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Team Finland Announces Final 2024 World Championship Roster

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Team Finland has finalized their roster for the 2024 IIHF World Championship, with the additions of Jesse Puljujarvi and Valtteri Puustinen bringing the lineup to a full 23 skaters and three goalies. The lineup isn’t too deep with NHL talent, though it does feature top 2024 NHL Draft prospect Konsta Helenius, who joined the Men’s squad after posting seven points, all assists, in five games at the World U18 Championship. Helenius will have a chance to learn from San Jose Sharks centerman Mikael Granlund – who plays a similar pass-first, high-tempo style. Finland will hope the duo can click, with the support of NHL wingers, as they chase their third gold medal over the last five World Championships.

The full roster is as follows:

F Hannes Björninen (Örebro, SHL)
F Mikael Granlund (Sharks, NHL)
F Konsta Helenius (Jukurit, Liiga)
F Arttu Hyry (Kärpät, Liiga)
F Jere Innala (Frölunda, SHL)
F Juha Jääskä (HIFK, Liiga)
F Pekka Jormakka (Jukurit, Liiga)
F Oliver Kapanen (KalPa, Liiga, Canadiens)
F Saku Mäenalanen (SCL, National League)
F Ahti Oksanen (Oskarshamn, SHL)
F Iiro Pakarinen (HIFK, Liiga)
F Patrik Puistola (Jukurit, Liiga)
F Jesse Puljujarvi (Penguins, NHL)
F Valtteri Puustinen (Penguins, NHL)

D Oliwer Kaski (HV71, SHL)
D Mikko Lehtonen (ZSC, National League)
D Olli Määttä (Red Wings, NHL)
D Jesper Mattila (KalPa, Liiga)
D Juuso Riikola (SCL, National League)
D Rasmus Rissanen (Örebro, SHL)
D Vili Saarijärvi (SCL, National League)
D Veli-Matti Vittasmäki (Tappara, Liiga)

G Emil Larmi (Växjö, SHL)
G Lassi Lehtinen (MoDo, SHL)
G Harri Säteri (Biel, National League)

The World Championship is set to kick off in Ostrava and Prague, Czechia beginning on May 10. Finland will once again be commanded by head coach Jukka Jalonen set to coach in his 10th World Championship. Jalonen has also manned the Finnish bench at the World Juniors and served as a coach in the KHL and Liiga. He now works with Finland’s Men’s team full-time, building out this year’s roster with general manager Jere Lehtinen. Lehtinen, an 875-game veteran of the NHL and former Stanley Cup winner, has served as the GM for Finland’s men’s team for the last nine seasons.

Minor Transactions: 03/31/23

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It’s been a busy day across the hockey world, despite just four NHL games on the schedule. Today’s news cycle featured major headlines such as a season-ending surgery for William Eklund and the announcement of Jonathan Toews’ return to the Chicago Blackhawks lineup. Over in Europe, some big games have been played, including two contests in the DEL Semifinals in Germany, and the first game of the SHL semifinals: a 6-2 win for Vaxjo over Frolunda. Two thrilling overtime contests were completed in Finland’s Liiga semifinals, including a double-overtime victory by Champions Hockey League winners Tappara Tampere.

As fans across the hockey world enjoy all the action on offer this Friday, teams in both minor leagues and foreign leagues are completing transactions and either making changes for this season or preparing for 2023-24. We’ll keep track of those moves here.

  • Earlier this month, we covered reports that former NHL defenseman Juuso Riikola would be headed to Switzerland for next season. Today, those reports were made official as Swiss club SCL Tigers have announced that they have signed Riikola to a one-year contract for 2023-24. Riikola, 29, has 80 career NHL games on his resume and last played in North America last season, when he scored 35 points in 53 games for the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. This season Riikola scored 19 points in 42 games as an alternate captain for the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn, helping them reach the first round of the SHL’s playoffs. Now, he’ll continue his pro career with the Tigers, hoping to keep them in Switzerland’s top league after the team just barely avoided relegation this season.
  • The Coachella Valley Firebirds, the AHL affiliate of the Seattle Kraken, have signed NCAA free agent Max Andreev to an ATO agreement, one that will become a standard AHL player contract next season. The Cornell University product, 23, has scored 65 points in 77 games over the last three seasons he’s played. He made the ECAC’s Third All-Star team last season and served as an alternate captain this season, helping lead Cornell to an upset victory over the defending national champions the University of Denver. He’ll now join one of the AHL’s top teams with the hope of fashioning a professional career for himself and potentially even earning an NHL contract down the line.
  • The AHL’s Iowa Wild have signed CHL free agent defenseman Landon Kosior to an ATO agreement for the rest of this season. Kosior, 20, is an undrafted blueliner who spent his major junior career with the WHL’s Prince Albert Raiders. Kosior served as an alternate captain for the team this season and scored 63 points in 60 games, his first WHL campaign above the point-per-game threshold. As is generally expected for junior players who gain more experience, Kosior’s numbers took major jumps as he got older, and he went from 23 points in his first season with Prince Albert to the aforementioned 63 this season. With this ATO, Kosior will get his first taste of pro hockey with Iowa, and will likely get to follow along as the team prepares for the Calder Cup playoffs.
  • 2022 Anaheim Ducks fifth-round pick Connor Hvidston has been signed to an ATO agreement by the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, the San Diego Gulls. The deal allows Hvidston to dip his toes into the waters of professional hockey now that his WHL season with the Swift Current Broncos is over. Hvidston was one of the youngest prospects available at the 2022 draft, just days from being in the 2023 class. He’s scored 21 goals and 65 points in 59 games this season, which ranks him third in team scoring. Seeing as he’ll have to wait until next September to turn 19, he’s still a ways away from turning pro full-time, but with this ATO agreement, he’ll at least get a firsthand look at what it takes to play professional hockey in the Ducks organization.
  • Another Cornell University player has signed his first pro contract: defenseman Sebastien Dirven. The 24-year-old teammate of Andreev signed with the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers after playing three seasons with the Big Red. The big six-foot-three, 200-pound blueliner doesn’t have much of an offensive game (just 15 points in 93 career NCAA games) but will add some size and snarl to the Nailers’ blueline as they conclude what has been a difficult 2022-23 season.
  • 2016 Carolina Hurricanes draft pick Noah Carroll has signed his first professional contract, landing with the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates. Carroll has spent the last four years with the University of New Brunswick on the Canadian university circuit, playing 59 games there. Before that point, the six-foot-one defenseman played for the Soo Greyhounds and Guelph Storm in the OHL, a major junior career highlighted by a 37-point final season during which he was an alternate captain.
  • Cade Borchardt, the captain of one of college hockey’s better programs at Minnesota State, has signed with the ECHL’s Kansas City Mavericks. The 24-year-old’s production took a hit this season, going from 41 points to 20. But despite that decline in numbers, Borchardt earned the honor of captaining his team and finishes his collegiate career with a respectable 85 points in 121 games. In signing Borchardt, the Mavericks, who currently rank second in the ECHL’s Mountain Division, infuse some energetic young talent to their roster as they continue to grapple for playoff position.
  • The ECHL’s Kalamazoo Wings have signed two players out of St. Cloud State University: Aidan Spellacy and Brendan Bushy. Spellacy, 24, is a forward who scored 12 points in 35 games this season. He’s served as an alternate captain for St. Cloud State and Robert Morris University, and he also captained his high school team, meaning he could bring some off-ice value to the Wings beyond his on-ice utility. Bushy, 24, is a six-foot-two blueliner who scored 11 points in 41 games this season playing in a top-four role.
  • Former Owen Sound Attack star and OHL Champion Cameron Brace is transferring to Germany, per an announcement from his new team, the DEL’s Frankfurt Lions. The 29-year-old has spent the last two seasons in the SHL with IK Oskarshamn, scoring 52 points in 99 games there. Brace earned his shot at the SHL level after a proving himself as a professional in Denmark’s top league, where he scored 110 points in 78 games for Herning Blue Fox. Brace has fashioned himself a solid overseas professional career in the last few years, and now that career will continue in Germany.
  • Longtime DEL veteran Max Renner has signed a contract for next season with the Augsburg Panthers. The 31-year-old has nearly 300 DEL games on his resume with most coming with the Straubing Tigers, save for the last two seasons spent with the Bietigheim Steelers. Renner scored nine points in 56 games last season and brings an established veteran presence to the Panthers’ defense corps.
  • The ICEHL’s Black Wings Linz have signed forward Nico Feldner to a two-year contract, per a team announcement. Feldner has played the past two seasons entirely with HC Innsbruck, save for a six-game stretch with the EIHL’s Sheffield Steelers in England. Feldner scored 17 points in 43 games for Innsbruck this season and should be counted on to bolster Linz’s forward corps for the next two years as they look to return to the ICEHL’s playoffs next season.
  • Matus Spodniak, a top scorer at the NCAA Division-III level with Adrian College, has signed an amateur tryout agreement with the ECHL’s Indy Fuel. The 25-year-old native of Kosice, Slovakia scored 94 points in 60 games across two seasons with Adrian College, and now the Fuel are looking to roll the dice on him to see if he can translate his game to professional hockey. This tryout will represent a significant jump in competition level for Spodniak, and he’ll have a relatively short period of time to make an impression with one of the East Coast league’s top teams.
  • Spodniak’s teammate, Ty Enns, also signed an amateur tryout agreement with an ECHL club: the Toledo Walleye. Enns, 24, scored 50 points in 31 games this season and scored a total of 140 points in 106 games at the Division-III level. As mentioned with Spodniak, this jump to the ECHL will be a significant increase in difficulty for Enns, but at the very least it should be encouraging that the ECHL’s third-best team is willing to give him a tryout opportunity.
  • The ECHL’s Maine Mariners are another club to dip into the pool of college free agents, signing University of Windsor forward Sean Olson. The 24-year-old scored 40 points in his 54-game career for Windsor, and standing six-foot-three 203 pounds as some size down the middle to the Mariners’ group of pivots.

Minor Transactions: 03/15/23

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With the trade deadline long past us, playoff races are heating up across the NHL. The Buffalo Sabres are looking to end the league’s longest playoff drought, and their uphill climb to clinch a spot continues tonight as they take on the Washington Capitals. Meanwhile, the Toronto Maple Leafs will get the chance to test themselves against the defending Stanley Cup champions. While hockey fans across the globe take in tonight’s games, teams in minor and foreign leagues are making tweaks to their rosters. We’ll keep track of those transactions here.

  • Former Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Juuso Riikola could be headed to Switzerland for next season, according to a report from Swiss outlet Watson. After playing four seasons in the Penguins organization, Riikola returned to Europe this summer, signing with the SHL’s IK Oskarshamn. He’s done well for himself in Sweden, scoring 19 points in 42 games as an alternate captain, and is now rumored to be heading to the SCL Tigers, a team in the top tier of Swiss hockey.
  • The San Jose Sharks’ AHL affiliate, the San Jose Barracuda, have signed University of Connecticut captain Roman Kinal, a six-foot-two 24-year-old defenseman, to an ATO agreement. This deal will allow him to be with the Barracuda as they grapple for position in the AHL’s Pacific Division, giving him his first professional experience. As their recent trade for Harvard Blueliner Henry Thrun suggested, the Sharks organization is expected to look to mine talent from the NCAA ranks, so adding an experienced college player furthers that strategy.
  • Former Washington Capitals prospect Colby Williams has signed a one-year extension with his current club, KHL side Admiral Vladivostok. The former Regina Pats captain played his first season away from North America this year, after he signed with Vladivostok over the summer. After six seasons patrolling the blueline in the AHL, Williams scored 18 points in 67 games in Russia, a performance that earned him a one-year contract extension.
  • After nine seasons and 441 games with the DEL’s Augsburger Panthers, including the last three as their captain, Calgary native Brady Lamb will be playing elsewhere. The team has announced they and Lamb have parted ways. Lamb, who led the DEL in assists by a defenseman in 2017-18, has been a the face of the Panthers in recent years, helping them reach the playoffs twice in his tenure there. Augsburg endured a difficult 2022-23 season, and now they’ll look for a fresh face of their franchise moving forward.
  • Former New York Islander Johan Sundstrom is headed to Finland to continue his career, per a report from SportExpressen’s Johan Svensson. The 30-year-old got 11 games with the Islanders in 2013-14 and has since played in Sweden, Russia, and China. After scoring 13 goals and 31 points for Frolunda in his first year back from the KHL, his effectiveness and role have declined, and he did not get into games for the club this season despite remaining on their payroll. Now, according to this report, he’ll be headed to Liiga’s Vaasan Sport to continue his pro career.
  • Former Columbus Blue Jackets forward Markus Hannikainen will leave his current club, the SHL’s HC Linkoping, according to a team announcement. The 29-year-old, who has 91 career NHL games on his resume, was unable to come to an agreement on a contract extension with the club. Since leaving North America in the summer of 2020, Hannikainen played two years for Jokerit Helsinki in the KHL before spending last season playing for Mannheim in Germany. He scored eight goals and 19 points in the SHL this season and will now look to find the next stop in his career.
  • Canadian Craig Schira, former captain of SHL side Rogle BK, will also not be returning to Linkoping for next season. He scored eight points in 76 games across two seasons for Linkoping and leaves after a difficult season that ended with Linkoping just outside the SHL’s relegation zone. He’s played in Europe since 2011-12 since leaving the Belleville Senators and has been an important defenseman for quite a few teams.
  • Defenseman Eric Martinsson, who played in 13 games for the Minnesota Wild organization in 2018-19, is leaving the SHL’s HV71. The two-time SHL champion has spent two of the last three seasons at HV71, save for last year, which he spent playing in the KHL in Kazakhstan. He scored 37 points in 51 games for HV71 in 2020-21, but registered only 12 points this season, a decline that possibly prompted this parting of ways.
  • The ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies have released defenseman Joey Colatarci, per the ECHL’s official transactions report. Colatarci, 28, has been a regular for the Grizzlies for the past two seasons but hasn’t registered a single point in 30 games this season. Now, the six-foot-two blueliner will look to find another club to continue his career in North America’s third-tier league.
  • 23-year-old defenseman Jacob Semik, an alternate captain for Arizona State University, has signed with the Grizzlies. His arrival could be seen as taking the place of the released Colatarci, who plays a similar style to him. By adding Semik, the Grizzlies give a college player a chance to make his professional debut and the opportunity to begin the process of climbing North America’s pro hockey ladder.

This page will be updated throughout the day

Juuso Riikola Signs In Sweden

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The Pittsburgh Penguins won’t be getting at least one depth defenseman back next season. IK Oskarshamn of the SHL has announced the signing of Juuso Riikola for the 2022-23 season.

Riikola spent four years in the Penguins organization but spent most of his time in the AHL for the first time this year. He signed with the team in 2018 as a free agent after a six-year stint in the Finnish Liiga with KalPa. However, Riikola had played just seven NHL games over the past two seasons combined, playing just two in 2020-21 while spending the entire season on the taxi squad.

Over the past four NHL seasons, the 28-year-old Riikola played 80 games, tallying three goals, 10 assists and 13 points. While a reasonable option to slide into the lineup in case of injury, at his age, Riikola will likely opt to stay in Europe long-term, playing out his prime years in a more sizeable role.

Ruhwedel, Borgen Enter COVID Protocol

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5:34 pm: It turns out that it was likely a false positive that put Ruhwedel on the COVID protocol list. The Penguins defenseman is off protocol the same day he entered, and is available for tonight’s game against Washington.

11:04 am: In the coming days, players entering the COVID protocol will become much less common. The league has amended its procedures to no longer require daily testing for fully vaccinated individuals, and has removed the testing requirement for close contacts. Those are set to come into effect following each club’s final game before the All-Star break, however, meaning that for today and tomorrow, things are business as normal.

It’s not surprising then to see two more players enter the protocol today. The Seattle Kraken have announced that Will Borgen is now in it, meaning he’ll be unavailable for the team’s final pre-All-Star games this week. Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan also announced to reporters including Seth Rorabaugh of the Tribune-Review that Chad Ruhwedel is in the protocol and unavailable tonight.

In Borgen’s case, it’s unfortunate timing given he had started to find a home in the Kraken lineup. The 25-year-old defenseman played just a hair under 16 minutes on Sunday against the New York Rangers, his 15th game of the season. One of the interesting expansion draft selections given how little NHL experience he had with the Buffalo Sabres, Borgen signed a two-year, one-way contract with the Kraken in August and was expected to be a full-time option for the club. Now halfway through the season and he has just a handful of games under his belt after the team loaded up on other defensemen that have sat ahead of him on the depth chart.

For Ruhwedel, it couldn’t come at a worse time, given how he has finally been a regular in the Pittsburgh lineup. The 31-year-old veteran has never played more than 44 games in a single season but has already suited up 41 times this year, as the Penguins continue to deal with injuries to various players. Even tonight, the team has announced that Brian Dumoulin is a game-time decision due to “wear and tear” meaning there may have been even more ice time up for grabs. Instead, he’ll have to miss and likely give Juuso Riikola–recalled to the taxi squad this morning–a chance to get back into the NHL lineup.

Marcus Pettersson, Chad Ruhwedel Added To COVID Protocol

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Nov 12: Despite clearing the protocol yesterday, Pettersson and Ruhwedel are still ineligible to travel with the Penguins to Canada for tomorrow’s game against the Ottawa Senators. With that in mind, the team has actually placed both back on the protocol, for the time being, allowing them to recall Juuso Riikola and Louis Domingue for the short road trip. Pettersson actually also suffered an injury last night in his return and played just four minutes, but there was no update on his status today.

Tristan Jarry will not travel with the team to Canada either, meeting them in Washington for Sunday’s game against the Capitals instead. This explains Domingue’s recall, as he will serve as backup tomorrow night.

Nov 11: The Pittsburgh Penguins are getting some reinforcements back from the COVID protocol, as both Marcus Pettersson and Chad Ruhwedel have been activated today. To make room, Taylor Fedun and Juuso Riikola were assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Pettersson especially is a big piece to get back, given his role on the team in the early part of the season. Through eight games, Pettersson was averaging more than 18 minutes a night and had recorded four points. He still leads the team in +/- with a +7 in the early part of the year, and had been recording very strong possession statistics.

Both players were called game-time decisions by assistant coach Todd Reirden, who is still filling in while Mike Sullivan is in the protocol. Sidney Crosby and Brian Dumoulin remain in the protocol as well.

Pettersson and Ruhwedal were both symptomatic, according to a report from the Associated Press, so it remains to be seen whether they will step right into the lineup with one day of practice and a morning skate. The Penguins could certainly use the help, given they have lost two in a row and now sit at 4-3-4 on the year, last in the Metropolitan Division.

12 Players Clear Waivers

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Saturday: Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reports that all of the below players clear waivers, paving the way for them to be sent to the minors.

Friday: The march to the regular season continues, this time with another dozen names hitting the waiver wire. Chris Johnston of the Toronto Star provides the full list:

Sonny Milano (ANA)
Brandon Davidson (BUF)
Dennis Gilbert (COL)
Jayson Megna (COL)
Andreas Borgman (DAL)
Dan Renouf (DET)
Luke Witkowski (DET)
Chase De Leo (NJD)
Michael Chaput (PIT)
Juuso Riikola (PIT)
Nicolas Meloche (SJS)
Sheldon Dries (VAN)

There are several names on this list who once carried quite a bit of hype and potential, but the most interesting among them may be Milano and Riikola. The former is set to carry a cap hit of $1.7MM for this season, while the latter has a cap hit of $1.15MM. At one point, they were expected to be key parts of their respective NHL teams but now appear to be on their way to becoming well-compensated minor leaguers.

Milano in particular is notable because the Ducks don’t need any additional cap space. The team appears to have simply decided that there are other, better options up front for the start of the year. One thing to remember when it comes to waivers is that sometimes, a player clearing actually increases his trade value. That would allow an acquiring team to assign the player directly to the minor leagues, burying up to $1.125MM in cap hits.

Penguins’ Colton Sceviour And Juuso Riikola Clear Waivers

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Sunday: Both Sceviour and Riikola have cleared, according to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.

Saturday: The Penguins are trying to give themselves a bit of roster flexibility heading into Monday’s trade deadline as Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports (Twitter link) that forward Colton Sceviour and defenseman Juuso Riikola have been placed on waivers.

Sceviour was acquired from Florida back in September as part of the Mike Matheson-Patric Hornqvist deal but while he had been a capable secondary scorer during his time with the Panthers and Stars, that hasn’t materialized with the Pens.  Instead, the 31-year-old has just three goals and three assists in 31 games this season while averaging a career-low 9:30 per night of playing time.  This led to him clearing waivers back in early March and he has played in 14 games since then, requiring him to pass through waivers before he can be loaned back to the taxi squad.  Sceviour is in the final year of his contract which carries a $1.2MM AAV, meaning all but $125K can be buried on the taxi squad.  He’s set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.

As for Riikola, the defenseman has had a limited role with Pittsburgh since signing with them back in 2018.  While he played in at least 36 NHL games in each of his first two seasons in North America, he has been limited to just two this season.  Part of that is due to an upper-body injury that cost him 22 games but as a result of the moves the Penguins made to add defensive depth when they were hit hard with injuries, he has yet to play since being cleared to return.  The 27-year-old has another year left on his deal after this one with a $1.15MM AAV and if a team is willing to absorb a low seven-figure cost next season to add some free defensive depth, there’s a chance he could be claimed.  If not, all but $75K of his cap hit can be wiped out by a taxi squad assignment.

Pittsburgh Penguins Activate Juuso Riikola

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After missing 20 games, Juuso Riikola is back on the active roster. The Pittsburgh Penguins have activated the young defenseman off injured reserve, while replacing him there with Jared McCann. McCann, who is dealing with an upper-body injury, has been placed on IR retroactive to March 7. Josh Currie has also been moved to the taxi squad after the team recalled Anthony Angello from it.

Riikola is the biggest story today, given how long he’s been out for the Penguins. After playing just two games for the team in January, he suffered an upper-body injury and was eventually moved to long-term injured reserve. If you’re thinking ’Riikola isn’t that important anyway,’ the Penguins obviously disagreed when they handed him a two-year, $2.3MM deal in September. He had played in just 73 NHL games to that point, but the undrafted defenseman had obviously shown enough to lock down a regular role on the active roster, if not in the everyday lineup.

Now is his opportunity to show the new management group what he can do. Ron Hextall and Brian Burke have no allegiance to a player like Riikola, who was brought in and signed before they arrived, and perhaps that’s why Josh Yohe of The Athletic listed him as “Sure, he’s available” in his recent look at the trade status of every player on the Penguins’ roster. As long as he gets in the lineup, he’ll have a chance to prove he still belongs.

The other news is obviously McCann, who had just started to find his way again in Pittsburgh. On a four-game point streak, the young forward left his last game in the second period and didn’t return. He was another player that was trying to show the new front office his worth, but he’ll now be out at least a few games after being moved to IR. In 17 games this season, McCann has ten points.

Pittsburgh Penguins Make Several Transactions

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The Pittsburgh Penguins, who seem to be dominating the headlines lately, have grabbed another one by making several transactions ahead of their game against the Boston Bruins. Kevin Czuczman has been recalled under emergency conditions, while Sam Lafferty is up under a regular recall. Drew O’Connor, who had previously been up under emergency conditions, is now on a regular recall. Zach Aston-Reese, Juuso Riikola, and Evan Rodrigues have all been placed on long-term injured reserve retroactive to their last game played, while Marcus Pettersson has been moved to injured reserve.

Anthony Angello, Frederick Gaudreau, Will Reilly, and Yannick Weber have all been assigned to the taxi squad. All of these moves were announced by interim GM Patrik Allvin.

Czuczman is expected to be in the Penguins lineup for the first time tonight, returning to the NHL after nearly seven years. The last time he suited up at that level was April 13, 2014 with the New York Islanders, but the 30-year-old defenseman at least knows the Penguins’ system from spending the last three seasons with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Perhaps the most interesting addition of all is Reilly, who joins the taxi squad before ever playing a professional game. The 23-year-old defenseman was a seventh-round pick of the Penguins in 2017 and signed his entry-level contract last spring after finishing his senior season at R.P.I. While Weber is going to meet the team in New York this weekend, Reilly is really just an injury or two from being forced into the NHL lineup for the Penguins. He was a strong performer in college, recording 22 points in 34 games last season, but there’s little reason to believe he should be jumping onto the roster at this point.

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