Penguins A to Z: Niclas Almari gets a taste of North American hockey

While the NHL is on hold because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 54 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.

Niclas Almari

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Age: 21

Height: 6-foot-1

Weight: 180 pounds

2019-20 AHL statistics: 51 games, seven points (one goal, six assists)

Contract: First year of a three-year entry-level contract, $809,167 cap hit.

Acquired: Fifth-round selection (No. 151) overall in 2016 draft

This season: After appearing in two regular-season and one postseason game on an amateur tryout basis in 2017-18 with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Almari is in his first full professional season at the North American level.

The 2019-20 campaign has been a learning experience for Almari, who is getting used to playing on the smaller North American rink (200 feet by 85 feet) as opposed to the larger (and somewhat random) rinks he grew up playing on in his native Finland. While he has been a healthy scratch at times throughout the season, he has received a fairly ample workload because of injuries or recalls for veteran defensemen such as Kevin Czuczman, Zach Trotman and David Warsofsky.

Almari hasn’t taken huge steps this season, but he’s heading in the right direction if he’s to become an NHL-er.

The future: If Almari makes it to the NHL, he will be the safe left-handed partner to a right-handed defenseman who has some offensive pop. Think Brian Dumoulin or Marcus Pettersson with fewer physical gifts.