The Penguins have deadlines this summer to sign a few of their prospects.
Three of the Penguins' college prospects -- forward Nikita Pavlychev and defensemen Will Reilly and Ryan Jones -- are currently in their final year of college hockey and will turn pro next season.
The Penguins retain exclusive negotiating rights for all three until Aug. 15, 2020. If the Penguins pass on signing any of the three by then, or if any of the players don't want to sign with the Penguins, they would become an unrestricted free agent after that deadline.
College players can't sign contracts and retain their eligibility, so they would have to sign the deals once their seasons end. Depending on when their seasons end, and if they actually intend on signing, they can finish the year in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on amateur deals.
The Penguins will also lose the rights this year to three prospects who have already left the organization. Their 2016 sixth-round pick, defenseman Joe Masonius, left college in 2018, forgoing his senior season. He signed an AHL-level deal with Wilkes-Barre last season but was injured during training camp then released after camp. He signed with the South Carolina Stingrays of the ECHL and was released after one game, then later in the year signed with the ECHL's Manchester Monarchs and played 12 games. He signed with the Reading Royals of the ECHL over the summer and was released before the start of the season.
The Penguins will lose the North American rights to two former prospects who left the organization as restricted free agents to return to Europe, as a result of the players turning 27 years old and losing restricted free agent status. The first is forward Dominik Uher, the Penguins' 2011 fifth-round pick who spent four years in Wilkes-Barre from 2012-16 and played two games in Pittsburgh in that time. He returned home to the Czech Republic from 2016-18, then moved to the Fischtown Pinguins of the German DEL league, where he currently plays.
The second player is defenseman Lukas Bengtsson, who was an undrafted free agent signing in 2016 and played parts of two seasons in Wilkes-Barre marred by a POTS diagnosis before returning home to Sweden for the 2018-19 season. He moved to the KHL for this season with SKA St. Petersburg, but broke his collarbone in the first game of the season. If either Uher or Bengtsson wish to move to North America after this season, as unlikely as it is, the Penguins no longer hold their rights.
Here’s a look at what all of the Penguins' prospects in juniors, college, and Europe did this week:
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FORWARDS
Judd Caulfield
Position: Forward
Size: 6-3/207
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, fifth round
Team: North Dakota (NCAA)
Season totals: 8 games, 2 assist
Caulfield recorded one assist, a primary assist, in two games this week.
Liam Gorman
Position: Center
Size: 6-3/196
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2018, sixth round
Team: Princeton (NCAA)
Season totals: 6 games, 2 assists
Gorman played in two games this week and recorded no points.
Filip Hallander
Position: Center/Wing
Size: 6-1/190
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2018, second round
Team: Lulea HF (SHL)
Season totals: 2 games, 1 assist
Hallander fractured his leg in his second game of the season and is expected to be out until at least Christmas. He got the cast off of his leg earlier this month.
Nathan Legare
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-0/205
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, third round
Team: Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
Season totals: 22 games, 10 goals, 12 assists
Legare played in three games this week, and scored one goal and three assists. His goal was the fifth Drakkar goal in a 9-3 Baie-Comeau win over the Quebec Remparts:
Linus Olund
Position: Center
Size: 5-11/183
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2017, fifth round
Team: Brynas IF (SHL)
Season totals: 15 games, 1 goal, 4 assists
Olund picked up one assist in his two games this week.
Nikita Pavlychev
Position: Center
Size: 6-8/225
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2015, seventh round
Team: Penn State (NCAA)
Season totals: 8 games, 2 goal, 4 assists
Pavlychev only played in one game this week on Friday, and left in the first period after injuring his right leg. He hasn't been cleared to play yet.
Samuel Poulin
Position: Wing
Size: 6-1/207
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2019, first round
Team: Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)
Season totals: 21 games, 16 goals, 21 assists
Poulin skated in three games this week, scoring one goal and one assist. His goal was this ridiculous backhand move from his stomach:
Valtteri Puustinen
Position: Wing
Size: 5-9/183
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Team: HPK (Liiga)
Season totals: 21 games, 9 goals, 7 assists
Puustinen scored two goals this week in two games, including this goal off of a rebound:
DEFENSEMEN
Calen Addison
Size: 5-10/180
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2018, second round
Team: Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
Season totals: 22 games, 4 goals, 17 assists
Addison scored two assists in two games. He also played in Team WHL's two games against the Russian junior prospects in the Canada-Russia series, and scored the overtime winner in the first game:
Santeri Airola
Size: 5-11/165
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Team: SaiPa (Liiga), Kettera (Mestis)
Season totals: 2 games with SaiPa; 3 games with Kettera
Airola played in two games with Kettera in Mestis and was scoreless.
Ryan Jones
Size: 6-2/186
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2016, fourth round
Team: Nebraska-Omaha (NCAA)
Season totals: 10 games, 2 goals, 4 assists
Jones picked up one assist in two games.
Antti Palojarvi
Size: 6-1/172
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2017, sixth round
Team: Lukko (Liiga), Lukko U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga), Hokki (Mestis)
Season totals: 5 games with Lukko; 14 games, 3 assists with Lukko U20; 2 games with Hokki
Palojarvi reported to Hokki of the Mestis league this week, and was scoreless in two games.
Clayton Phillips
Size: 5-11/183
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2017, third round
Team: Penn State (NCAA)
Season totals: 11 games, 2 goal, 6 assists
Phillips scored one goal and two assists in two games. His goal was the game-winner against his former team, Minnesota:
William Reilly
Size: 6-2/196
Drafted: 2017, seventh round
Team: Rensselaer Polytech (NCAA)
Season totals: 10 games, 5 goal, 5 assists
Reilly scored one goal in two games:
