Wilkes-Barre/Scranton adds 4 Penguins prospects for playoff roster
The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have added four Pittsburgh Penguins prospects to their roster for the upcoming Calder Cup playoffs.
Defenseman Owen Pickering was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after completing his season at the junior level with the Western Hockey League’s (WHL) Swift Current Broncos.
Meanwhile, forwards Cooper Foster and Ville Koivunen as well as defenseman Emil Pieniniemi were signed to amateur tryout contracts (ATOs).
• Pickering was the Pittsburgh Penguins’ first-round pick (No. 21) overall in the 2022 NHL draft. Serving as Swift Current’s captain his past season, the left-handed Pickering (6-foot-4, 205 pounds) appeared in 59 WHL games and scored 46 points (seven goals, 39 assists).
The Captain chimes in with his first of the playoffs!!
Owen Pickering has the @SCBroncos within one ????#letsgopens | #FeedtheFuture pic.twitter.com/sbRJby5bXH
— The WHL (@TheWHL) April 17, 2024
Last season, Pickering was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton late in the campaign and appeared in eight games with no points.
The Penguins signed Pickering to a three-year entry-level contract in July of 2022 but that contract has yet to take effect since Pickering has spent the past two seasons at the junior level. Once the 20-year-old turns professional in a full capacity, the contract will begin.
• Foster was a sixth-round pick (No. 174 overall) in 2023 and just completed his season at the junior level with the Ottawa 67s of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL). Appearing in 59 OHL games in 2023-24, Foster (6-foot, 187 pounds) had 52 points (21 goals, 31 assists).
COOPER FOSTER ENDS IT IN OT AGAIN!!
The #LetsGoPens prospect is sent in all alone by Brady Stonehouse (#LetsGoOilers) to finish this one under a minute into the extra frame ???? pic.twitter.com/NF1N6T8E1g
— Ottawa 67’s (@Ottawa67sHockey) December 7, 2023
A left-handed shot, the 19-year-old Foster has yet to sign an NHL contract with the Penguins.
• Koivunen was acquired via trade on March 7 from the Carolina Hurricanes as part of the blockbuster deal that jettisoned All-Star forward Jake Guentzel.
A native of Finland, the 20-year-old Koivunen just completed a season playing for Kapat in the Liiga, that country’s top league. He was Karpat’s second-leading scorer with 56 points (22 goals, 34 assists) in 59 games.
???? Turunen passaa, Koivunen sivaltaa @OulunKarpatFi:in tasoihin! ????
???? @MTVUrheilu | #Liiga #Kärpät pic.twitter.com/NpMoBx6UcM
— Liiga (@smliiga) March 30, 2024
The left-handed Koivunen (5-foot-11, 161 pounds) is in the first year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $805,833.
• Pieniemi was a third-round pick (No. 91) in the 2023 NHL Draft and spent most of the 2023-24 season with Karpat, as well. In 38 games, the left-handed posted six points (two goals, four assists).
— EN Videos (@ENVideos19) April 22, 2024
The 19-year-old Pieniniemi, also a native of Finland, is in the first year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $870,000.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is scheduled to face the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs.
The schedule for the best-of-three series:
Game 1 - Wednesday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 7:05 p.m.
Game 2 - Friday at Lehigh Valley, 7:05 p.m.
*-Game 3 - Sunday at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, 5:05 p.m.
*-If necessary.
In corresponding transactions, forward Lukas Svejkovsky was assigned from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL while forward Matthew Quercia was released from his professional tryout contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and returned to Wheeling.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
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