All six of the players that the Penguins put on waivers yesterday cleared today. That includes Ryan Graves, not that it was expected another team would go out and grab his contract with four years to go on it.
Pittsburgh didn’t put anyone of waivers today, which means that (if there was any doubt at this point) all their fringe players who would have needed waivers like Caleb Jones, Filip Hallander, Noel Acciari, Ryan Shea, Matt Dumba and Connor Clifton will be making the opening night lineup.
The Pens could still assign young players who don’t require waivers back to the AHL, but Ville Koivunen is the only player that applies there and looks solidly on the team at this point. Pittsburgh also has two teenagers in Ben Kindel and Harrison Brunicke on their 23-player roster, who would have to be assigned to their junior clubs – but at this point it looks like both will be making their NHL debuts on Tuesday for opening night against the Rangers.
Brunicke made a strong run at the lineup last season, at just age 18 but was the final cut from training camp.
Kindel’s ascension has been more surprising and unexpected, not many had him as a serious contender to crack the NHL this year. The young player kept earning more looks and another day with every passing moment in training camp, and he now finds himself as one of just a handful of players from the 2025 draft class that will immediately play in the NHL.
Making the opening night roster is no guarantee that either young player will be around for long. Due to league rules, their entry level contracts don’t kick in to burn a season until they play in 10 regular season games. That’s why often teams will assign young players back the juniors when they get to about the nine game mark to preserve their contract.
One time the Penguins did not do that was with Daniel Sprong in 2015. Pittsburgh dressed Sprong in 18 NHL games in 2015-16, it wasn’t quite working out so they returned him to his junior team. Because Sprong played double-digit games, his contract started. It continued to burn a year in 2016-17, even though Sprong did not play in the NHL that year and was assigned back to junior before the start. That’s one area to keep in mind and probably manage a little bit better this time around, Sprong became a restricted free agent in 2018 after only 26 NHL games and 65 AHL games. That path wouldn’t be the most efficient use for Kindel, so if the Pens don’t want to keep him for the full season they likely will return him to the WHL after a handful of games.
