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Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Emil Pieniniemi

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced today that they’ve signed defense prospect Emil Pieniniemi to a three-year, entry-level contract, which PuckPedia reports carries an NHL salary of $775K, a signing bonus of $95K, a games-played bonus of $80K, and a minors salary of $82.5K in all three seasons. The contract carries a cap hit of $870K.

The 18-year-old Finn was Pittsburgh’s third-round pick in this year’s draft at 91st overall. He’s the first player taken outside of the first two rounds to sign his entry-level contract.

Pieniniemi did go a bit earlier in the draft than some thought, as most public scouts had him pegged as a fifth- or sixth-round pick. It’s obvious the Penguins believe in Pieniniemi’s defensive upside, which he showed as the hallmark of his game while playing in the Finnish U-20 circuit last season.

He does carry a prototypical frame for a defender that NHL teams desire at 6-foot-2, although he still needs to grow into it a little more before he’s pro-ready. His game revolves around his physicality and how he uses it to shut down the other team’s attack, with Elite Prospects describing his defensive style as “pinching aggressively and gapping up early, guiding opponents towards the boards before engaging physically.”

That’s not to say he’s an offensive liability – he did show the possibility of being an adept puck-moving defender at the pro level. Playing for Karpat in the top Finnish junior league, Pieniniemi tallied 13 points in 31 games and made his professional debut in the Liiga, dressing for one game with Karpat in December 2022 but not seeing any ice time.

Pittsburgh will likely loan Pieniniemi back to Karpat for the 2023-24 season, which will result in his entry-level contract sliding to start in 2024-25.

 

Snapshots: Constantine, Jarry, Tulsa Oilers

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Kevin Constantine, a former NHL head coach who served as bench boss for the Pittsburgh Penguins, San Jose Sharks, and New Jersey Devils has been hired as the next head coach of the WHL’s Wenatchee Wild. The 64-year-old American has worked behind the bench of WHL teams before, with a combined eight seasons of experience in the league across two stints with the Everett Silvertips.

Constantine reached the WHL Finals in 2003-04, and since his last stint with the Silvertips ended after 2016-17 he’s had quite the coaching journey. Constantine has coached in South Korea, Poland, and has most recently served as head coach for Fehervar AV19 in the ICEHL and as Hungary’s head coach at the 2023 IIHF Men’s World Championships. Constantine will coach a Wild team stocked with some high-end NHL prospects, including three NHL first-round picks: Matthew Savoie, Conor Geekie, and Zach Benson.

Some other notes from across the hockey world:

  • Penguins netminder Tristan Jarry told the media today that he’s feeling “100% right now” in terms of his health. Jarry, 28, recently signed a major five-year, $5.375MM AAV contract extension to remain the Penguins’ number-one netminder for what will likely be the rest of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang’s playing days. Given the significant investment the Penguins have made in Jarry’s future, his health is of the utmost importance to the entire organization. Jarry has struggled with injuries in recent seasons, so hearing from him that he’s feeling recovered and at his full capacity is encouraging news for the Penguins’ hopes of competing next season.
  • The Anaheim Ducks have announced that they’ve extended their affiliation agreement with the ECHL’s Tulsa Oilers, extending a developmental and business relationship that began in 2020. While it’s not entirely common to see teams utilize ECHL affiliates to develop premier prospects, the option to develop a player in North America’s third-tier league is still a valuable one to have. The Detroit Red Wings utilized their ECHL affiliate to develop 2021 15th overall pick Sebastian Cossa, and now by extending this affiliation agreement the Ducks have secured their ability to elect a similar path for their own prospects moving forward.

Latest On Penguins, Erik Karlsson

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Last week, we covered growing rumors that the Pittsburgh Penguins were pursuing a trade for San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, the 2023 Norris Trophy winner. Today, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reported some new details on the Penguins’ Karlsson chase, writing “the Penguins were extremely close to landing Karlsson on July 1” and that “a deal was close to being completed that morning.” (subscription link) It’s long been speculated that a third team would be necessary for the Penguins to be able to absorb Karlsson’s cap hit, so it’s possible that this reported deal fell through due to cap-related considerations.

Given just how difficult moving money between teams has been due to the flat-cap environment, it’s no surprise Karlsson remains on the Sharks’ roster nearly two full weeks after that deal was nearly completed. What Yohe’s report indicates, though, is that the Penguins are earnest in their efforts to acquire Karlsson and that the possibility he joins Kris Letang and Ryan Graves on Pittsburgh’s blueline is more realistic than some might think.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Andreas Johnsson

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Continuing to add to their forward core, the Pittsburgh Penguins have announced they have agreed to a one-year, $800K contract with Andreas Johnsson. Johnsson most recently played for the San Jose Sharks after a trade deadline deal with the New Jersey Devils.

Included in the deal to land the Devils Timo Meier, Johnsson is ready for a bounce-back year. Severely limited in playing time under head coach Lindy Ruff during the 2022-23 NHL season, Johnsson only managed to play in 13 games last year, mostly for the Sharks and tallied three points (all assists) in total. A true-to-fashion change of scenery candidate, Johnsson will be looking to find his game in Pittsburgh.

Not so long ago, Johnsson was projected to be a regular top-six forward. During the 2018-19 season, Johnsson scored 43 points for the Toronto Maple Leafs in 73 games, incredibly only averaging just under 14 minutes of ice time per night. Unfortunately for Johnsson, as his ice time increased, his production took a dive. Just over one year later, the Maple Leafs would trade him to the Devils for depth forward, Joey Anderson.

Johnsson has shown flashes during his time in New Jersey and his time in Toronto as being a particularly above-average forward on the defensive side of the puck, and he will most certainly need to recapture that in Pittsburgh. By their current roster construction, Johnsson will most likely feature in the team’s bottom six, where defensive responsibility will be just as important as his offensive upside.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Vinnie Hinostroza

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The Pittsburgh Penguins announced that the team had added forward Vinnie Hinostroza to a one-year deal for the 2023-24 NHL season. The contract will pay Hinostroza the league minimum, $775K over one year.

This will be Hinostroza’s fifth team in his career, having spent parts of eight years with the Chicago Blackhawks, Arizona Coyotes, Florida Panthers, and Buffalo Sabres. Hinostroza’s best year came back in the 2018-19 season, scoring 39 points in 72 games for the Coyotes. Now joining a team in dire need of forward depth in the bottom six, Hinostroza could certainly add some value to the Penguins’ lineup.

If Hinostroza is unable to crack Pittsburgh’s lineup by the start of the season, he will be an even greater addition to their AHL affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Last season, the baby Penguins had quite a fall, going 26-32-8-6, falling well short of the playoffs in the Atlantic Division. Even worse for them, they were only one of three teams in the AHL last season not to record at least 200 goals as a team.

Even being a little undersized standing below six feet tall, Hinostroza has 120 games played at the AHL level, scoring 35 goals and 56 assists. Although most of those games came at the beginning of his career, Hinostroza’s skill and style of play should benefit the Penguins organization no matter what level he plays at.

David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period was the first to report that the Penguins had signed Hinostroza. 

Latest On Erik Karlsson Trade Talks

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Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported today on the NHL Network that the San Jose Sharks remain steadfast in their efforts to trade reigning Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson. Friedman goes on to say that the Carolina Hurricanes and Pittsburgh Penguins are the two teams that the Sharks are talking to and adds that Carolina may need to work out of a move for defenseman Brett Pesce to acquire some assets to complete a Karlsson deal.

On the Pittsburgh side of things, Josh Yohe of The Athletic wrote an article today that outlined why Erik Karlsson is the type of player that general manager Kyle Dubas needs to acquire. Yohe highlights exactly why Karlsson is the right player for the team and the situation the Penguins are currently in. While most of Yohe’s article is in defense of the Penguins acquiring the defenseman, he also adds a couple of pieces of information regarding a potential move. Yohe says that any move Pittsburgh makes for Karlsson would be complex and would involve a third team, which is no surprise given that Karlsson is owed $11.5MM annually for the next four seasons.

Friedman reported Tuesday on his 32 Thoughts Podcast that one hold-up to the potential deal was that teams wanted the Sharks to retain more of Karlsson’s cap hit. He went on to add that at the trade deadline in March San Jose was willing to retain between 18-20% of Karlsson’s cap hit to facilitate a deal. Friedman believes the Sharks will need to retain closer to 30% of the deal which would turn Karlsson into an $8MM player for the acquiring team, and should net the Sharks a better return. Something they are open to. Friedman also reported today on the NHL Network that he believes the Sharks have pursued unrestricted free-agent defenseman Matt Dumba as a possible replacement for Karlsson.

At this point, it almost feels as though the Penguins must acquire Karlsson. Not only would they block Carolina from adding Karlsson to their already stacked defensive unit, but it would help to jump-start their offence which became stale last year for long stretches. Pittsburgh feels like a team that needs a jolt as they have been unable to get out of the first round of the playoffs since 2018 and didn’t even qualify for the postseason last year. Adding a 101-point defenseman would also alleviate some of the offensive pressure off Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and the rest of the Penguins’ top-6 forward group who almost single-handily carried the team last season. And while Dubas has been busy overhauling the black hole that was the Penguins’ bottom six, he still hasn’t added much in the way of offensive firepower.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Will Butcher

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Per PuckPedia, the Pittsburgh Penguins have signed UFA defenseman Will Butcher to a one-year, two-way deal. He’ll earn $775K in the NHL and $425K in the minors.

After five seasons in the NHL with the New Jersey Devils and Buffalo Sabres, Butcher found himself limited to an AHL-only role last season after signing a one-year deal with the Dallas Stars. He did well enough in his first AHL season, posting 43 points in 65 games with the Texas Stars, along with a +11 rating.

The contract marks a slight raise for Butcher, who only earned his $325K guaranteed salary on last season’s two-way deal. Butcher, 28, does have 275 NHL games to his name, including a 44-point rookie season with the Devils in 2017-18. He’s yet to hit a level of play anywhere close to what he displayed that year, however.

With a logjam of younger defensemen that includes Pierre-Olivier Joseph and Ty Smith, Butcher isn’t a candidate to make the Penguins out of camp. He is, however, one of the more capable call-up options in the league if injuries strike the Pittsburgh blueline.

The left-shot American will be an unrestricted free agent again in a year’s time.

Joel Blomqvist Will Play In AHL Next Season

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  • The Pittsburgh Penguins plan on bringing goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist to North America next season, says director of player development Tom Kostopoulos. The team’s 2020 second-round pick has played almost exclusively in Finland since being drafted, save for a few spotty appearances stateside after his season ended overseas. He took a step back last season after posting an insane .940 save percentage in 20 Liiga games in 2021-22, still managing a shutout and .907 save percentage in 21 games with Karpat. He’ll command a lot of playing time with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton next season.

Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Three Players

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As the Pittsburgh Penguins continue to build up their organizational depth, the team has announced three signings, bringing in forwards Marc Johnstone and Radim Zohorna, as well as goaltender Magnus Hellberg. Johstone’s contract will be a two-year, $1.55MM contract, while Zohorna will earn a one-year, $785K deal, both contracts being two-way deals. Shortly thereafter, the team announced that Hellberg would also be making $785K over a one-year deal.

Hellberg becomes the second goalie the Penguins have poached from the Detroit Red Wings, after having also signed goalie Alex Nedeljkovic yesterday. Starting last season with the Ottawa Senators, Hellberg was acquired by Seattle Kraken via waivers on November 22nd, and then subsequently claimed on waivers by the Red Wings the next day. Serving as the primary backup for Detroit last year after Nedeljkovic was sent down to the minors, Hellberg posted a 4-8-1 record, managing a .885 SV% and a 3.29 GAA.

Zohorna is back to the Penguins for his second stint with the organization, after a brief stint split between the Toronto Maple Leafs and Calgary Flames organizations during the 2022-23 season. Zohorna spent much of the year playing for the Flames AHL affiliate, the Calgary Wranglers, but would then finish the year with the Toronto Marlies after a midseason trade between the two teams. At the AHL level last year, Zohorna played in 51 games, scoring 12 goals and 22 assists.

Lastly, Johnstone has the least amount of experience in the group, having only spent the last two years playing for the Toronto Marlies. A Sacred Heart University product, Johnstone has a total of 73 games played in the AHL, scoring nine goals and 13 assists throughout his short career.

 

Minor League Signings 07/01/2023

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On day one of the free agent market opening up, the league saw a grand total of 166 signings, with a whopping $646.4MM handed out over the course of 291 total contract years. This class of free agents was expected to be one of the weaker in recent memory, but the excitement still remained as quite a few players switched cities. In all the chaos, there were some minor contracts that were inked yesterday that may have slipped under the radar for most:

  • The Montreal Canadiens signed defenseman Brady Keeper to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Keeper spent last season playing for the Vancouver Canucks AHL affiliate, the Abbotsford Canucks. He only managed to play for about half of the Canucks games, scoring one goal and five assists in 35 games. In the playoffs, although eliminated in the first round, Keeper scored one goal in two games for Abbotsford (CapFriendly).
  • Defenseman Ryan Shea has inked a one-year, $775K, two-way contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins. Shea was a former fourth-round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks back in 2015, but never actually signed with the team, joining the Dallas Stars on an entry-level contract in 2020. The Northeastern University product played a combined 162 games for the Texas Stars of the AHL, scoring 10 goals and 56 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The Washington Capitals signed forward, Pierrick Dube, to a two-year, $1.9MM, entry-level contract yesterday. An undrafted free agent last year, Dube joined the Laval Rocket, the AHL affiliate of the Montreal Canadiens. Dube played very well for the Rocket, scoring 16 goals and 16 assists in 44 games down the stretch. Still only 22 years old, Dube could factor into one of the top lines on the Hershey Bears next season, potentially even finding minutes with the Capitals in the near future (CapFriendly).
  • Another depth signing for the Penguins, the team has added forward Joona Koppanen to a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract. Koppanen was originally drafted by the Boston Bruins in the fifth round of the 2016 NHL Draft, playing the majority of his career up to this point with the Providence Bruins. Last season, Koppanen did get his first change in the NHL, playing five games for the Bruins in January, tallying only one assist while averaging just under 11 minutes of ice time a game (CapFriendly).
  • The Florida Panthers re-signed defenseman Lucas Carlsson to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract yesterday. The defenseman was acquired in 2021 from the Blackhawks in an early-April trade. Although playing in 40 games during 2021-22 for Florida, Carlsson spent the majority of last season with their AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. In the minor leagues, Carlsson was one of the highest-scoring defensemen in the league, scoring 20 goals and 34 assists in 61 games (CapFriendly).
  • Securing his first contract in professional hockey, the Edmonton Oilers have added defenseman Noel Hoefenmayer to a one-year, $845K, entry-level contract. A former fourth-round pick of the Arizona Coyotes back in 2017, Hoefenmayer never played in the Coyotes system, eventually playing on minor-league contracts with the Toronto Marlies after finishing his junior career with the Ottawa 67’s. Hoefenmayer played quite well for the Marlies, scoring 11 goals and 27 assists in 65 games last season (CapFriendly).
  • Returning back to North American hockey after spending the last two seasons playing for Metallurg Magnitogorsk of the Kontinental Hockey League, the Montreal Canadiens veteran forward Philippe Maillet to a one-year, $775K, two-way contract. Already 30 years old, Maillet has spent parts of his career with the Capitals and Los Angeles Kings organizations before finally making the jump overseas in 2021-22. In 66 games played for Metallurg last season, Maillet scored 22 goals and 31 assists (CapFriendly).
  • The recipient of the Jack A. Butterfield Trophy from the 2023 Calder Cup playoffs, Hunter Shepard, has signed a two-year, $1.55MM, two-way contract to remain with the Capitals organization. Shepard was sensational en route to the Hershey Bears winning the 2023 Calder Cup, managing a 14-6-0 record throughout the playoffs, carrying a 2.27 GAA and a .914 SV% (CapFriendly).

 

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