Penguins Call Up Valtteri Puustinen, First of 2019 Class?

Earlier this week, the Pittsburgh Penguins sent grinding forward Kasper Bjorkqvist back to the WBS Penguins. On Thursday afternoon, the team recalled former seventh-round pick Valtteri Puustinen from WBS.

While Puustinen is unlikely to play, he does present more offensive pop than most of the Penguins prospects at the AHL level. In his first North American season, he leads all WBS skaters with 17 goals, 34 points (17-17-34), and six power-play goals in 53 games. His 17 assists also rank second on WBS.

The 5-foot-9, 183-pound Finn spent the 2020-21 season with HPK of Liiga. He notched 41 points (21-20-41) in 51 games. He led HPK with 21 goals and tied for eighth in the league. His 41 points were second-most on HPK.

Valtteri Puustinen was the Pittsburgh Penguins 2019 seventh-round choice (203rd overall). Despite Sam Poulin being selected in the first round, and Nathan Legare (third-round) in the Penguins system, Puustinen could be the first member of the Penguins 2019 draft class to play in the NHL. He would also be just the fourth player of that draft class who was drafted in the fourth-round or after to make his NHL debut.

The Penguins host the Vegas Golden Knights Friday at PPG Paints Arena.