Penguins
Penguins Sign Pickering, New Prospects for WBS Playoffs
The Pittsburgh Penguins are stacking the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins roster with prospects and recent draft picks, including the recently acquired Ville Koivunen and 2022 first-round draft pick Owen Pickering.
It will be Koivunen’s second appearance in North America. He played 12 games last season for the Chicago Wolves of the AHL.
The WBS Penguins of the AHL added defensemen Pickering and Emil Pieniniemi and forwards Koivunen and Cooper Foster to their roster ahead of the team’s best-of-three series against the Lehigh Valley Phantom, which begins Wednesday at Mohegan Sun Arena.
Read more: Penguins Draft Polarizing Defenseman in 3rd Round.
The Pittsburgh Penguins assigned Pickering to WBS from the Swift Current Broncos of the WHL. The others signed amateur tryout agreements.
Pickering, 20, 21st overall pick in 2022, got a taste of professional hockey last season. He played eight games with WBS but did not record a point.
Read more: PHN scouted Pickering with WBS last season.
Pickering led Swift Current defensemen in assists (39) and points (46) this season and has done so three seasons running.
Pittsburgh acquired Koivunen, 20, as one of three prospects in the Jake Guentzel trade from the Carolina Hurricanes. Koivunen was a primary contributor for Karpat of the Finnish Elite League, scoring 22 goals and registering 56 points in 59 games. He was second on the team in goals and points while leading them in assists (34).
Koivunen was a second-round pick (51st overall) in 2021 by Carolina.
Since Christmas, Koivunen led the Finnish league in points. He notched 32 points with 12 goals in 27 games, since the holiday.
Pieniniemi was the Penguins’ third-round pick in the 2023 NHL Draft (91st overall) and a rookie this season for Karpat. He scored six points (2-4-6) in 38 games as a rookie. He appeared in nine playoff games but did not register a point.
Foster, 18, was the Penguins’ sixth-round selection (174th overall) by the Penguins in the 2023 NHL Draft. He had 21 goals and 31 assists for 52 points in 59 games.
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And Sully already decided he doesn’t like any of them. /s
I am interested in seeing what Koivunen, Pieniniemi, and to a lesser extent, Foster can do in the AHL. However, 1) As DaGama already alluded to here, I doubt they will be properly handled by the coaching staff. 2) I have serious reservations about Pickering. His 46 pnts this season in 59 GP was only good enough to tie him for 111th in the WHL in scoring. He was drafted as an offensive defenseman and he is aging out but only tied for 111th. that does not fill me with any confidence. He still seems to be a very long… Read more »
Pickering was overmatched in his short sample in the AHL last season. I am interested in seeing how he adjusted/changed his game. Hopefully he learned a lot and is better defensively
I am not saying Pickering will never develop; he may. However, right now, he is totally underwhelming. Watching him this season, I only remember 1 game that he really flashed any O – skill, a game against Medicine Hat (3/15) when he led a rush into the attacking zone then dished a pass to his RW and center drove. The RW pass LW and in tic-tac-toe fashion the LW found Pickering all alone in front of the net for a tap in. Other than that, he still showed many of my chief complaints all the way to when the Pens… Read more »