The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled forward Boko Imama from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Saturday.
In a corresponding transaction, rookie defenseman Owen Pickering was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Imama, 28, is in his first season with the Penguins organization after signing a one-year, two-way contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000 this past July and has spent the entire campaign, to this point, with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Appearing in 24 AHL Games, Imama (6-foot-1, 220 pounds) has scored five points (two goals, three assists) and leads the team with 47 penalty minutes. He has accrued 25 of those penalty minutes through five fighting majors.
During this past preseason, Imama skated in three games with the Pittsburgh Penguins and recorded one assist as well as five penalty minutes (via a fight).
A left-handed shot, Imama has played in 15 NHL contests previously in his career with nine coming as a member of the Arizona Coyotes and six with the Ottawa Senators.
Pickering, 20, has played in 25 NHL contests this season and has scored three points (one goal, two assists) while averaging 14:49 of ice time per contest.
A first-round pick (No. 21 overall) in 2022, Pickering is in the first year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $886,667.
The left-handed Pickering (6-5, 200) opened the season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, skating in 12 AHL contests and scoring one goal.
These transactions come with the status of forward Bryan Rust not yet publicly known in advance of a road contest against the Seattle Kraken on Saturday. Typically deployed as the right wing on the top line, Rust was injured during a 5-1 road loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Thursday. Additionally, forward Blake Lizotte, typically utilized as a fourth-line center, was scratched from that contest due to an illness.
Pickering has been a steady presence in the Penguins’ NHL lineup since initially being recalled Nov. 15 and has largely performed to strong reviews from the coaching staff. But given his limited service time as a professional, he does not require exposure to waivers for an assignment to a minor league affiliate.
With the Penguins’ NHL roster being at the 23-man limit before Saturday, assigning Pickering was the only option the Penguins had among their non-goaltenders in order to recall Imama without placing Rust or Lizotte on injured reserve.
Reserve veteran defensemen Ryan Graves and Ryan Shea are currently on the NHL roster and have been frequent healthy scratches as of late.