Penguins Waive Sceviour, Demote Angello, Friedman to IR

Pittsburgh Penguins depth forward Colton Sceviour had a unique day. The Penguins activated Sceviour from the NHL COVID protocol then waived the forward. According to GM Ron Hextall, the team also reassigned forward Josh Currie, goalie Emil Larmi and defenseman Josh Maniscalco from the taxi squad to the WBS Penguins of the AHL.

And defenseman Mark Friedman was placed on IR retroactive to March 4, the date Philadelphia Flyers forward Nolan Patrick was penalized for boarding the Penguins defenseman shortly after he scored his first NHL goal. 

The team also demoted Anthony Angello, who played heavy in limited minutes on Sunday, to the taxi squad. Goalie Maxime Legace and forward Frederick Gaudreau received promotions from the WBS Penguins to the taxi squad to complete the day of transactions.

Sportsnet first reported Sceviour, 31, was on waivers. The Penguins acquired the forward with Mike Matheson for Patric Hornqvist in October. Sceviour is in the final year of a three-year contract with a $1.2 million cap hit.

The Penguins cap savings will be $1.050 million if Sceviour clears. This season, he has just two goals and no assists in 16 games. Sceviour was recently a healthy scratch before landing on the NHL COVID list late last week.

The Penguins currently have 13 forwards with Sceviour. The team is also carrying on seven defensemen and two goalies, which means there are now two open roster spots.

The team has been shuffling taxi-squad players back and forth from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to maintain game shape. It’s unknown if the Penguins plan to keep Sceviour on the active roster, demote him to the taxi squad or cut ties.

Hextall recently demoted rookie Drew O’Connor to the WBS Penguins. O’Connor played nine NHL games before losing his spot in the lineup.

Evan Rodrigues returned from the IR on Saturday and played both games this weekend. Rodrigues breathed life into the stagnant Pittsburgh Penguins fourth line and was lauded by Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan.