The Penguins are trying to give themselves a bit of roster flexibility heading into Monday’s trade deadline. Sportsnet’s Chris Johnston reports that forward Colton Sceviour and defenseman Juuso Riikola have been placed on waivers.
Sceviour was acquired from Florida back in September as part of the Mike Matheson-Patric Hornqvist deal, but while he had been a capable secondary scorer during his time with the Panthers and Stars, that hasn’t materialized with the Pens. Instead, the 31-year-old has just three goals and three assists in 31 games this season while averaging a career-low 9:30 per night of playing time. This led to him clearing waivers back in early March, and he has played in 14 games since then, requiring him to pass through waivers before he can be loaned back to the taxi squad. Sceviour is in the final year of his contract, which carries a $1.2M AAV, meaning all but $125K can be buried on the taxi squad. He’s set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
As for Riikola, the defenseman has had a limited role with the Pens since signing with them back in 2018. While he played in at least 36 NHL games in each of his first two seasons in North America, he has been limited to just two this campaign. Part of that is due to an upper-body injury that cost him 22 games, but as a result of the moves the Penguins made to add defensive depth when they were hit hard with injuries, he has yet to play since being cleared to return. The 27-year-old has another year left on his deal after this one with a $1.15M AAV, and if a team is willing to absorb a low seven-figure cost next season to add some free defensive depth, there’s a chance he could be claimed. If not, all but $75K of his cap hit can be wiped out by a taxi squad assignment.
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