Penguins Move to Terminate Puljujarvi Contract

PHILADELPHIA — The debate over Jesse Puljujarvi’s place in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization will come to a close Sunday.

The team placed Puljujarvi, 26, on unconditional waivers for the purpose of terminating his contract Saturday.

Elliotte Friedman, who works for the Canadian broadcast rights holder Sportsnet, broke the news. It’s unclear if player or team initiated the request.

Assuming he clears at 2 p.m., Puljujarvi will be an unrestricted free agent. The Finnish winger was re-assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this week. He did not need to clear waivers for the assignment because he has already cleared waivers on Dec. 31.

The Penguins signed Puljujarvi to a free agent tryout last season after he recovered from hip surgery. His initial 10-day tryout did not result in a contract offer and he signed a professional tryout agreement with the WBS Penguins before ultimately earning an NHL contract.

This season, Puljujarvi had nine points, including three goals on in 26 NHL games.