The Pittsburgh Penguins have brought in veteran forward Jesse Puljujarvi on a tryout basis.
Puljujarvi joined the team Saturday for medical testing and is participated in a practice session at PPG Paints Arena on Sunday.
During his tryout, he is permitted to participate in all team activities aside from playing in games.
A native of Alvkarleby, Sweden who grew up in Finland, the right-handed Puljujarvi was a first-round pick (No. 4 overall) of the Edmonton Oilers in 2016.
The 25-year-old Puljujarvi (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) never lived up to the expectations of being drafted that high while spending parts of six seasons with the Oilers and was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes in February during the 2022-23 season.
This past offseason, Puljujarvi underwent double hip surgery. As a result, Puljujarvi, a pending restricted free agent, did not receive a qualifying offer from the Hurricanes, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.
Throughout his career, Puljujarvi has appeared in 334 games and has scored 114 points (51 goals, 63 assists) while averaging 13:35 of ice time per contest.
Puljujarvi’s invitation to the Penguins comes as the the team is dealing with considerable injuries on the right wing. Top-six forwards Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust have each missed games in recent weeks.
At the moment, Rakell is designated to long-term injured reserve due to an undisclosed ailment and is not eligible to rejoin the active roster until Dec. 16. He has been sidelined for the past nine games.
As for Rust, he missed a 3-1 road win against the Florida Panthers on Friday due to an undisclosed malady. There has been no official word on his status as of yet.
Note: Defenseman P.O Joseph was recalled from a conditioning assignment with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League and participated in practice.
