Penguins Assign Five To AHL
Wednesday: The Penguins announced (Twitter link) that they’ve returned McGroarty, Koivunen, and Koppanen, along with wingers Avery Hayes and Rafael Harvey-Pinard, back to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. All five got into at least one game in recent days.
Saturday: With the Penguins now having secured a playoff spot, they’re electing to get some players with nagging injuries some rest. That means that several players needed to be recalled to have a full roster available for their game today against Washington. Those promotions have been made as the team announced (Twitter link) that forwards Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, and Joona Koppanen have been recalled on an emergency basis from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. With the emergency designation, none of them will count toward their post-deadline recall limit of five.
McGroarty is up with Pittsburgh for the fourth time this season. He has suited up in 21 games so far in a bottom-six role, picking up two goals and three assists while averaging 11:46 per night. The 2022 first-round pick has been much more productive in the minors, however, with eight goals and 22 assists in 28 games. With many key players out of the lineup today, McGroarty should have a chance to play in more of an offensive role than he has had most nights with Pittsburgh this season.
Koivunen, meanwhile, is also up for his fourth stint of the season. But unlike McGroarty, he has spent more time with Pittsburgh than in the minors. In 36 games at the top level, the 22-year-old has two goals and five assists while averaging 12:29 per night. Unsurprisingly, he has been a much better producer in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, tallying 11 goals and 25 assists in 32 appearances.
As for Koppanen, he’s also getting his fourth promotion of the year. While he hasn’t played a lot with Pittsburgh, he has had to clear waivers twice already this season. In 10 NHL outings, the 28-year-old has just one assist. In the minors, he has fared better, picking up eight goals and 15 assists in 42 contests. A pending unrestricted free agent, a report surfaced last month that suggested he’s likely to sign in Sweden for next season.
For their game today, the team announced (Twitter link) that numerous players are unavailable due to day-to-day injuries. Those include forwards Sidney Crosby (lower body), Benjamin Kindel (upper body), Evgeni Malkin (upper body), and Bryan Rust (lower body). On the back end, Erik Karlsson (lower body), Kris Letang (upper body), and Parker Wotherspoon (upper body) are all sidelined. Additionally, center Connor Dewar is listed as week-to-week with a lower-body injury of his own, putting his availability to start the playoffs in jeopardy.
Penguins’ Stuart Skinner Out With Upper-Body Injury
The Penguins announced this afternoon that they’ve recalled winger Avery Hayes from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and goaltender Taylor Gauthier from ECHL Wheeling. Gauthier is dressing as Arturs Silovs‘ backup this afternoon against the Panthers, as Stuart Skinner is unable to dress because of an upper-body injury.
Skinner was healthy enough to dress as Silovs’ backup in a scheduled start for the latter yesterday, so it’s unclear what’s causing him to have to stay off the ice today. That’ll also mean back-to-back starts for Silovs in under 24 hours against Florida after he allowed four goals on 23 shots yesterday. Luckily, he got nine goals’ worth of support from Pittsburgh’s offense to record his 18th win of the season.
For whatever reason, the Penguins weren’t going to be able to get either of their highly-touted AHL netminders, Sergey Murashov or Joel Blomqvist, to Pittsburgh in time for today’s 2:00 p.m. Central puck drop. It’ll be Gauthier, the #5 on Pittsburgh’s goaltending depth chart, getting the bump for now as a result. Josh Yohe of The Athletic reports that the Pens will recall Murashov later in the week if Skinner needs to miss multiple games, though.
Gauthier, 25, initially signed with the Pens as an undrafted free agent out of the WHL’s Portland Winterhawks back in 2022. They opted not to issue him a qualifying offer when his entry-level contract expired last summer, but he returned to the organization on a one-year minor-league contract anyway. The ECHL’s Goalie of the Year back in 2023-24, he’s had another spectacular season in Wheeling with a .932 SV%, 2.00 GAA, three shutouts, and a 20-7-5 record in 33 games. That was enough to earn him a two-way deal from Pittsburgh at the trade deadline, making him eligible to join the club as an emergency backup option for the playoffs.
As the Penguins continue to jockey for playoff positioning in the Metropolitan Division, they’ll have to do so without Skinner for now. He had been emerging as their likely Game 1 starter. Head coach Dan Muse had been quite strict in a nightly rotation with Skinner and Silovs since the former’s acquisition from the Oilers in December, but Skinner had started four out of five leading into yesterday’s win over Florida and was expected to make it five of seven today.
Skinner’s .886 SV% and 11-8-5 record in 24 games since his acquisition aren’t much to write home about, but he’s been steadily improving while Silovs has hit a rough patch. Over each netminder’s last 10 games, Skinner has saved 1.4 goals above expected while Silovs has a gnarly -6.4 GSAx, per MoneyPuck.
The Penguins have all but clinched a playoff spot, entering today’s schedule with a 99.2% chance at a postseason berth. There’s now a five-point gap between them and the Islanders for second place in the Metro, with the Pens having five games left and New York having four.
As for Hayes, he was technically rostered for yesterday’s game as well as a scratch, so this morning’s announcement is overdue. He was just sent down to WBS on Friday but played for them that night, making him eligible to come back up to the NHL roster right away. He didn’t draw into the lineup for today’s game either but now has three goals through his first 13 NHL games, all this season.
Penguins Reassign Avery Hayes
As injured players return to the lineup, the Pittsburgh Penguins are better positioned to trim down their forward corps as they finish off the regular season. To that end, the Penguins announced that they’ve reassigned forward Avery Hayes to the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Hayes, 23, has been an oft-called-upon forward for the Penguins for the last few months. Beginning with his first recall on February 5th, Hayes has been recalled an additional four times. The Penguins have been dealing with a few minor injuries to their forward corps, making Hayes a quick fill-in when needed.
He’s played relatively well in his opportunities. Throughout his five call-ups, Hayes has scored three goals in 13 games with a -4 rating, averaging 10:38 of ice time per game. Additionally, he’s landed 20 shots on goal and 16 hits, making him a solid plug-and-play player in the bottom-six.
Still, there are a few flaws in his game, which aren’t unexpected from a young winger, that will need to be worked out if he hopes to be on the roster more consistently next year. Granted, it’s a small sample size, but his work in the possession and defensive game has been lackluster throughout his handful of appearances.
Regardless, it should be considered a successful year for Hayes. The Penguins signed him as an undrafted free agent from the OHL’s Peterborough Petes a few years ago, and he’s played particularly well for the WBS Penguins. This season, he has nearly achieved a point-per-game scoring line, registering 22 goals and 35 points in 39 games with a +8 rating. He’s almost matched last year’s totals (23 goals and 42 points) in nearly 20 fewer games.
Penguins Recall Avery Hayes
The Penguins have recalled forward Avery Hayes from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, per a team announcement Monday morning.
Hayes, 23, sees his second recall in the past four days. After being sent back to the minors on March 18, he was summoned for a game against the Senators on March 26 but did not dress. He was returned to WBS on Saturday and played in the Baby Pens’ game that night against the Laval Rocket, making him eligible to come back up today.
Pittsburgh’s continued roster shuffling comes as they manage injuries to the two cornerstones of their forward group, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Crosby has missed one game with a lower-body injury, while Malkin has missed three with an upper-body injury. Both were full participants in practice Sunday, though, and Crosby traveled with the team for their one-game road wing to visit the Islanders tonight.
That means Malkin will remain out tonight, but Crosby’s status – as well as the availabilities of Noel Acciari and Bryan Rust, who were absent from yesterday’s practice for maintenance but still traveled – is up in the air. In case all three can’t go, Hayes’ presence gives the Penguins enough healthy extras to still ice 12 forwards tonight.
An undrafted free agent, Hayes has rocketed up Pittsburgh’s pipeline with some spectacular minor-league showings over the past couple of years. Never has the 5’10” winger been more dominant than this season, tossing up a 22-13–35 scoring line in 39 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, leading them in goals despite playing in only 60% of their games.
However, he hasn’t been able to convert that production into meaningful NHL minutes across multiple recalls this season. In 11 outings, the Michigan native has scored twice with no assists and a -6 rating. Both of those goals came in his big-league debut against the Sabres back on Feb. 5, so it’s been several games now of Hayes not being able to generate chances. On his 10-game pointless streak, he’s averaged 11:40 of ice time per game with 28 shot attempts (13 on goal).
Hayes still has another season left on his entry-level contract and three seasons or 49 NHL games left before he loses his waiver exemption, so the Pens aren’t at risk of losing him as an intriguing recall option anytime soon.
Penguins Recall Rutger McGroarty, Assign Two To AHL
As the Penguins continue their battle for a playoff spot, they’ve made a trio of roster moves. The team announced (Twitter link) that winger Rutger McGroarty has been recalled from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. In corresponding moves, winger Avery Hayes and center Joona Koppanen were both sent back down after being brought up on Thursday.
It’s the third recall of the season for McGroarty. He played in 20 games between his first two stints with the big club, collecting two goals and three assists in a little under 12 minutes per night of ice time. The 21-year-old also had three points in eight contests last season. Meanwhile, in the minors, McGroarty has been quite productive, checking in at just over a point per game with seven goals and 19 assists in 25 appearances to earn this promotion.
Hayes, meanwhile, made quite the first impression in his NHL debut last month when he scored twice against Buffalo. However, he has been held off the scoresheet since then over several different stints with Pittsburgh and has only played more than 10 minutes once in the last five games so a chance to go back to a top-six scoring role might be best right now. The 23-year-old has 20 goals in just 38 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, while tacking on a dozen assists as well.
As for Koppanen, he got into ten games with Pittsburgh over the first two months of the season (where he picked up one assist) but has yet to play at the top level since then. He’s producing at a reasonable clip in the minors with seven goals and 12 assists through 37 games, the second-best point-per-game rate of his career.
Meanwhile, the team also announced (Twitter link) that they’ll be without two key veterans today against Dallas. Sidney Crosby left Thursday’s game with a lower-body injury and is listed as day-to-day while Evgeni Malkin’s upper-body injury that he sustained last weekend will keep him out again; he’s also day-to-day. Crosby has 28 goals and 36 assists through 61 games this season, keeping his career-long point-per-game streak intact. Meanwhile, Malkin is also over the point-per-game mark for the first time since 2022-23 with 15 goals and 37 assists through 50 appearances.
Penguins Recall Avery Hayes, Joona Koppanen
The Pittsburgh Penguins have added two forwards to the roster ahead of Thursday night’s game against the Ottawa Senators. Winger Avery Hayes and center Joona Koppanen have been recalled from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Hayes’ recall will help the Penguins addresss a day-to-day injury for winger Anthony Mantha, while Koppanen will shore up the center depth per Taylor Haase of DK Pittsburgh Sports.
Hayes could have the clearer path to a lineup role if Mantha need to miss Thursday’s game. The 23 year old scored two goals in his NHL debut in early February but has struggled to keep scoring on the other side of the NHL’s Olympic break. He has no points in 10 NHL games since, though he has scored nine points in his last seven AHL games. That minor-league scoring brings him up to 32 points in 38 AHL games this season, fourth on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in scoring.
The Penguins will hope Hayes can rediscover his spark as he steps up for Mantha, who has eight points in his last nine games. All of that scoring was managed over a six-game stretch in mid-March, bringing Mantha up to 26 goals and 53 points in 71 games this season – a new career-high in scoring.
Koppanen hasn’t been in the NHL since November, when he played through a 10-game stint on Pittsburgh’s third-line. He recorded one assist, two penalty minutes, and a minus-one in that span. He also won 12 of the 25 faceoffs he took. Koppanen has filled a stout center role in his minor league minutes, netting 19 points and a plus-14 in 37 games. He brings reliable, two-way depth to the lineup and could help the Penguins make up for an injury to veteran Blake Lizotte.
The Penguins have turned towards Connor Dewar to fill a center role in Lizotte’s absence. He is putting together a career-year on Pittsburgh’s bottom line, with 14 goals, 27 points, and a plus-10 in 71 games – all career highs. That production has kept Dewar in a nightly lineup role, though his role as a faceoff-taker is new. With Koppanen on the roster, Pittsburgh will have the option to move Dewar back to the wing, in place of Elmer Soderblom.
Penguins Reassign Avery Hayes
The Penguins announced Thursday that they’ve reassigned winger Avery Hayes to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The move comes after Sidney Crosby was activated from injured reserve for yesterday’s loss to the Hurricanes, bringing Pittsburgh up to 16 forwards on the active roster. With that obvious excess, they’ll trim a bit here by returning the waiver-exempt Hayes to the minors.
Hayes was scratched in back-to-back games leading up to today’s demotion. He was initially removed from the lineup for Monday’s win over the Avalanche to make way for Evgeni Malkin‘s return to play following a five-game suspension.
The 23-year-old has suited up 11 times for Pittsburgh in his first taste of NHL action this season, scoring twice with a -6 rating. Both of those goals came in his NHL debut against the Sabres back on Feb. 5. Since then, it’s become abundantly clear he needs more development time before he’s serious about competing for a big-league role. He’s averaged 10:37 of ice time per game with some quite hairy possession metrics. Pittsburgh is only controlling 45.3% of shot attempts with Hayes on the ice at 5-on-5 despite him starting 63% of his shifts in the offensive zone.
The 5’10”, 180-lb righty has been one of the better stories in Pittsburgh’s prospect pool. He signed an AHL deal as an undrafted free agent coming out of juniors in 2023 and subsequently broke out for 23 goals and 42 points in 60 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2024-25, leading to him landing an NHL contract for this year. He’s continued to build on that production in the AHL, racking up a 19-11–30 scoring line in 36 games, but simply hasn’t been able to convert his high-energy game into a meaningful NHL impact in limited minutes yet.
Hayes has essentially been on the NHL roster since Feb. 23, but he was sent down to the AHL for a few hours on deadline day to make him eligible to return to the minors down the stretch. Pittsburgh will reap the rewards of that decision today. Even with Kevin Hayes and Blake Lizotte dealing with upper-body issues, they still have youngster Ville Koivunen around as an extra forward, so they’re not at risk of needing to make an emergency recall yet if another forward injury pops up.
AHL Assignments: 3/6/25
Today’s trade deadline also has minor-league implications. Players must be on an AHL roster at 2:00 p.m. Central in order to be eligible to play in the Calder Cup Playoffs. As such, teams will be ferrying a large number of waiver-exempt players to the minors this morning and afternoon before recalling them before the end of the league day for cap counting at 4:00 p.m. That allows them to bypass the new rule that players must play at least one game in the minors after being reassigned before they’re eligible for a recall again.
Here’s the rundown of today’s reassignments that will be announced during the blizzard of other moves today:
- The Flames will ferry winger Matvei Gridin to the Calgary Wranglers, Ryan Pike of Flames Nation reports. The 2024 #28 overall pick is in his first professional season and is already beginning to look like a natural fit in the Flames’ top nine, posting seven points through his first 18 NHL games while averaging 14:18 of ice time per night. Gridin’s 4.17 shot attempts per game are fourth on the team after Rasmus Andersson and MacKenzie Weegar were traded away. He’s also got 10 goals and 29 points in 36 games for the Wranglers, but with the Flames’ roster thinning out as they sell pieces off, he’ll be up in the NHL for the stretch run before returning to the playoff-bound Wranglers after the regular season ends.
- The Jets announced they’ve sent winger Walker Duehr and defender Isaak Phillips to AHL Manitoba. Both may find their way back down to Manitoba on a full-time basis before the end of the season as Winnipeg gets some of its IR-bound players back in the lineup, but for now, they’ll serve as depth pieces for the Jets as they potentially subtract more talents from their roster today.
- The Mammoth sent defenseman Dmitriy Simashev to Tucson, per PuckPedia. The 2023 sixth overall pick got into the Utah lineup for the first time since December last night. The rookie has been exceptional in the minors but has just one assist with a -9 rating through his first 25 career NHL outings.
- The Blackhawks assigned defender Ethan Del Mastro to Rockford, per PuckPedia. He’ll be back up after being recalled earlier in the week to replace Connor Murphy on the roster after he was dealt to the Oilers.
- The Penguins have sent down winger Avery Hayes to make him post-season eligible, per Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review. The 23-year-old rookie has two goals through his first six NHL contests over the past several weeks, both of which came in his debut.
- The Avalanche have demoted winger Gavin Brindley to the AHL’s Colorado Eagles. Brindley is in his first full NHL season after being acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets last year, scoring six goals and 12 points in 47 games, averaging 9:51 of ice time per game.
- The Rangers are making sure that AHL Hartford has reinforcements for the playoffs. New York has reassigned forwards Jaroslav Chmelar and Juuso Pärssinen. The former scored the first goal of his NHL career in a lopsided victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs.
- According to a team announcement, the Vancouver Canucks have reassigned netminder Nikita Tolopilo and defenseman Cole Clayton to AHL Abbotsford. Tolopilo has been a mainstay between the pipes for Vancouver over the last little while, managing a 3-5-2 record in nine starts this season with a .901 SV% and 3.27 GAA.
- Unlikely to make the playoffs this season, the Panthers are making sure the cupboards are stocked for the Charlotte Checkers’ playoff run. The Panthers have reassigned Tobias Björnfot and Sandis Vilmanis, allowing them to remain eligible for the postseason.
- The Kraken have reassigned forwards Jacob Melanson and Ryan Winterton to the AHL’s Coachella Valley Firebirds. The pair have combined for four goals and 19 points in 82 games for Seattle this season.
- According to Bill Hoppe of the Times Herald, the Buffalo Sabres have assigned Zach Metsa to the AHL’s Rochester Americans in a paper transaction. Metsa, 27, is in his first full NHL season, scoring two goals and four points in 31 games, averaging 9:45 of ice time per game.
- The best team in the AHL may be even better during the playoffs. To maintain their eligibility for the postseason, the Grand Rapids Griffins announced that captain Dominik Shine and defenseman Axel Sandin Pellikka have been reassigned in a paper transaction.
- According to Charlie O’Connor of PHLY Sports, the Flyers have reassigned Denver Barkey and Adam Ginning to AHL Lehigh Valley. Barkey has been an encouraging story of late, scoring two goals and 10 points in his first 26 games of NHL action.
- Murat Ates of The Athletic confirmed that the Winnipeg Jets reassigned defenseman Elias Salomonsson to retain his postseason eligibility. Salomonsson has been relatively disappointing for AHL Manitoba this season, registering one goal and nine points in 29 contests.
- Pushing back on the earlier report today indicating that the Canucks had recalled Ty Mueller, Brendan Batchelor of Sportsnet shared that he won’t be joining the Canucks. Vancouver will run with a bare-bones roster tonight against the Blackhawks.
- Missing the playoffs for the first time in a decade, the Maple Leafs are making sure AHL Toronto has additional firepower for their postseason run. According to Lance Hornby of the Toronto Sun, the Maple Leafs have reassigned Easton Cowan and Jacob Quillan in a paper transaction. Despite being a higher-regarded prospect, Cowan only has two games of AHL experience.
- As expected, the Edmonton Oilers have reassigned forward Josh Samanski to the AHL’s Bakersfield Condors to ensure his postseason eligibility. Samanski has been exceptional for AHL Bakersfield this year, registering eight goals and 31 points in 43 games with a +6 rating.
This page will be updated throughout the day.
Penguins Recall Avery Hayes
The Penguins announced they’ve recalled right winger Avery Hayes from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. They have an open roster spot, so no corresponding move is required.
Pittsburgh has one of the league’s more intriguing prospect pools. Perhaps no one has seen his stock rise more in the last few months than Hayes. The 23-year-old has exploded in the minors this season, leading the Baby Pens with 19 goals in 36 games. That includes a pair of hat tricks in his last five outings over the course of the Olympic break. In his last 10 games, including an NHL spot against the Sabres back on Feb. 5, the 5’10” forward has 11 goals and 13 points with a +6 rating.
Amid a slew of relatively high draft picks over the past few seasons, Hayes arrived in the organization in 2023 as an undrafted free agent signing by Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, not Pittsburgh. He remained on an AHL contract until the Pens tore up that agreement at the 2025 trade deadline and gave him his entry-level deal, which still has another year left after this one.
Hayes made his NHL debut in the Pens’ final game before the break. His recall was mostly motivated by a slew of absences, but it was also a long time coming, considering his minor-league output. Adding him back to the roster ahead of Pittsburgh’s return to play this week indicates that they plan to keep his promotion active for the stretch run. After all, he did come up with a pair of goals and managed six shots in just over 10 minutes of ice time. While an extremely small sample, that works out to a league-high 35.47 shots per 60 minutes at 5-on-5 – a league-best number by more than double the second-place figure.
The Pens’ forward group is nearly at full health. Filip Hallander is close to returning from the blood-clot issues that have kept him out since November, as he’s on a conditioning assignment to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. It’s not clear when captain Sidney Crosby will rejoin the team following the knee injury that ended his Olympics with Team Canada in the quarterfinals, but given he was listed as day-to-day as late as the morning of the gold medal game, it’s very likely not a season-ending ailment.
That means – at least, for now – that Hayes has leapfrogged younger, more high-profile names like Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty on Pittsburgh’s short-term depth chart. With a great chance at ending their three-year playoff drought on the line, it’ll be curious to see what kind of deployment Hayes gets in the coming weeks.
Penguins Recall Avery Hayes, Three Out
The Pittsburgh Penguins are facing a shakeup on offense in their final game before the Olympic break. Winger Avery Hayes was recalled to the NHL and will make his NHL debut to help Pittsburgh address absences for Noel Acciari, Rickard Rakell, and Blake Lizotte.
Acciari entered the day with an illness. He was designated as a game-time decision and ultimately scratched. Rakell has been designated as day-to-day with a lower-body injury. It isn’t yet clear if or how that injury will impact his availability for the Olympic games. Finally, Lizotte will be away from the team to attend to the birth of his child. All injury updates come per Josh Yohe of The Athletic.
The lineup shift will leave Penguins forward Benjamin Kindel and Egor Chinakhov as focal pieces of the offense, with the rookie Kindel even earning top power-play reps. Chinakhov has scored six points in his last six games, while Kindel has five points. They will help make up for the glaring holes left by Pittsburgh’s absentees. All three have made their marks felt over the last two weeks, though surprisingly Lizotte and Acciari have proven the hotter hands, with four points to Rakell’s three.
Pittsburgh will get another boost from one of their AHL leading scorers. Hayes has racked up 23 points and 41 penalty minutes in 31 AHL games this season. It’s a ramped up year across the board after the two-way winger posted 23 goals, 42 points, and 58 PIMs in 60 games last season. The undrafted Hayes is in his third AHL season. He was a two-time OHL champion across four years in the league, where he made a name for himself as a plug-and-play winger capable of fitting next to any linemates. Pittsburgh will hope Hayes brings that same flexibility into his first game at the top flight.