Story by
Penguins News: Rust Active, Pens Demote Koivunen
- Story by
- Penguins News: Rust Active, Pens Demote Koivunen
The first order of business Saturday afternoon was expected as the Pittsburgh Penguins activated winger Bryan Rust .
Rust, 32, scored 31 goals last season and has worked his way into a premier role beside center Sidney Crosby on the team's top line. He will play his first game of the season as the Penguins host the New York Rangers at PPG Paints Arena.
Advertisement
However, in a somewhat surprising twist of rookie experience, the Penguins shed one of their young players. In order to make room on the 23-man NHL roster Saturday, the team reassigned Ville Koivunen to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Last season, Koivunen had seven points in the final eight NHL games and was seen as a top-six winger. He played quite well in the preseason on a line with Ben Kindel and Avery Hayes.
Yet as the regular season began, Koivunen struggled on a line with Crosby and was dropped to the third line with Kindel for the third period of the Penguins' 4-3 win over the New York Islanders on Thursday.
Per new NHL rules effective this season, players can no longer remain with the team after being reassigned. The "paper transaction" rule, whereby a player such as Koivunen would remain with the team until being officially recalled, has been changed to mandate the player report to the AHL squad and play at least one game.
Advertisement
So, Koivunen will play at least one game, if not more, with WBS.
The post Penguins News: Rust Active, Pens Demote Koivunen appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .
Related Headlines
