PITTSBURGH FINALIZES 23-MAN ROSTER AND TAXI SQUAD
PITTSBURGH, Pa. – The Pittsburgh Penguins have finalized their 23-man roster and taxi squad, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford.
Pittsburgh’s current 22-man roster includes 12 forwards (Teddy Blueger, Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Mark Jankowski, Sam Lafferty, Evgeni Malkin, Jared McCann, Evan Rodrigues, Bryan Rust, Colton Sceviour, Brandon Tanev and Jason Zucker), eight defensemen (Cody Ceci, Brian Dumoulin, Kris Letang, John Marino, Mike Matheson, Marcus Pettersson, Juuso Riikola and Chad Ruhwedel) and two goaltenders (Casey DeSmith and Tristan Jarry). Kasperi Kapanen will complete the team’s 23-man roster when he completes his COVID testing protocol.
The Penguins six-man taxi squad will include three forwards, one defenseman and two goaltenders:
F – Anthony Angello
F – Frédérick Gaudreau
F – Drew O’Connor
D – Pierre-Olivier Joseph
G – Alex D’Orio
G – Maxime Lagace
The taxi squad can be a maximum of six players for the 2020-21 season. These players will practice in Pittsburgh separately from the 23-man roster and travel with the team in case an emergency recall is needed. Because they are stationed out of Pittsburgh, they will not need to quarantine before entering the lineup.
Forwards Josh Currie and Radim Zohorna as well as defensemen Kevin Czuczman and Cam Lee have been re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League. Forward Jordan Nolan has been removed from his PTO and will report to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The AHL’s season is set to open on Feb. 5, 2021.
Forwards Nathan Legare (3rd round of 2019 NHL Draft) and Sam Poulin (1st round of 2019 NHL Draft) were both returned to their junior teams in the Québec Major Junior Hockey League.
Zach Aston-Reese, Josh Maniscalco, Sam Miletic and Zach Trotman, who missed time during training camp, will be appropriately assigned on Tuesday when rosters are submitted to the NHL.
For the fourth-consecutive season, captain Sidney Crosby is the Penguins’ longest-tenured player as he embarks on his 16th campaign. Only Penguins’ Hall of Fame owner Mario Lemieux (17 seasons) has played more seasons in franchise history. He will be joined by alternate captains Evgeni Malkin (15th year) and Kris Letang (14th year) as the only three-time Stanley Cup Champions on the team (2009, ’16, ’17).
The Penguins open the 2020-21 regular season this Wednesday, January 13 in Philadelphia against the Flyers at 5:30 PM at Wells Fargo Center. Fans can watch the game on NBCSN or listen on the team’s official flagship, 105.9 The X.
