With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering a nine-day break in their schedule, rookie forward Jonathan Gruden and reserve goaltender Dustin Tokarski were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Sunday.
Recalled to the NHL roster Jan. 15, Gruden has been a healthy scratch for the past four games. Making his NHL debut Jan. 16, Gruden has appeared in three NHL contests this season and has not recorded any points while averaging 5:20 of ice time per contest.
A third-year professional, Gruden has played in 32 AHL games this season and has scored 16 points (11 goals, five assists).
Tokarski has been recalled to the NHL twice this season, most recently Jan. 25 under emergency conditions due to an undisclosed injury that has sidelined starter Tristan Jarry.
In two NHL contests this season, Tokarski has as 1-1-0 record, a 2.67 goals against average and a .915 save percentage.
With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Tokarski has played in 20 games this season and has a 9-6-4 record, a 2.27 goals against average, a .923 save percentage and one shutout.
The Penguins are in the midst of their bye week which runs into next weekend’s All-Star break and are not scheduled to play again until they host the Colorado Avalanche on Feb. 7.
