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Drew O'Connor

Pittsburgh Penguins Share Multiple Injury Updates

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Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan has shared multiple injury updates, most notably designating top-line winger Bryan Rust as a game-time decision on Sunday. Rust has missed Pittsburgh’s last seven games with an upper-body injury that earned him a place on injured reserve. It was the second time Rust has landed on IR this season, previously missing three weeks with another upper-body injury. The absences have limited Rust to just 42 of Pittsburgh’s 62 games this season – though he’s proven impactful when he does play, managing 36 points, split evenly, through 42 games.

Rust is on the cusp of reaching the 20-goal mark for the fifth-straight season – a streak he kicked off with a career-high 27 goals in just 55 games in 2019-20. While he hasn’t crossed 25 goals since that year, Rust has proven incredibly consistent, serving as a staple on Sidney Crosby’s line for much of his career. His return will carry extra weight than usual, as the Penguins have dealt away the final member of their top line: Jake Guentzel, who was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes for Michael Bunting, three prospects, and a first-round and fifth-round pick in 2024.

Sullivan also shared that forward Matthew Nieto is continuing to rehab from knee surgery. Nieto hasn’t played a game since November 30th, shifting to IR in December and long-term injured reserve in January. He was designated as out for six to eight weeks in early January, putting him on track for a return in mid-to-late March. Nieto has played just 22 games with the Penguins, scoring four points, since signing a two-year, $1.8MM contract with the team this summer.

Finally, the Penguins shared that Drew O’Connor has returned to skating after bearing with a concussion that’s held him out of the team’s last two games. O’Connor suffered the injury in Pittsburgh’s Tuesday game against the Columbus Blue Jackets, leaving after the first period. He had previously played in 60 games this season, scoring a career-high nine goals and 21 points. It’s O’Connor’s first year off the fourth line, after playing in 46 games and scoring 11 points in a depth role last season.

Injury Notes: Johnson, Keller, Acciari, O’Connor

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Columbus Blue Jackets forward Kent Johnson is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s Wednesday night game against the New York Rangers. Johnson didn’t miss any time in the game, playing until the final minute and assisting on Columbus’ only goal. Johnson is in the midst of an extended scoring drought, with his last goal coming on January 2nd. He’s managed three assists in the 19 games since.

Johnson has gone through a sophomore slump of sorts this season, recording just 16 points in 42 games after scoring 40 in 79 games last season. His struggles have resulted in a healthy scratch and even the first AHL assignment of his career. Johnson spent most of November in the minors, scoring 15 points in 10 games with the Cleveland Monsters. He’s totaled 13 points in 34 NHL games since getting called back up to the Blue Jackets roster on December 1st. He now joins top rookie Adam Fantilli and star winger Patrik Laine on the team’s inactive list, with Fantilli battling a lower-body injury and Laine currently in the NHLPA’s Players Assistance Program.

Other injury notes around the league:

  • Arizona Coyotes top forward Clayton Keller is set to miss the team’s next two games, per team reporter Patrick Brown. Keller is battling an upper-body injury suffered in the team’s Sunday loss to the Winnipeg Jets. He’s already missed one game with the injury, and is now set to miss two more, though head coach Andre Tourigny designated Keller as day-to-day.  Keller has an emphatic lead on Arizona’s scoring title, with 22 goals and 52 points in 57 games. He’s the only Coyote to break 40 points this season.
  • Pittsburgh Penguins forwards Noel Acciari and Drew O’Connor are both expected to play on Thursday, after getting banged up in the team’s Tuesday night win over Vancouver, per team reporter Matt Vensel. Acciari injured his forearm while blocking a shot and O’Connor got hurt after taking a hit from Filip Hronek.

Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Sign Drew O’Connor, Avoid Arbitration

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed winger Drew O’Connor to a two-year deal worth $925K per season, according to a team announcement Wednesday morning.

O’Connor was Pittsburgh’s last unsigned RFA and one of two unsettled arbitration cases remaining league-wide. Anaheim Ducks winger Troy Terry, whose hearing is scheduled for today, is now the only unsettled case. Pittsburgh and O’Connor were headed for a hearing on Friday, August 4, the last day on this year’s arbitration calendar.

The 25-year-old forward continues working toward a full-time NHL role, which the team hopes he can achieve in 2023-24. Many expected O’Connor to lock down an everyday role in the team’s bottom six last season, and while he did skate in a career-high 46 games with Pittsburgh, he didn’t avoid AHL assignment either. O’Connor started last season in the minors, recording 22 points in 20 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins before he was permanently called up to Pittsburgh in December 2022.

Those scoring totals in WBS are closely aligned with what he posted the previous two seasons, meaning he clearly has nothing left to prove in the minors after scoring at around a point-per-game clip for three years. His five goals and 11 points in 46 games in Pittsburgh last season seem more impressive when you consider he was playing just 9:49 per game.

O’Connor also had quite a strong end to the 2022-23 season, doing well with the United States at the 2023 IIHF World Championship in Finland and Latvia. He was among the team’s best offensive players, ranking fourth with eight points in ten games.

Since signing in Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth College at the end of the 2019-20 season, O’Connor’s posted eight goals, nine assists and 17 points in 78 games with the Pens. They’re totals he’ll undoubtedly build significantly on next season, with him currently penciled in on the team’s fourth line.

While Pittsburgh may have their last necessary signing done, their offseason is far from over. Per CapFriendly, the team currently sits roughly $3.2MM over the $83.5MM salary cap Upper Limit after signing O’Connor. However, their roster projection at the time of writing includes 13 forwards, eight defensemen and three goalies – putting them one player over the maximum 23-player roster. Some of that cap overrun will be cleared by assigning one of Casey DeSmith or Alex Nedeljkovic to the minors, depending on who wins the backup spot to starting goalie Tristan Jarry out of training camp.

This won’t fix everything, though, as neither of their cap hits ($1.8MM and $1.5MM, respectively) are fully buriable in the minors. That means they’ll still carry some cap penalty if they’re not on the active roster. Given the maximum buriable threshold next season is $1.15MM, this would mean Nedeljkovic would still carry a $350K cap hit if assigned to the AHL, while DeSmith would carry a $650K cap hit.

Don’t forget the Penguins remain deep in trade rumors to acquire San Jose Sharks defenseman Erik Karlsson, who’s fresh off a Norris Trophy-winning season and a 100-point campaign. While getting O’Connor locked into a six-figure contract for two years is a nice bit of work for interim general manager Kyle Dubas, the team is far from having their ducks in a row ahead of next season.

Some cap relief could come soon, though. Settling with O’Connor has opened up a second buyout window for Pittsburgh, which opens in three days and will last for 48 hours. As a reminder, post-arbitration settlement buyouts are subject to strict regulations: the player must have been on the team’s reserve list at the time of the 2023 trade deadline, and they must have a cap hit of at least $4MM. Two potential targets for Pittsburgh are forward Mikael Granlund and defenseman Jeff Petry, who are both locked in through the next two seasons at rather extravagant cap hits of $5MM and $6.25MM, respectively.

Signing O’Connor to a two-year deal buys up his remaining RFA years and walks him directly to unrestricted free agency in 2025, as CapFriendly notes.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.

AHL Shuffle: 3/4/23

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While there were plenty of recalls yesterday following paper demotions to the minors to maintain AHL eligibility, some of those moves will come today instead.  We’ll keep track of those transactions here while non-paper recalls will be covered separately.

  • The Lightning announced that they’ve recalled defenseman Darren Raddysh from AHL Syracuse. The 27-year-old played for Tampa Bay in Thursday’s loss to Pittsburgh but has spent most of the year with the Crunch, picking up 50 points in 50 games to put him second among all AHL rearguards in scoring.
  • The Penguins announced (Twitter link) the recall of forward Drew O’Connor from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 24-year-old last played in the AHL three months ago and since then, he has been a regular most nights with Pittsburgh, recording five goals and three assists in 27 games.
  • The Flames have recalled wingers Walker Duehr and Jakob Pelletier from AHL Calgary, per the AHL’s transactions log.  Both players were papered down on Friday.  Duehr has four points in 17 games with the Flames so far this season while Pelletier has seven points in 16 contests, five of which have come in Calgary’s last five outings.
  • Nashville has recalled forwards John Leonard and Luke Evangelista from Milwaukee after sending them down yesterday, per the AHL’s transactions log.  Leonard scored in his first game of the season with the Predators on Thursday while Evangelista has an assist over his first two NHL appearances.
  • The Kings have recalled centers Rasmus Kupari and Quinton Byfield, per the AHL’s transactions log.  Kupari has spent most of the year with Los Angeles, getting into 47 games with them compared to 11 with the Reign while Byfield has suited up 34 times for the Kings compared to 16 in Ontario.  These quick demotions will keep them eligible to play in the AHL postseason.
  • The Avalanche announced (Twitter link) they have sent down Ben Meyers to the Colorado Eagles. Meyers has played 34 games in the NHL this season with the Avalanche, scoring one goal and zero assists.

This post will be updated throughout the day.

Penguins Place Jeff Petry On LTIR, Recall Two Players

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The Penguins will be without one of their top defenders for at least a little while as the team announced that they have placed Jeff Petry on long-term injured reserve retroactive to December 11.  The move frees up some short-term cap space and Pittsburgh used some of that right away as they recalled defenseman Mark Friedman and forward Drew O’Connor from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL.

Petry was injured in Saturday’s victory over Buffalo with what appeared to be a hand or wrist injury.  Following the game, he suggested it wouldn’t be a long-term issue but clearly, this placement suggests otherwise.  The Penguins acquired the 35-year-old over the offseason from Montreal with the hopes of giving them a strong one-two punch on the right-hand side with Kris Letang.  Petry has fit in well with a dozen points in 28 games while averaging over 22 minutes a night, a number that jumped to over 26 minutes per contest while Letang was recovering from his stroke.  Now, Letang will be counted on to take on a heavier workload with Petry out for at least the next 10 games and 24 days.  Chad Ruhwedel will likely slot in as a regular on the back end in Petry’s absence.

O’Connor is the top scorer for Pittsburgh’s farm team as he has eight goals and 14 assists in 20 games so far this season, a rate that’s a small improvement over the 32 points in 33 AHL contests he had last year.  The 24-year-old played in 22 games with Pittsburgh last season where he had three goals and two assists but so far this year, he has been limited to just three contests, being held off the scoresheet while averaging 8:32 per night.

As for Friedman, he played in a career-high 26 NHL contests last season but Pittsburgh was able to get him through waivers back in October and assigned him to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton upon clearing.  He has played in 19 games in the minors so far, collecting a goal and four assists.  For Pittsburgh to be able to activate Petry when he’s able to return, they will have to get cap-compliant which likely means that Friedman and O’Connor will have to go back to the minors at that time, barring other injuries.

Pittsburgh Penguins Re-Assign Drew O’Connor

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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

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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

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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.

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