Penguins Recall Ilya Solovyov

It didn’t take long for the Penguins to fill the roster spot created when they sent Ryan Johnson down to the AHL earlier today.  However, it’s not being filled by an IR activation.  Instead, the team announced (Twitter link) that they’ve recalled blueliner Ilya Solovyov from AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

The 25-year-old bounced around a bit last season.  He started training camp in Calgary but was plucked off waivers by Colorado in training camp.  Then, a few months later, he was moved to Pittsburgh.  Overall, Solovyov played in 30 NHL games between the two teams in 2025-26, notching one goal and seven assists while averaging 12:45 per game of ice time.

While that was enough to earn him a one-year deal back in May, it wasn’t enough to secure Solovyov an NHL roster spot as he passed through waivers unclaimed this time a week and a half ago.  He has one assist in three games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton thus far.  Solovyov will need to play in 32 NHL games this season for him to be a restricted free agent next summer.  If he doesn’t do so, he’ll become a Group Six unrestricted free agent instead.

With the recall, Pittsburgh’s 23-player roster is now full.  At the moment, injured blueliners Trevor van Riemsdyk and Ryan Graves aren’t expected to join the team for Monday’s game in Utah but both are believed to be close to returning.  They will need open roster spots to be activated off IR which means Solovyov’s stint with the big club could be a short one.