Penguins A to Z: Valtteri Puustinen proves he is an…..

Penguins A to Z: Valtteri Puustinen proves he is an NHLer
Seth Rorabaugh
SETH RORABAUGH | Tuesday, June 18, 2024 7:01 a.m.
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With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2023-24 season coming to an end without any postseason action, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 52 individuals signed to an NHL contract – including those whose deals do not begin until next season – with the organization, from fourth-line center Noel Acciari to reserve winger Radim Zohorna.

This series is scheduled to be published every weekday leading into the second day of the NHL Draft on June 29.

(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)

Valtteri Puustinen

Position: Right winger

Shoots: Right

Age: 25

Height: 5-foot-9

Weight: 183 pounds

2023-24 NHL statistics: 52 games, 20 points (five goals, 15 assists), 11:44 of average ice time per contest

2023-24 AHL statistics: 24 games, 13 points (five goals, eight assists)

2023-24 AHL postseason statistics: Two games, three points (one goal, two assists)

2023-24 IIHF World Championship statistics: Seven games, two points (one goal, one assist)

Contract: Signed to a one-year, two-way contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000. Entering the first year of a two-year, one-way contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2026

Acquired: Seventh-round (No. 203 overall) draft pick, June 22, 2019

This season: For the first time in two years, Valtteri Puustinen was not the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ leading scorer.

And he had a pretty good reason for failing to three-peat.

He spent most of the 2023-24 season in the NHL.

Having been one of the organization’s most intriguing prospects for several seasons, even going back to his time in his productive days playing in Finland’s Liiga, Puustinen finally broke through as a full-time NHLer in 2023-24.

To be certain, he did start the campaign with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton despite a solid preseason which saw him post three points (one goal, two assists) in three games. That decision was rooted more in salary cap and roster management than performance.

Opening the season on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s second line, Puustinen’s output was limited as he generated only a single goal in his first nine games. Eventually, he began finding the net and generated 10 points (five goals, five assists) in 18 American Hockey League games before being recalled to the NHL roster on Dec. 8.

With incumbent right wingers Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust sidelined by injuries, Puustinen was deployed on the second line for seven consecutive games and recorded four assists over that span.

Oddly enough, when he was demoted to the third line on Dec. 27, he scored his first career goal and collected an assist in a 7-0 road win against the New York Islanders.

After that minor offensive outburst, Puustinen struggled to get on the scoresheet and was limited to two assists over the next 13 games before he was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Jan. 28.

Following five games with the AHL Penguins, Puustinen was recalled to the NHL roster again on Feb. 15 and played in 31 of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ final 32 games, bouncing between the second and third lines. In that capacity, he collected 12 points (four goals, eight assists).

Once the Pittsburgh Penguins’ season came to a conclusion on April 17, Puustinen was shuffled back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to complete the season in hopes of furthering his development.

Puustinen collected three points in two postseason games as Wilkes-Bare/Scranton’s playoff run lasted only two games.

By May 5, he was named to Finland’s roster for the International Ice Hockey Federation’s World Championship tournament. Predominantly deployed in a bottom-six role, Puustinen recorded two points as Finland wound up in eighth place.

On May 10, Puustinen, who was scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1, agreed to a two-year contract extension to remain with the Penguins.

The future: For a franchise that hasn’t developed much homegrown talent in the past five years (and probably more), Puustinen is something of a minor triumph in that he carved out a pretty steady role on the NHL roster in the second half of the season.

There’s still plenty of room for refinement to his game and he needs to find much more consistency, especially for a player whose value is rooted in his production, but Puustinen is a legit option on the third line and even merits consideration as a second liner when the occasion arises. Additionally, he can hold his own with a role on the power play.

Puustinen won’t make or break the Penguins’ 2024-25 roster. But he has finally proven he is an NHLer.

Follow the Penguins all season long.

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Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.