Penguins Recall Emil Bemström, Vasiliy Ponomarev, Valtteri Puustinen
The Penguins announced today they’ve recalled forwards Emil Bemström, Vasiliy Ponomarev, and Valtteri Puustinen from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an emergency basis. Their roster size now stands at 28 ahead of tomorrow’s game against the Devils, including a remarkable 19 forwards.
Recalling three players indicates they’re dealing with more new injuries on offense than just rookie Rutger McGroarty, who did not return to Tuesday’s win over the Penguins after blocking a shot with his left foot in the second period. He was in a walking boot postgame, per Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. The team has yet to update his status, but Vensel adds that McGroarty is absent from today’s practice. Veteran winger Matthew Nieto was also not practicing today after being promoted from WBS on an emergency basis Tuesday and suiting up against the Blackhawks. It’s unclear if he sustained an injury in the win or was returned to the minors in a corresponding transaction.
Injuries are taking a significant toll on the Penguins, who are mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, in the season’s final weeks. In addition to McGroarty and Nieto, they’re also without Bokondji Imama (biceps surgery, out for the season), Blake Lizotte (lower body, day-to-day), Thomas Novak (lower body, indefinite), and Philip Tomasino (concussion, day-to-day).
Up comes reinforcements from the Baby Pens, who have already clinched their place in the Calder Cup Playoffs. The 25-year-old Bemström has been a key part of their success, checking in as the only WBS player with over a point per game (21-25–46 in 45 GP). His availability has been limited due to a few late-season NHL call-ups, resulting in him posting one assist in 13 games for Pittsburgh since making his season debut in February.
The former Blue Jacket continues to serve as a dominant minor-league force without being able to force his way into a consistent NHL role. While he posted 10 goals and 20 points in only 56 games for his rookie season in Columbus back in 2019-20, his offense has been spotty since – especially since Pittsburgh acquired him last season. He’s posted just 3-3–6 in 37 NHL appearances since the swap.
Ponomarev, 23, was a key piece of the return from the Hurricanes when Carolina acquired Jake Guentzel at last year’s trade deadline (along with Ville Koivunen, who has three assists in his first five NHL games since being called up late last month). He’s appeared in four games for Pittsburgh this year across a pair of call-ups in November and February but has yet to record a point while averaging 9:13 per game. His lone career goal and assist came during his NHL debut with the Hurricanes in January 2024. The Russian pivot ranks fourth on WBS in scoring, posting 15-25–40 in 54 games with a plus-six rating.
Puustinen splits the difference between Bemström and Ponomarev in terms of big-league experience. The 25-year-old frequently participated in NHL matchups for the Penguins last year, recording 5-15–20 in 52 games in a primarily bottom-six role. However, he’s not commanded the same deployment this year and has spent most of the campaign in the minors. He has a goal and an assist in 10 showings, all of which came in the season’s first two months. He’s done well in Wilkes-Barre, posting 16-19–35 in 47 games, but he’s undoubtedly disappointed not to see more NHL minutes after signing a two-year, one-way extension worth $1.55MM last May.
Penguins Recall Ville Koivunen And Rutger McGroarty, Joona Koppanen Re-Assigned
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that they’ve recalled forward prospects Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty while also re-assigning forward Joona Koppanen to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the AHL. The timing of the recalls is of note as the Penguins have looked lifeless in their last two games, losing to Tampa Bay and Buffalo by a combined score of 13-4.
McGroarty was acquired by the Penguins last summer from the Winnipeg Jets for forward Brayden Yager and made the team out of training camp but struggled to produce with no points in three NHL games. He was then sent to the AHL where he continued to struggle offensively, posting just a single assist in his first eight games. However, since November 9th, McGroarty has tallied 14 goals and 24 assists in 52 games and has looked dominant at times, displaying the skillset that made him the 14th overall pick in 2022.
Koivunen was acquired by the Penguins last March in the trade that sent forward Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes. The deal is looking like a massive win for Pittsburgh as Koivunen has been exceptional this year in the AHL tallying 21 goals and 34 assists in 62 games. The 21-year-old brings a skill level that the Penguins hadn’t had in a prospect in nearly two decades and will get his first taste of NHL action after earning this recall. Koivunen currently leads the AHL Penguins in scoring and has done so in his first full season of hockey in North America.
Koppanen returns to the AHL where he has spent the bulk of this season and his professional career. The 27-year-old did dress in five NHL games for Pittsburgh and managed to score his first NHL goal on March 18th against the New York Islanders. Koppanen has appeared in 53 AHL games this season where he has six goals and 15 assists as well as a +7 plus/minus.
The Penguins are all but assured of missing the playoffs for a third consecutive year and with these callups, they will have an opportunity to see how close some of their top prospects are for NHL action next season.
Pittsburgh Penguins Assign Rutger McGroarty To AHL
Rutger McGroarty won’t be able to suit up against the organization that drafted him later this week, after all. The Pittsburgh Penguins announced they have assigned McGroarty to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins without a corresponding roster move.
It’s the logical step forward for McGroarty who was originally supposed to begin the year in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had it not been for a few injuries to the Penguins’ forward core. He’s been left off the scoreboard over three games in Pittsburgh to start the year with two shots on net and four hits. He’s posted strong possession numbers over those three games with the Penguins but his healthy scratch on Tuesday night indicated a move might be on the horizon.
It shouldn’t take too long for McGroarty to get going offensively with the AHL Penguins who are currently tied for the league lead in goals scored over two games to start the season. They should be able to slot him next to the likes of Emil Bemstrom, Samuel Poulin, Ville Koivunen, or Jimmy Huntington to make his transition to professional hockey much easier.
He’s still only one year removed from being one of the better scorers in the NCAA at the University of Michigan. McGroarty’s 16 goals and 52 points in 36 games make him one of, if not the best prospect in the Penguins organization and he should be on the receiving end of another call-up at some point during the 2024-25 regular season.
Metro Notes: Puljujarvi, McGroarty, Gudbranson
Josh Yohe of The Athletic doesn’t believe that Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi should be removed from the Penguins lineup again anytime soon. Puljujarvi was a healthy scratch for the Penguins back on Saturday night against the Toronto Maple Leafs after he had been good in the first two games of the season, posting one assist.
The 26-year-old returned to the lineup last night for Pittsburgh against the Montreal Canadiens and tallied an assist in just over 12 minutes of ice time. He has looked like a different player this season for Pittsburgh after having a full summer of training. Puljujarvi had been limited last season after having double hip surgery and was healthy scratched on numerous occasions. When he did play, he wasn’t impactful, posting three goals and an assist in 22 games.
In other Metropolitan Division notes:
- Josh Yohe of The Athletic wonders if Penguins rookie Rutger McGroarty might get some time in the American Hockey League soon after he was healthy scratched last night against Montreal. The 20-year-old has barely been noticeable so far this season, going pointless in three games while averaging just 11:37 of ice time per game. He has been decent away from the puck registering three hits and a takeaway while posting solid possession numbers. Pittsburgh has given McGroarty ample opportunity in the offensive zone, starting him in the offensive zone 75% of the time, but the former 14th overall pick has yet to show much of a pulse offensively at the NHL level.
- The Columbus Blue Jackets have announced that defenseman Erik Gudbranson will not return to tonight’s game against the Florida Panthers after suffering an upper-body injury. Gudbranson collided with teammate Sean Monahan in the neutral zone and was in obvious pain as he got to his feet. He appeared to be favoring his wrist when he left the ice and didn’t come out with his Blue Jackets teammates for the start of the third period. Columbus doesn’t play until Thursday against Buffalo and the Blue Jackets will likely have an update on Gudbranson before that contest.
Penguins Notes: Puljujarvi, St. Ivany, McGroarty
Pittsburgh Penguins forward Jesse Puljujarvi appears to have the inside track on a third-line role with the team (as per Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now). Kingerski writes that Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has slotted Puljujarvi on the team’s third line as the stock has risen considerably during an impressive training camp.
The former fourth overall pick is finally healthy this year after undergoing double hip surgery and a full summer of training has the 26-year-old dominating intrasquad scrimmages and preseason games. The Penguins badly need depth scoring this season as their top six forwards have carried the offense in the previous two years, resulting in them missing the playoffs in both seasons. Puljujarvi seemed destined for the AHL just a few weeks ago, but his emergence has potentially changed the roster dynamic for the Penguins as they head into the regular season.
In other Penguins notes:
- Kingerski also wrote about Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany’s emergence on the Penguins bottom defensive pairing. St. Ivany was a steadying presence on the Penguins third pairing at the end of last season and his NHL arrival coincided with Pittsburgh going on an incredible stretch of hockey that nearly resulted in a playoff spot. This year the expectations on St. Ivany have been adjusted and the results look good so far. St. Ivany appears as though he will start the season in the NHL as his puck moving has improved and he has transitioned from a defensive defenseman to more of an all-around defender. St. Ivany has been noticeable for the Penguins and would be a bargain in the NHL as he is signed for three more seasons at just $775K annually.
- Rutger McGroarty seemed likely to start the season on the Penguins NHL roster, but that could be in question as the regular season nears (as per Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now). McGroarty looks NHL-ready, and his hockey IQ is off the charts, but the knock on him continues to be his skating and work in the defensive zone. The 20-year-old is likely an NHL player already, but the Penguins will have to figure out if he can put up enough offense to compensate for his shortcomings in the defensive zone. Nothing is set in stone for the Penguins opening night lineup, but regardless of whether McGroarty is in it, he should see NHL time at some point this season.
Teams Moving On From Prospects Earlier Than Ever
One of the sub-themes from the 2024 offseason and part of a larger theme in general from the 2024-25 NHL season — organizations are moving on from top prospects much earlier than in previous years. Nick Faris of The Score recently broke down this narrative and explained how it symbolizes a few shifting narratives.
Faris writes that ten players drafted in the top 15 between 2019-2023 have changed teams since the start of the calendar year 2024. This is partly due to NCAA prospects using their inevitable free agency as a negotiating tactic to move on from their draft organization and teams reassessing their needs much quicker than in previous years.
Anaheim Ducks’ Cutter Gauthier and Pittsburgh Penguins’ Rutger McGroarty are the most recent examples of NCAA stars choosing to forego their entry-level contract with their drafting teams in the hopes of being traded to a different organization. Both were granted their wishes as the Philadelphia Flyers traded Gauthier to the Ducks for Jamie Drysdale, and the Penguins traded their top prospect Brayden Yager to the Jets for McGroarty.
The remaining top 15 talents from the previous four NHL Drafts were moved out of rapidly shifting team needs. The Colorado Avalanche had a larger need for a second-line center rather than a long-term top-four option on the blue line culminating in the trade for Casey Mittelstadt from the Buffalo Sabres for Bowen Byram. The Utah Hockey Club and Sabres moved on from Conor Geekie and Matthew Savoie, respectively, for more immediate needs on their roster with only one game played combined for their drafting franchise. The Penguins moved on from Yager for more immediate help in McGroarty, and the Nashville Predators traded top goaltending prospect Yaroslav Askarov as they will not need another starting goaltender until the 2030s.
This is not to say that NHL organizations are non-committal towards their high-end draft selections as Faris notes 12 players drafted in the top 15 from 2019-2023 have already signed long-term contracts with their respective franchises. It has become clear that NHL teams are assessing young talent faster than ever. There has been no indication that the quality of assessment has improved as some of the players who have changed hands will inevitably have better careers with their new teams.
Afternoon Notes: Swayman, McGroarty, Blues
Bruins star netminder Jeremy Swayman remains without a contract for next season and beyond. The RFA is embroiled in a dispute for the second summer in a row, requiring an arbitration hearing to hand down a one-year, $3.475MM agreement.
That process a year ago convinced Swayman to educate himself “about the business side of it all,” the goalie said on the “Shut Up Marc” podcast yesterday. “I understand the cap is going up and where it will be in years. I understand my comparables and how I can’t ruin the goalie market for other guys that are going to be in my shoes down the line” (stick taps to The Score’s Sean O’Leary).
Swayman’s been one of the league’s best netminders the past couple of years, recording a .916 SV% and 2.41 GAA during his three full seasons as a Bruin. But he’s been stuck in a tandem situation with Linus Ullmark, limiting him to fewer than 45 starts each season. He’ll see a sharp increase in workload in 2024-25 with Ullmark out the door via a trade to the Senators. Still, Boston is likely hesitant about shelling out star-level money to a 25-year-old who looks like the real deal but hasn’t yet been a bona fide starter in the NHL.
More from around the league:
- Forward prospect Rutger McGroarty went two seasons without signing an entry-level contract with the Winnipeg Jets due to concerns about his development path within the organization. The University of Michigan product went only a few hours between being acquired by the Pittsburgh Penguins in a trade with the Jets and signing his entry-level contract because “Everything feels right here” (X Link). He has already been impressed by the organization’s front office staff and the veteran members of the team and certainly seems excited to begin work as a Penguin. He will compete with several forwards for a spot on the opening night roster out of training camp in a few weeks and could even see time on a line with captain Sidney Crosby in his rookie campaign.
- Any previous user of the popular salary cap site, CapFriendly, won’t go without a similar medium for very long — if you’re a fan of the St. Louis Blues. The team announced it is coming out with its own version of the website named ‘BluesFriendly’ that will track current player’s contract details, status, and pathway towards the organization. It’s not as in-depth as the information CapFriendly previously provided but it could serve a purpose for some parts of the fanbase. It’s unlikely that other teams will follow a similar route as salary transparency across the league normally only benefits a player while serving virtually no purpose to the team.
Penguins Notes: Robertson, O’Connor, Line Combinations
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes about a potential link between the Pittsburgh Penguins and Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nicholas Robertson. It’s not the first time rumors have surfaced about a potential Robertson to Pittsburgh trade, as Kingerski wrote back in May that the Penguins, specifically general manager Kyle Dubas, should target the undersized Maple Leafs forward. However, Robertson remains a Maple Leaf despite asking for a trade in June, and the Penguins have just under $900K in available cap space. While a move seems unlikely at this point, it should be noted that the Penguins have 15 forwards on their active roster and could likely bury an additional $1.7MM in the minors.
Kingerski writes that the Penguins could offer sheet Robertson for below $2.29MM, and the cost would only be a third-rounder, but the Maple Leafs would likely match that number and shut the door on the Robertson-to-Pittsburgh talk. It appears that the Penguins’ best option, should they want to acquire Robertson, would be to make a hockey trade using a roster player with value and perhaps a draft pick to try and pry the 22-year-old loose.
In other Penguins notes:
- Kingerski also wrote about the Penguins’ lack of a winger for superstar Sidney Crosby. The Penguins have spent the summer trying to find someone to play with Crosby after trading Jake Guentzel at the trade deadline, and with the summer coming to an end, Kingerski believes that Drew O’Connor is likely the Penguins’ best option for the first-line left winger role. O’Connor finished last season playing with Crosby and showed glimpses during that time. The 25-year-old finished the year with 16 goals and 17 assists in 79 games, including seven goals and five assists in the final 19 games when he played alongside Crosby.
- The Penguins acquisition of young forward Rutger McGroarty has changed the potential makeup of their forward lines (according to Dan Kingerski). The Penguins boast as many as 19 potential NHL forwards, including newly acquired Kevin Hayes, Cody Glass, and Anthony Beauvillier, and it could make for an interesting training camp in the Steel City. McGroarty could get a look alongside Sidney Crosby on the first line, but he could also slide into a third-line role alongside Hayes and Beauvillier. It isn’t even clear which side of the ice McGroarty will play on, but one clear thing is that his presence in Pittsburgh makes things very interesting when it comes to the Penguins’ forward ranks.
Poll: Which Trade Was The Most Impactful Since The Start Of Free Agency?
Heading into the offseason, the NHL trade market was expected to be full of activity. However, as things played out, the trade market took much longer to develop than anticipated, with many of the major trades taking place within the last few weeks. With most of the notable players on the trade market now having changed hands shortly before the start of the 2024-25 NHL season, we’ll look back at some of the bigger trades since the start of free agency.
The biggest trade from the start of free agency happened in the middle of the frenzy, with the Washington Capitals acquiring defenseman Jakob Chychrun from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Nick Jensen and a third-round pick in 2026. Chychrun is coming off of one of the better statistical performances throughout his career on a middling Senators’ defense, with 13 goals and 41 points in 82 games. He finished the year with a -30 rating, but that had largely to do with his deployment with Ottawa, as Hockey Reference pegged his expected rating at +0.4 over the year. He will no longer be responsible for leading a defensive core with John Carlson holding that crown, but he should still receive big minutes in Washington.
Fast forward to mid-August, when the Montreal Canadiens acquired one of the better forwards available on the trade market. The Canadiens acquired Patrik Laine and a second-round pick in 2026 from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for defenseman Jordan Harris. Laine carries a bloated salary of $8.7MM for the next two years and is coming off a disappointing due to injuries and a stint with the NHL/NHLPA Player Assistance Program, limiting him to only 18 games with Columbus. However, he is only two years removed from being a point-per-game player with the Blue Jackets, as he scored 48 goals and 108 points in 111 games. Montreal recently finished 26th in the league in goals per game, as they arguably only had one line for opposing defenses to worry about. With Laine now in the fold, if he can rebound with his new team, the Canadiens will be able to spread the wealth and give more for opponents to worry about.
The last two sizeable trades from the offseason are centered around prospects, with the Pittsburgh Penguins and Winnipeg Jets getting together on a swap of prospects Rutger McGroarty and Brayden Yager, and the San Jose Sharks acquired their goalie of the future in Yaroslav Askarov from the Nashville Predators.
McGroarty gives the Penguins a young, cost-effective, and hard-nosed NHL-caliber winger to place next to Sidney Crosby for the foreseeable future while the Jets acquired a right-handed centerman further down the road that should challenge for the second-line role longer-term. Similarly, Askarov represents one of the brighter goalie prospects in recent years after dominating the American Hockey League over the last two years. The Sharks rounded out an already solid prospect pool with Askarov and did not need to part with any of their top prospects in return.
There were several smaller trades throughout the summer that could be more impactful than the above-mentioned group. Now that the offseason is only a few weeks away from officially being in the rearview mirror — which trade from the summer do you think will be the most impactful moving forward?
Which Trade Was The Most Impactful Since The Start Of Free Agency?
-
Patrik Laine To Montreal 37% (696)
-
Yaroslav Askarov To San Jose 27% (510)
-
Jakob Chychrun To Washington 16% (312)
-
Rutger McGroarty To Pittsburgh 14% (256)
-
Other (comment below) 6% (122)
Total votes: 1,896
For mobile users, click here to vote.
Cheveldayoff: Jets Never Received Reason For Rutger McGroarty’s Unwillingness To Sign
Jets general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff spoke to members of the media yesterday, including Mike McIntyre of the Winnipeg Free Press, noting that Rutger McGroarty‘s camp never disclosed why the 2022 first-round pick was unwilling to sign in Winnipeg despite being asked by the GM multiple times.
“We were at the draft combines and got a text from his agent (Pat Brisson) that he wanted to meet… he informed us that Rutger had said that he didn’t intend to sign,” Cheveldayoff said (via Connor Hrabchak of The Hockey Writers). “That’s the first inkling that we got that there was nothing that was going to come to fruition there. We sat down and asked the agent why, and he said he didn’t have an answer. He didn’t have a reason. I went through a litany of questions to the agent to see – was it player development? Was it that we didn’t burn a year [off his entry-level contract]? He said no, no, no, it just didn’t feel right.”
When the news of McGroarty’s desired exit from Winnipeg first broke before the draft, a league source told Murat Ates of The Athletic that the player felt “his path to the NHL is best suited in another organization.” Ates wrote that the Jets felt the AHL was the best place for McGroarty to play in 2024-25, an outcome he wasn’t interested in. Thus, he returned to the University of Michigan for his junior season. However, he’ll reverse that decision and turn pro after signing his entry-level contract with the Penguins immediately following yesterday’s trade.
But Cheveldayoff’s transparency about his conversations with Brisson indicates this wasn’t a new rift between McGroarty and the Jets, even if it wasn’t brought up until recently. Both Brisson and McGroarty said his hesitations about signing with Winnipeg stemmed from his first development camp showing with the club, Cheveldayoff relayed.
The Jets can be thankful that McGroarty’s stellar play in Ann Arbor the last two seasons helped them get a fair return for his services. A strong all-around forward who can play both center and left wing, he’s coming off a banner 2023-24 campaign that saw him finish second on the Wolverines in scoring with 52 points (16 goals, 36 assists) in 36 games with a +17 rating. He also captained the United States at the World Junior Championship, scoring five goals and four assists for nine points in seven games to lead the Americans to a gold medal.
One of McGroarty’s under-discussed collegiate achievements was his ability to maintain a physical style of play without harming his team by racking up penalty minutes. The Nebraska native racked up 65 PIMs in 54 games during his draft year with the U.S. National U18 Development Team but logged just 24 PIMs in 75 games over his two years in Michigan.
He’s a tough loss, but the Jets recouped another blue-chip forward prospect in Brayden Yager to take his place. He’s not quite as pro-ready as McGroarty, but the 19-year-old could answer Winnipeg’s long-time hole at the second-line center position as soon as 2025-26. After posting 95 points in 57 games with the Western Hockey League’s Moose Jaw Warriors and leading them to their first WHL championship last year, he’ll likely get a long look in the role during training camp and could end up on the opening night roster. A nine-game trial to avoid burning the first year of his entry-level contract is possible for Yager, who needs to be returned to Moose Jaw if he’s not on the NHL roster this season.
Notably, Winnipeg also lands a player eager to return to his Central Canada home. “You see the fan base in Winnipeg, it’s pretty special,” Yager, a Saskatchewan native, told team color analyst Mitchell Clinton. “Especially in the playoffs – the whiteout and everything – it’s crazy. So I’m super excited.”