As the NHL prepares for a new season scheduled to start in mid-January, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 48 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.

Juuso Riikola

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Age: 27

Height: 6-foot

Weight: 189 pounds

2019-20 NHL statistics: 36 games, seven points (one goal, six assists)

Contract: First year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $1.15 million. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2022.

Acquired: Free agent signing, May 18, 2018

Last season: In an unprecedented offseason that had as much turnover as it did intrigue, one signing by the Penguins might have been the most bewildering part of the summer/fall of 2020.

The re-signing of defenseman Juuso Riikola.

Not only did they retain Riikola, but they gave him a two-year contract on Sept. 5 as well as a tidy bump in pay from the $850,000 he made his previous one-year contract.

Why?

To be clear, this isn’t a commentary on Riikola’s abilities. He’s a fleet skater, has a heavy shot — particularly with a one-timer in power-play situations — and doesn’t mind mixing it up physically. The quiet Finn has displayed he is a capable NHL defenseman when he’s been given the chance.

But those chances have been few and far between during his two seasons in this league.

For much of that time, he’s been stuck behind the likes of Brian Dumoulin, Marcus Pettersson and Jack Johnson on the left side of the Penguins’ blue line.

And even with a lineup that has been pockmarked by all sorts of injuries, especially on defense, Riikola has appeared in only 73 out of a possible 144 regular season games with the Penguins.

(Each of those figures could have been higher had he not been assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton late in the 2018-19 season to get some playing time.)

As far as the 2019-20 campaign goes, Riikola was in and out of the lineup as the Penguins’ injuries dictated. And on one occasion, the situation dictated that he be used as a left winger — a position he had never played previously — for a handful of games early in the season.

The future: The Penguins might have the NHL’s best “fourth” defensive pairing between Riikola and right-hander Chad Ruhwedel.

That’s something of a backhanded compliment in that they only every play when others are absent and that they’re pretty reliable when they do play.

With newcomers Mike Matheson and Cody Ceci slated to open the season on the third pair, it seems as though Riikola and Ruhwedel are bound to remain on that “fourth” pair, at least early on.

Given the extraordinary circumstances this season will be played under and the likelihood of several players missing games because of medical concerns related to the coronavirus pandemic, the probability of Riikola getting into games and playing meaningful minutes exists.

Beyond this season, Riikola’s future is uncertain. Dumoulin, Pettersson and Matheson are signed for multiple seasons. And left-handed defensive prospect Pierre-Olivier Joseph has developed at a satisfactory trajectory.

The Penguins’ management likes Riikola, enough so that he now has a seven-figure salary. But when (or) will he play?

Follow the Penguins all season long.

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