There will be several Pittsburgh Penguins on waivers this fall.

Barring dramatic changes and trades, the Penguins have several more forwards on NHL contracts than they do roster spots. While politicians discuss court packing, the Penguins general manager has again packed his roster.

Seven defensemen with NHL contracts dot the roster, but the real glut remains upfront with 14 forwards on NHL contracts plus Ben Kindel, who is a near certainty to be on the opening night roster.

The packed dressing room doesn’t include young players who might otherwise demand playing time, too. Rutger McGroarty, Avery Hayes, Harrison Brunicke, and Owen Pickering would like to begin their careers, too.

That means men 26 enter, four men leave, but several players fighting for spots, such as Ville Koivunen and Ryan Graves, are not waiver-exempt (though their contracts make them virtually unclaimable).

So, what does losing a player on waivers really mean?

Conversely, the Penguins have not historically been an active team for claiming players on the waiver wire, but they have some success stories. Through several general managers in the salary cap era, the team has rolled the dice on 17 players who were cast aside by their former team and hit on several.

For the very nitpicky, the list also includes Jean-Sebastian Dea, whom the Penguins waived and then reclaimed when the New Jersey Devils claimed him but waived him shortly afterward.

And we only counted forward Kris Beech once, despite the Penguins claiming him twice. The Penguins first acquired Beech in the Jaromir Jagr trade of 2001 before eventually cutting ties in 2005. The Penguins claimed him in 2008 before allowing him to leave via free agency, then claimed him again one year later, but assigned him to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

Some players went on to journeyman NHL careers, such as the first player to be claimed in the cap era, Andy Hilbert, who played 19 games before being lost via free agency to the New York Islanders. Hilbert played in 307 NHL games with five teams. Further, some were already on wild rides, such as Mark Acrobello, who lived out of a suitcase in the 2014-15 season when he played for four teams, including the Penguins.

And still, others established new careers, or at least came close.

Top 5 Waiver Pickups

5. John Ludvig

The Penguins claimed Ludvig off waivers from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 9, 2023. The feisty defenseman was a third-round pick by Florida in 2019 and had potential. However, once he finally cracked the Penguins lineup, he suffered a concussion in his first game by trying to deliver a heavy open-ice hit against the much larger (and skating at full speed) Dallas Stars forward Radek Faksa. Ludvig was briefly knocked unconscious in the collision.

Ludvig played sparingly through the remainder of 2023-24, earning 33 NHL games and five points before the Colorado Avalanche claimed him on waivers prior to the 2024-25 season.

4. Jansen Harkins

Also on the eve of the 2023-24 season, the Penguins claimed Harkins off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets. Harkins already had four seasons of sparing depth forward duty in Winnipeg, and the Penguins gave him a full opportunity.

However, while he was speedy and serviceable as a fourth liner, he had just four assists in 45 games and left via free agency, where he continued for two seasons as a depth forward with the Anaheim Ducks. Harkins remains an active NHL player and signed a two-way deal with the Tampa Bay Lightning on July 3.

3. Chris Thorburn

Probably the best player on the list, but certainly the one who made the most of his NHL chance with the Penguins. On the eve of the 2006-07 season, the Penguins snared the then-23-year-old Thorburn from the Buffalo Sabres and a career was born.

The fast and tough forward was a bottom-of-the-lineup player for the Penguins, appearing in only 39 games that season. At the 2007 Draft, Penguins GM Ray Shero traded him to the Atlanta Thrashers for a third-rounder, but Thorburn went on to have a long and productive career with four years in Atlanta, six years in Winnipeg, and then another year in St. Louis before ending his career the following season at the age of 35 with St. Louis’s AHL affiliate.

Thorburn played 801 NHL games with 53 goals and 134 points, and has an interesting trade Penguins trade tree. With that third-rounder the Penguins acquired in 2008, they drafted defenseman Robert Bortuzzo, and later traded Bortuzzo for valuable defenseman Ian Cole in 2015.

2. Mark Friedman

The terminally angry defenseman arrived in Pittsburgh via waivers from the Philadelphia Flyers on Feb. 21, 2021. Friedman had no love lost for Philadelphia and ripped the city publicly. The Flyers had no love for Friedman, either, as evidenced by a game just a few days after the Penguins claimed him in which several Flyers players took runs at Friedman, including a devastating hit from behind by Nolan Patrick, which put Friedman on the injured list for a month.

Injuries, lineup depth, and coach’s decisions limited the surly Friedman to only 54 games over three seasons with the Penguins before he spent two seasons with the Vancouver Canucks, and last season in the Swedish High League.

Friedman will likely forever rank as the most matter-of-factly blunt Penguins player in this writer’s career.

1. Craig Adams

Before beefs at the end of his career with star players whom Adams accused of prima-donna behavior in practice, he was an important cog in the Penguins’ lineup and a bottom-six sparkplug on the run to the 2009 Stanley Cup.

The Penguins claimed Adams on March 4, 2009, and he subsequently played 453 games over seven seasons with the Penguins; his career ended after playing 70 games in 2014-15, but being scratched for all five playoff games. He became a free agent that summer but received no attractive offers and retired in January of 2016.

In total, Adams played 453 games with the Penguins and 951 NHL games over the course of his 14-year NHL career. He had also won the 2005-06 Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes.

The full list of players in chronological order claimed by the Penguins in the salary cap era:

#PlayerClaimed fromClaim datePIT NHL GPHow he left Pittsburgh1Andy HilbertChicago BlackhawksMar. 9, 200619Signed with NY Islanders as a UFA2Karl StewartAnaheim DucksSept. 27, 20063Claimed off waivers by Chicago3Chris ThorburnBuffalo SabresOct. 3, 200639Traded to Atlanta for a 3rd-round pick4Kris BeechWashington CapitalsJan. 26, 20085Also claimed a second time in 2009, but assigned to WBS Penguins. Eventually signed with HV71 (Sweden)5Craig AdamsChicago BlackhawksMar. 4, 2009453Contract expired. Retired in 20166Chris BourqueWashington CapitalsSept. 30, 200920Claimed back by Washington off waivers7Cal O’ReillyPhoenix CoyotesFeb. 1, 20126Signed with Metallurg Magnitogorsk (KHL)8Zach BoychukCarolina HurricanesJan. 31, 20137Claimed by Nashville off waivers9Taylor PyattNew York RangersJan. 2, 201434Signed in Swiss-A league. Retired one year later.10Mark ArcobelloNashville PredatorsJan. 14, 201510Claimed by Arizona off waivers11Mike CondonMontreal CanadiensOct. 11, 20161Traded to Ottawa for a 5th-round pick12Jean-Sébastien DeaNew Jersey DevilsNov. 29, 20189*Traded to Florida in Chris Wideman deal. Played 9 NHL games over two stints with Penguins13Mark FriedmanPhiladelphia FlyersFeb. 24, 202154Traded to Vancouver with Ty Glover14Jansen HarkinsWinnipeg JetsOct. 2, 202345Signed with Anaheim as a UFA15John LudvigFlorida PanthersOct. 9, 202333Claimed by Colorado off waivers16Matthew PhillipsWashington CapitalsFeb. 16, 20243Claimed back by Washington off waivers17Vladislav KolyachonokUtah Hockey ClubFeb. 9, 202512Traded to Dallas for Mathew Dumba + 2028 2nd-round pick
Tags:John Ludvig mark friedman penguins waivers Vladislav Kolyachonok

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