Defenseman Brett Kulak and goaltender Stuart Skinner are scheduled to make their debuts with the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday at PPG Paints Arena against their former team, the Edmonton Oilers.
Coach Dan Muse announced their statuses following a morning skate in Cranberry.
The Penguins acquired Kulak and Skinner, as well as a second-round draft pick in 2029, on Friday in a trade that sent goaltender Tristan Jarry and rookie forward Sam Poulin to the Oilers.
Due to procedures required to clear their immigration statuses, Kulak and Skinner, each Canadian nationals, were unable to immediately join the Penguins for games on Saturday and Sunday. That matter was not resolved until Monday.
Kulak has played in 31 games this season and has recorded two assists while averaging 17:42 of ice time per contest.
In 23 games this season, Skinner has posted an 11-8-4 record, a 2.83 goals-against average, an .891 save percentage and two shutouts.
Notes:
• Kulak joins the Penguins while in the midst of a streak of 295 consecutive games played. That is the ninth-longest active streak in the NHL.
According to a team spokesperson, Kulak’s streak remained “active” in the view of the NHL while he was sidelined during the process of getting his immigration cleared. In the view of the league, it was determined he was out of the lineup for reasons beyond his control.
Muse announced rookie defenseman Jack St. Ivany is slated to make his season debut at the NHL level. A suspected right foot injury suffered during a preseason game Oct. 1 landed him on the season-opening injured non-roster list.
During his convalescence, the right-handed St. Ivany had a two-week conditioning assignment with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) in late November and early December. Over five AHL games, St. Ivany posted five points (one goal, four assists).
• The Penguins’ lines and pairings during the morning skate were:
67 Rickard Rakell – 87 Sidney Crosby – 17 Bryan Rust
2 Rutger McGroarty – 81 Ben Kindel – 16 Justin Brazeau
13 Kevin Hayes – 18 Tommy Novak – 39 Anthony Mantha
19 Connor Dewar – 43 Danton Heinen – 55 Noel Acciari
28 Parker Wotherspoon – 65 Erik Karlsson
5 Ryan Shea – 58 Kris Letang
77 Brett Kulak – 3 Jack St. Ivany
• The top power-play unit included Crosby, Karlsson, Mantha, Rakell and Rust. The second power-play group involved Brazeau, Hayes, Kindel, Letang and Novak.
• Penguins defensemen Connor Clifton and Ryan Graves, as well as rookie forward Ville Koivunen, are slated to be healthy scratches.
• Crosby (1,721 points) trails the iconic Mario Lemieux (1,723) by two points for the franchise’s all-time lead in career scoring.
• Kulak has 99 career assists.
• Jarry is scheduled to start for the Oilers.
Following Friday’s trade, he made his debut for the Oilers in a 6-3 road win against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday. He made 25 saves on 28 shots in that victory.
This season, Jarry has appeared in 15 games and has posted a 10-3-1 record, a 2.69 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage and one shutout.
A second-round draft pick of the Penguins (No. 44 overall) in 2013, Jarry spent parts of 10 seasons with the team. In 30 games with the Penguins, he had a 161-100-32 record, a 2.75 goals-against average, a .909 save percentage and 22 shutouts.
• Per the team’s website, the Oilers’ lines and pairings in their morning skate were:
93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins – 97 Connor McDavid – 18 Zach Hyman
92 Vasily Podkolzin – 29 Leon Draisaitl – 22 Matt Savoie
88 Andrew Mangiapane – 19 Adam Henrique – 13 Mattias Janmark
10 Trent Frederic – 20 Curtis Lazar – 23 Quinn Hutson
46 Max Jones – 86 David Tomasek
14 Mattias Ekholm – 2 Evan Bouchard
25 Darnell Nurse – 75 Alec Regula
• Draisaitl has 999 career points.
• Former Penguins forward Kasperi Kapanen is currently designated to injured reserve for the Oilers due to an undisclosed ailment.
• The scheduled referees are Jake Brenk (No. 26) and Mitch Dunning (No. 20) while the linesmen are C.J. Murray (No. 68) and Trent Knorr (No. 74).