half

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The NHL season has not gone according to plan for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They have the third-oldest lineup in the league, but land in the bottom-10 of the standings with just 13 games left on the schedule. Staff and fans alike have started to turn their attention towards the future, evidenced by the team’s sale of Anthony Beauvillier, Luke Schenn, and Cody Glass for future assets at this year’s Trade Deadline. The moves have trained a bright spotlight on the Penguins’ deep prospect pool – and lucky for hopeful fans, wing prospect Ville Koivunen has shined.

Koivunen has been one of the hockey world’s hottest players in 2025. Playing for the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he has amassed 31 points in 31 games since the calendar turned over. That hot streak gives Koivunen 53 points in 58 games this season – most among any AHL rookie and fifth in the league as a whole. No other rookie ranks in the top 15 of scoring. Koviunen has blossomed into a star producer, on the back of a confidence that seems to grow every single game.

The Penguins certainly knew to have high hopes for Koivunen. He was the primary future asset in the 2024 Trade Deadline move that sent star scorer Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes. Pittsburgh also acquired NHL winger Michael Bunting, fellow prospects Vasiliy Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius, and a second-round draft pick in the trade. But with Bunting traded to the Predators one year later and Lucius missing the season to injury – it has been up to Koivunen and Ponomarev to prove general manager Kyle Dubas didn’t blunder in dealing away his 40-goal scorer.

That’s certainly a lofty bill to place on a 21-year-old forward. But Koivunen has answered the bell and then some. He’s found his AHL spark after spending the last three seasons dominating ice time with the Liiga’s Karpat, part of Finland’s top pro league. Koivunen scored 29 points in 53 games of his rookie Liiga season in 2021-22. That mark set him as the 20th-highest scoring U19 player in Liiga history behind a list full of NHL talent – including Joel Armia, Sami Vatanen, and Artturi Lehkonen directly ahead of him. Koivunen nearly matched that total again in the next year, netting 28 points in 52 games. But his struggle to cross the 30-point threshold was matched by just one goal in 12 AHL games at the end of the season.

Koivunen returned to the Liiga at the start of last season, with many holding their breath around his long-term scoring upside. Even as he started to find his footing at a pro level – netting 14 points in 20 games to start the season – fans still held back. But Koivunen’s wheels only got faster. He went on a spree of multi-point games through February and March of the 2023-24 season, ultimately ending the year with 56 points in 59 games – the most of any U22 Liiga player since 2000.

A breakout in Finland wasn’t going to be convincing on it’s own – but Koivunen is now nearly lapping his totals in the AHL. His ability as a spot shooter and fast-break scorer defined his draft-year excitement. He earned attention as a first-round candidate in the 2021 class, and ultimately fell to the Carolina Hurricanes with the 51st overall selection. Those defining traits have continued to grow in the years since – Koivunen has become a great sniper, with the ability to pick corners while flat-footed or moving at full speed. But, more excitingly, Koivunen has gone to lengths to round out his style. He’s become far more physical and confident when driving into space. And he’s found his poise as a playmaker – taking the time to slow down when entering the zone, and using strong stickhandling and skating to get the puck into a passing lane.

There are certainly long strides between Koivunen and the NHL. But he’s become a lethal asset in the offensive zone. His shot can’t be left alone, but his ability to connect with his teammates is what has sparked a near point-per-game season. That ability held strong in the difficult move from Liiga to AHL, and should it hold through to the NHL – it’d be hard to think Koivunen couldn’t continue to dominate the scoresheet next on a top-six NHL line. After years of finding his footing, growing his role, and adapting his skills to a pro scene – Koivunen has fully broken out. He’s scoring at a point-per-game pace since the start of 2025, with no signs of slowing down as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton approaches a confident playoff bid. Koivunen hasn’t yet received the first in-season NHL call-up of his career – and at this rate, it appears he’ll be in the minors through the end of the season. But with a strong playoff performance, he could enter Pittsburgh’s 2025-26 training camp with his sails at full mast.

Nieto And Aho Recalled Again

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  • The daily transactions from Pittsburgh continue. Per the AHL transactions log, the Penguins have once again brought up winger Matt Nieto and defenseman Sebastian Aho from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis.  While the Pens aren’t obligated to keep shuffling the players back and forth on off days, doing so allows them to pause their respective waiver clocks each time they send them down.  Even with it being past the trade deadline, once they’re up for 30 days or play in 10 games, they’d have to get through waivers again to go back to the minors.

Penguins Return Nieto And Aho To AHL

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Prior to their afternoon tilt against the Devils, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned both forward Matt Nieto and defenseman Sebastian Aho to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, per Tribune-Review reporter Seth Rorabaugh.

Nieto’s two-year, $1.8MM deal he signed with the Penguins ahead of the 2023-24 season is set to expire at the end of the season. His first year in Pittsburgh ended with a knee injury that required two separate procedures. While he was able to return to Pittsburgh’s lineup in a fourth-line role this past November, his play had been ineffective, registering just three points and a minus-eight rating in 31 contests. With the team falling down the standings and looking toward the future, the decision was made to option Nieto to the AHL. After clearing waivers on Feb. 27, Nieto was sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and appeared in AHL games for the first time in 10-plus years.

Aho, a veteran of 190 NHL games, has spent the entire season playing for the Penguins’ AHL-affiliate and has suffered through multiple injuries along the way. He signed a two-year, $1.6MM contract with the Pens this past summer, but hasn’t been able to crack the NHL lineup to this point. In 17 games in the AHL this season, Aho has failed to register a goal and has collected seven assists. While he was able to post 23 points for the Islanders during the 2022-23 season, he has failed to find that success again and now finds himself buried behind younger prospects like Jack St. Ivany and Owen Pickering, and recent NHL-level additions Vladislav Kolyachonok, Conor Timmins and P.O. Joseph.

  • The Devils’ 2024 deadline trade for goalie Jake Allen has officially been fulfilled and finalized, per James Nichols of NJ Hockey Now. The Devils will officially send the Canadiens a 2025 third-round pick. The terms of the deal came with stipulation that if Allen played in 40 or more games this season, the third-round pick would become the Devils’ 2025 second rounder. To this point, Allen has only participated in 25 contests, and at the completion of today’s game against the Penguins, the clock has run out on the Habs’ hopes of transferring the pick to a second rounder. As Jacob Markstrom’s backup, Allen has been solid for the Devils. Despite his 11-13-1 record on the season, he has a .910 save percentage and his goals against average sits at a nice 2.60. He is set for free agency following the season, and will undoubtedly be on the radar of many teams in need of support between the pipes.

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