Muse: 'Makes most sense' for Koivunen to be sent down
The Penguins sent Ville Koivunen down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before Saturday's 6-1 loss to the Rangers, a move that was all but necessary.
With Bryan Rust coming off of injured reserve, the Penguins needed to clear a roster spot before game time and were left with three real options, barring a scramble for a last-minute trade:
1. Send one of Harrison Brunicke or Ben Kindel back to junior, which obviously wasn't going to happen. They've been playing well, and returning them to junior would have prevented them from coming back up until the end of their seasons or the Penguins reaching two emergency recall situations.
2. They could have waived one of the older players. The player wouldn't clear by game time, but they could have then temporarily designated them waivers-non roster to clear the spot. That would have been bad, given that Wilkes-Barre was already two players over the veteran limit and scratching guys who played in the NHL last season as a result.
3. They could have just sent down the lone non-veteran, AHL-eligible, waivers-exempt member of the roster in Koivunen ... who had struggled in the first two games and was demoted from the first to third line in Thursday's game.
Naturally, the third option was the only feasible one. And that's not a paper move, either -- Friday marked the start of the new rule that eliminated paper moves, forcing a player sent down to play in one game before he's eligible to be recalled again. Koivunen's on his Wilkes-Barre, and he's going to be there at least a little while.
Rust's return forced the Penguins' hand for now. But sending Koivunen down is something that they think can benefit him regardless.
"He's young," Dan Muse said. "Part of it was also looking at, well, he's going to be out of the lineup because we needed a roster spot. At his age, the thought process was he can go play games. We'll see where it all goes. There's a lot of upside, there was a lot of good. It's just where things are at today. He's definitely had some bright spots. The last couple of his exhibition games, I think even the third period last game, even though he's down (on the third line), I thought he was playing well. We see that, we're excited about him, but it makes the most sense right now for him to be playing."
THE ASYLUM
Muse: 'Makes most sense' for Koivunen to be sent down
The Penguins sent Ville Koivunen down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton before Saturday's 6-1 loss to the Rangers, a move that was all but necessary.
With Bryan Rust coming off of injured reserve, the Penguins needed to clear a roster spot before game time and were left with three real options, barring a scramble for a last-minute trade:
1. Send one of Harrison Brunicke or Ben Kindel back to junior, which obviously wasn't going to happen. They've been playing well, and returning them to junior would have prevented them from coming back up until the end of their seasons or the Penguins reaching two emergency recall situations.
2. They could have waived one of the older players. The player wouldn't clear by game time, but they could have then temporarily designated them waivers-non roster to clear the spot. That would have been bad, given that Wilkes-Barre was already two players over the veteran limit and scratching guys who played in the NHL last season as a result.
3. They could have just sent down the lone non-veteran, AHL-eligible, waivers-exempt member of the roster in Koivunen ... who had struggled in the first two games and was demoted from the first to third line in Thursday's game.
Naturally, the third option was the only feasible one. And that's not a paper move, either -- Friday marked the start of the new rule that eliminated paper moves, forcing a player sent down to play in one game before he's eligible to be recalled again. Koivunen's on his Wilkes-Barre, and he's going to be there at least a little while.
Rust's return forced the Penguins' hand for now. But sending Koivunen down is something that they think can benefit him regardless.
"He's young," Dan Muse said. "Part of it was also looking at, well, he's going to be out of the lineup because we needed a roster spot. At his age, the thought process was he can go play games. We'll see where it all goes. There's a lot of upside, there was a lot of good. It's just where things are at today. He's definitely had some bright spots. The last couple of his exhibition games, I think even the third period last game, even though he's down (on the third line), I thought he was playing well. We see that, we're excited about him, but it makes the most sense right now for him to be playing."
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