The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled forward Valtteri Puustinen from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League, it was announced today by general manager Ron Hextall.
Puustinen, 22, leads all WBS skaters in his first professional season in North America with 17 goals, 34 points (17G-17A) and six power-play goals in 53 games. His 17 assists also rank second on WBS.
The 5-foot-9, 183-pound native of Kuopio, Finland spent the 2020-21 season with HPK of Liiga, Finland’s top professional league, recording 41 points (21G-20A) in 51 games. His 21 goals led all HPK skaters and were tied for eighth in the league, while his 41 points were second-most on HPK.
Puustinen, who was selected in the seventh round (203rd overall) in the 2019 NHL Draft, is looking to become the first member of Pittsburgh’s 2019 draft class, and just the fourth player selected after the fourth round that year, to see NHL action.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s next game is Saturday, Mar. 12, when the Laval Rocket come to town for the first and only time this season. Saturday’s game is also the Penguins’ Star Wars Night. Puck drop between the Penguins and Rocket is slated for 6:05 p.m. at Mohegan Sun Arena at Casey Plaza.
Individual game tickets for the Penguins’ remaining home games as well as season-ticket packages for the upcoming 2022-23 season are on sale now. Full-Season, 22-game, 12-game, Flexbook and Premium Seating plans are available by reaching out to the Penguins directly at (570) 208-7367.
