Penguins waive Puustinen as Lizotte nears return

Injured forward Blake Lizotte worked today in practice on the Penguins’ new look third line with Michael Bunting and Drew O’Connor.

To get Lizotte back on the 23-player roster, Pittsburgh would need to shed a player currently on it. That question was answered when the waiver list came out this afternoon.

Puustinen made the Pens roster out of training camp in no small part due to preseason injuries to Lizotte and Bryan Rust. From there, a rotating cast of forwards including Lizotte, Rust, Kevin Hayes and Cody Glass have come on and off of injured reserve, allowing Puustinen to scoot by as the team’s 12th or 13th forward.

Playing 10 games this season, Puustinen failed to find much of an impact with one goal and one assist. He was a part of the lineup for a solid stretch in late-October and early-November but failed to find much of a niche and only got 10+ minutes of ice time in three of the games.

Puustinen, 25, was a Pittsburgh draft pick back in 2019. He’s been playing in the organization since the start of the 2021-22 season, his first two years spent mostly as a productive forward in Wilkes-Barre (AHL). The diminutive forward got the opportunity to play 52 NHL games last season and recorded 20 points (5G+15A). The details within his game and his lack of plus skating limited his NHL effectiveness and ability to find a sticking point with the Pens.

Waivers may or may not be the end of his journey in Pittsburgh, Puustinen is signed through the 2025-26 season at an NHL minimum salary of $775,000. It’s possible he has not played his last game in an NHL jersey for the Pens, but at this point the team is looking to other options like the newly acquired Philip Tomasino to fit with the club instead.

The NHL will announce at 2pm tomorrow if a club has claimed Puustinen, if not the Pens will likely be assigning him back to Wilkes and open up the roster spot for Lizotte to return to the lineup for tomorrow night’s game against Vancouver.