The Pittsburgh Penguins have recalled defenseman Derrick Pouliot from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League, it was announced by general manager Jim Rutherford on Tuesday morning.
Pouliot, 21, has already played in 26 games for Pittsburgh during his rookie season, scoring two goals and adding three assists. In 31 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, he has scored seven goals and seventeen assists. The native of Weyburn, Saskatchewan, was the Penguins first pick – eighth overall – in the 2012 NHL Entry Draft.
Pouliot had been sent down to Wilkes-Barre on March 14 to make room on the NHL roster for center Andrew Ebbett. Ebbett had to be recalled due to injuries to Penguins forwards Evgeni Malkin and Patric Hornqvist.
The team, which has been chronically short on cap space this season, could not call up Ebbett without demoting another player. They chose to send Pouliot down because he is the only Penguins player that does not have to clear waivers to be assigned to the AHL.
Now, with defenseman Christian Ehrhoff missing Saturday night’s game in Arizona with an undisclosed injury, the team has chosen to bring Pouliot back to Pittsburgh. As a result, Ebbett was swapped out for a defenseman.
In 24 games with Pittsburgh this season, Ebbett has one goal and five assists. In his most recent call-up, he had no points and was a minus-1, mostly skating on the fourth line with Craig Adams and Maxim Lapierre. He will not have to clear waivers to return to Wilkes-Barre.
Malkin and Hornqvist took part in a pre-practice skate with strength and conditioning coach Mike Kadar. Ehrhoff took part in the regular practice session. Their statuses for this evening’s game against the St. Louis Blues are still uncertain.
