The Pittsburgh Penguins have once again recalled rookie defenseman Jack St. Ivany from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL).
This marks the third time he has been recalled to the NHL roster this season with each transaction happening since Friday. A healthy scratch on Saturday and Sunday, the second-year professional has yet to appear in an NHL contest.
A right-handed shot, St. Ivany (6-foot-3, 195 pounds) has appeared in 53 AHL games this season and has 15 points (four goals, 11 assists).
He is in the second year of a two-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $857, 500.
During Thursday’s practice session in Cranberry, St. Ivany rotated on the third pairing - albeit as the third option - with incumbent defensemen Ryan Graves and John Ludvig, each left-handers.
“He’s a right-handed shot,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We’re putting some of these left-handed shots on their off sides and they’re not necessarily accustomed to playing there and it puts them in tough spots. So that’s one element that’s involved with those types of decisions.
“Jack, to his credit, has done a really good job at working at his game, developing his game. He’s been a really big part of (Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s) success. He’s done a great job on the penalty kill, he defends well with his stick. He has good mobility, he has good size. He’s been a reliable, trustworthy guy that excels on the penalty kill in particular. For all those reasons, that’s why that decision was made.”
On Wednesday, the team assigned rookie forward Jonathan Gruden to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
In 12 NHL contests this season, the left-handed Gruden (6-foot, 172 pounds) has one goal while averaging 8:38 of ice time per contest.
With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Gruden has appeared in 43 games this season and has 24 points (13 goals, 11 assists).
Notes:
• Prior to practice, injured forward Jeff Carter worked out on the ice. He missed Tuesday’s 5-2 road loss to the New Jersey Devils due to an undisclosed injury.
Sullivan indicated Carter will travel with the team for its upcoming two-game road trip.
• The Penguins’ lines and defensive pairings in practice were:
10 Drew O’Connor - 87 Sidney Crosby - 17 Bryan Rust
8 Michael Bunting - 71 Evgeni Malkin - 67 Rickard Rakell
19 Reilly Smith - 20 Lars Eller - 48 Valtteri Puustinen
18 Jesse Puljujarvi - 55 Noel Acciari - 52 Emil Bemstrom
73 P.O Joseph - 58 Kris Letang
28 Marcus Pettersson - 65 Erik Karlsson
27 Ryan Graves - 7 John Ludvig - 3 Jack St. Ivany
• The top power-play unit included Bunting, Crosby, Eller, Letang and Rust. The second unit included Karlsson, Malkin, Puustinen, Rakell and Smith.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.