With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 55 individuals signed to an NHL contract – including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons - with the organization.
Starting with Noel Acciari and going on through to Philip Tomasino (regrettably, there is no Z on the payroll), every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.
This series is scheduled to be published Mondays through Saturdays leading up until June 23, four days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Puckpedia.)
Ravis Ansons
Position: Left winger
Shoots: Left
Age: 23
Height: 6-foot-1
Weight: 192 pounds
2024-25 AHL statistics: Nine games, one point (one goal, zero assists)
Contract: In the third year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $844,167. Pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason
(Ansons does not require waivers for an assignment to a minor league affiliate.)
Acquired: Fifth-round draft pick (No. 149 overall), Oct. 7, 2020
Last season: After splitting the 2023-24 campaign between the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins and Wheeling Nailers, Ansons found a pretty effective way of staying in the American Hockey League on a permanent basis.
He got injured.
Not appearing in any preseason games with the NHL club during preseason, Ansons was cut from training camp fairly early on Sept. 26 and reported to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Listed as a left winger, Ansons is a defensive center in all reality and opened the season as the pivot on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s fourth line but was a fairly regular scratch. In fact, he was scratched for as many games (nine) as he appeared in before his season essentially came to an end in early December.
Ansons’ lone offensive contribution this season came in the form of a goal during a 5-2 road loss to the Bridgeport Islanders on Nov. 16.
Ans puts us within one! pic.twitter.com/TD9M41lVO1
— x - Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) November 17, 2024
Never a particularly prolific fighter, Ansons got into a pair of bouts in his final two games of 2024-25. The last came in his final game of the season when he fought defenseman Connor Mackey during a 6-2 road win against the Hartford Wolf Pack on Dec. 7.
After that, Ansons has not appeared in a game due to an undisclosed injury that is expected to sidelined for the remainder of 2024-25.
The future: Things certainly point toward Ansons being let go this upcoming offseason.
He is on an expiring entry-level contract, management has begun to sign younger prospects to their entry-level contracts and he wasn’t even a regular presence in the lineup before his injury.
All of that is a bad combination for him.
Once upon a time, Penguins management viewed Ansons as a legitimate future bottom-six forward who could be trusted in demanding defensive situations. And he certainly showed some glimpses of that during his first season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, appearing in 44 games during 2021-22.
But in his two ensuing seasons, he saw less ice time at the AHL level. And this season, injuries brought whatever momentum he had to a halt.
The Penguins will likely not extend a qualifying offer to Ansons and allow him to become an unrestricted free agent in July.
Ansons appeared to have the tools to be a promising bottom-six forward but his development stalled out for a variety of reasons.
Follow the Penguins all season long.