Forward Jesse Puljujarvi joined the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on a professional tryout (PTO) contract Thursday morning.
That team announced the transaction via a release.
Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas revealed those plans for Puljujarvi during a radio interview with team broadcaster Josh Getzoff on Wednesday evening. Markus Lehto, Puljujarvi’s agent, confirmed his client is expected to join Wilkes-Barre/Scranton via e-mail early Thursday morning.
The hope, for all parties concerned, is that Puljujarvi will show enough at the AHL level to earn an NHL contract.
Puljujarvi has been with the Pittsburgh Penguins on a tryout basis — different from a PTO contract per the NHL’s guidelines — since Dec. 10. Primarily restricted to workouts off the ice, he has increased his participation on the ice during practices over the past week.
“My feeling is good,” Puljujarvi said Dec. 10. “I can play nice hockey. I can bring a lot of things. Help the guys forechecking. I think I can make good plays and be hard to play (against).”
The fourth overall selection in the 2016 NHL Draft by the Edmonton Oilers, the 25-year-old Puljujarvi is recovering from surgery to both hips this past offseason.
In six seasons at the NHL level between the Oilers and Carolina Hurricanes, the right-handed Puljujarvi (6-foot-4, 201 pounds) has appeared in 334 career games and scored 114 points (51 games, 63 assists).
He entered this past offseason as a pending restricted free agent, but the Hurricanes declined to extend a qualifying offer, allowing him to become an unrestricted free agent.
