The Penguins made several moves today to whittle their active roster down to the 23-man limit. In the process, becoming cap compliant.
The black-and-gold returned defenseman Harrison Brunicke, arguably the most pleasant surprise of training camp and preseason this side of Rutger McGroarty (who made the team!), to the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League.
There was some thought the Pens might keep the 18-year-old wonder, but Erik Karlsson was given the green light to return after sitting out the preseason with a lower-body ailment.
Forwards Bryan Rust (lower-body) and Blake Lizotte (concussion) were placed on injured reserve, along with goalie Alex Nedeljkovic (lower-body). Forward Matt Nieto was placed on long-term injured reserve (LTIR). Forward Vasily Ponomarev (upper-body) was designated injured reserve non-roster (whatever the heck that is).
Heavyweight forward Boko Imama and defenseman Sebastian Aho cleared waivers and were assigned to the Baby Pens.
Without further ado, here are your 2024-25 Pittsburgh Penguins by position.
Center—Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Lars Eller, Cody Glass
Left Wing—Drew O’Connor, Michael Bunting, Rutger McGroarty, Kevin Hayes
Right Wing—Anthony Beauvillier, Rickard Rakell, Jesse Puljujärvi, Noel Acciari, Valtteri Puustinen
Left Defense—Marcus Pettersson, Matt Grzelcyk, Ryan Graves, Ryan Shea
Right Defense—Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Jack St. Ivany
Goalie—Tristan Jarry, Joel Blomqvist
Hey Rick,
Some quick thoughts,
– Surprised but happy to see Aho gone.
– Glad to see Blomqvist and McRoarty made opening night 22 man roster, but now the question is will they get a chance to play? Or are they only here because Ned, Rust and smurf Lizotte are on IR?
– Surprised but happy to see Puustenin still here. I thought he would be traded. Not that I would be upset at a trade, just that I doubt we would get max value for him. My hope is that he is afforded quality TOI to build his stock up for an eventual trade. As I wrote on a previous reply I like the kid but as small as this team is physically and tactically (even when the player isn’t small – Due to coaching edicts?), the young Finn isn’t a good fit here.
– Sad to see that Beliveau wasn’t even given a chance to attend training camp but was immediately banished to WBS after being the best Defensemen in the prospect tournament.
– Sad to see that Gauthier and Howe were injured throughout camp and we couldn’t see them.
-Sad to see Beauvillier, K. Hayes, Grelczyk, and Jarry on the roster.
– Will the media blame the injuries to Rust, Liszotte, and Ned for a potential slow start (as if injuries only affect Pgh)?