Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Assign Drew O’Connor
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they’ve re-assigned forward Drew O’Connor to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. No corresponding move was announced. The move leaves Pittsburgh with 22 out of 23 roster spots filled, but does provide some breathing room away from their LTIR salary cap.
The Athletic’s Rob Rossi suggests the move could signal that Jeff Carter, who has missed the last three games with injury, but has not been on IR, will be returning imminently. As Rossi adds, Carter did participate in full team practice on Sunday. The Penguins next play on Wednesday in Washington against the Capitals, giving Carter another two full days to recuperate.
For O’Connor’s part, he’s been made familiar with the shuffle between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton since making his professional debut with the Penguins organization back in 2020-21. When he’s in the NHL lineup, O’Connor has played the role of depth forward nicely, albeit not contributing too much offensively. In the AHL, however, that offense is on full display, the 24-year-old nearly a point-per-game player for his career. So far this season, O’Connor has zero points in three NHL games, but six points–two goals and four assists–in eight AHL games.
Snapshots: O’Connor, Carrick, Lightning Preseason Games
Undrafted Pittsburgh Penguins winger Drew O’Connor has done just about everything that could be expected of him at the AHL level, as the 24-year-old has 51 points in 53 career AHL games. O’Connor was also a college hockey star, scoring 59 points in 65 career NCAA games at Dartmouth. What’s eluded him so far in his young career, though, is consistent NHL game action, and consistent minutes with the Penguins may remain elusive early this season thanks to the pressures of the salary cap.
As Seth Rorabaugh of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review writes, O’Connor might find himself sent to AHL Wilkes-Barre Scranton to start the season not because he did not play well enough to earn a roster spot, but instead because of his $750K cap hit and due to the fact that he is exempt from waivers. The Penguins are currently tight up against the salary cap, and in order to remain cap compliant, the team may need to carry less than the maximum 23 players allowed on their active roster. As a result, that could leave O’Connor on the outside looking in even if he plays well enough to earn a depth role, because the team may prefer to send him down rather than place another player such as Ryan Poehling or Josh Archibald on waivers.
Now, for some other notes from across the NHL:
- The Boston Bruins signed defenseman Connor Carrick to provide a different look to the competition for a depth spot on their blueline as well as to shore up their defense in AHL Providence. Today, Bruins coach Jim Montgomery told reporters (including Conor Ryan of Boston Sports Journal) that Carrick suffered an upper-body injury and will be out with a day-to-day designation. While this injury is unlikely to have a long-lasting impact on Carrick’s season, it could hurt him in his effort to beat Jakub Zboril and Mike Reilly out for a depth role on the Bruins’ opening-night roster.
- The Tampa Bay Lightning postponed two of their preseason games due to Hurricane Ian, which has caused significant damage to the state of Florida. Today, the team announced that those two preseason games will not be made up, and are now to be considered canceled. While this is unlikely to have any major impact on the team’s roster-building decisions, it does mean that players on the bubble of the team’s opening night roster or battling for their desired roles will have possibly two fewer chances to show what they can do in a preseason setting.
Pittsburgh Penguins Extend Drew O’Connor
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they have signed forward Drew O’Connor to a one-year, one-way contract extension. The contract keeps O’Connor with the team through the 2022-23 season and is worth $750,000.
O’Connor has been a nice find for the Penguins, who signed him out of Dartmouth College in March of 2020. After O’Connor initially signed, he did not get a chance to play a pro game, as the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic was just days away at that point. However, O’Connor did break out as a professional last season, splitting time between Pittsburgh and Scranton/Wilkes-Barre of the AHL. While O’Connor only had one point in 10 games in the NHL last year, he did have an impressive 19 points in 20 games in the AHL as a first-year pro.
O’Connor has continued his development nicely this season despite once again being moved up and down between the NHL and AHL rather consistently. The 23-year-old has handled the adversity well, scoring three goals to go with two assists in 22 games at the NHL level, along with seven goals and seven assists at the AHL level.
The contract represents strong value for the Penguins, who can retain a developing talent that should be able to stick in their lineup next season, while providing flexibility with a cap hit of just $750K. Being a one-way contract, O’Connor could hope to avoid the frequent trips between Scranton/Wilkes-Barre and Pittsburgh.