The Pittsburgh Penguins announced a flurry of roster moves on Friday. First, they placed forward Noel Acciari on the injured reserve.
Earlier this week head coach Mike Sullivan noted that Acciari was not yet skating after suffering a lower-body injury.
The 32-year-old has three points in 21 games this season, he signed a three-year, $6,000,000 contract with the Penguins during free agency. The contract has an average annual value (AAV) of $2,000,000.
Last season, Acciari split time between the St. Louis Blues and Toronto Maple Leafs registering 23 points in 77 games. He was dealt from the Blues to Toronto at the trade deadline and scored two goals in 11 Stanley Cup playoff contests. It was Penguins president of hockey ops and general manager Kyle Dubas, who was at the helm in Toronto when he acquired Acciari.
The Johnston, Rhode Island, native has tallied 61 goals and 42 assists for 103 points in 406 games spanning a nine-year career with the Boston Bruins, Florida Panthers,
Meanwhile, the Penguins have recalled forwards Marc Johnstone, Jonathan Gruden, and Valtteri Puustinen from their American Hockey League (AHL) affiliate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Johnston looks to make his NHL debut while Gruden skated in three games with the Penguins last season and Puustinen played one game during the 2021-22 campaign.
In a corresponding move, forwards Joona Koppanen and Alex Nylander have been re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. The 25-year-old Koppanen played in three games with the Penguins, he has tallied six points in 18 games in the AHL. Nylander has seen five games of NHL action this season, the former first-round pick has 10 points in 14 games in the AHL.
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