Penguins lose defenseman John Ludvig to Avalanche through waivers

The Pittsburgh Penguins lost defenseman John Ludvig to the Colorado Avalanche through waivers Saturday.

Six other players — forwards Emil Bemstrom, Jonathan Gruden, Joona Koppanen and Sam Poulin as well as defensemen Nate Clurman and Filip Kral — went unclaimed and were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League along with goaltenders Taylor Gauthier and Filip Larsson, each of whom did not require exposure to waivers for such a transaction.

Ludvig initially joined the Penguins through waivers nearly a year ago when he was claimed from the Florida Panthers on Oct. 9, 2023.

Making his NHL debut last season, Ludvig played in 33 NHL games and scored five points (three goals, two assists) while accruing 47 penalty minutes as one of the team’s more physical players.

A left-handed shot, Ludvig (6-foot-1, 213 pounds) suited up for three games this preseason and had no points with eight penalty minutes.

The 24-year-old is entering the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000. His departure leaves the Penguins with 48 NHL contracts, two short of the league limit of 50 for a season.

Hopes remain for Poulin

As a first-round draft pick (No. 21 overall) in 2019, Poulin was the most prominent member of the group of players the Penguins exposed to waivers Friday.

In part because of a leave of absence from the organization during the 2022-23 season to address his mental health, Poulin’s development as a player has been a slow process, but management remains optimistic he can still carve out a role as an NHL-er.

Approximately an hour and a half before Poulin cleared waivers, Penguins coach Mike Sullivan offered a lengthy and optimistic audit of the 23-year-old forward.

“Sam has made a lot of strides in his time with the Penguins,” Sullivan said. “The biggest thing is just understanding what his own personal identity is as a player and how he’s going to carve a niche in making an NHL roster and becoming an NHL player. Every young player, when they turn pro, they go through this identity process where some players have to adapt.

“So, if you’re playing in college hockey or you’re playing junior hockey and you’re a point-per-game (player) or you’re the go-to guy on the power play, that might not be the case when you get to the next level. So, if that’s not the case, then what is your competitive advantage? What is it that you’re bringing to the table that is going to help a team win? What’s your contribution to that identity?

“Those are some of the conversations we’ve had with Sam. Just continuing to work on his overall two-way game, his play away from the puck, his play within structure, knowing positional play and things of that nature and the details around that are really important. Because if you’re not scoring 40 goals and 100 points, then you need to be a guy that’s reliable and trustworthy and predictable for your teammates. That’s something that I think is an area of opportunity for growth for Sam.

“He’s very capable and he is obviously a talented player. It’s more just trying to understand how his own personal game needs to adapt or evolve so he has a skillset that is complementary to the group and gives him the opportunity to carve a roster spot. It’s not so much scoring his way onto this roster. It’s being a reliable player and the details around that, it’s a lot of the thankless jobs that maybe go unnoticed. That’s the foundation of how players, in my experience, enter the league. That gives him the ability to act on his talent and his instincts … and his game can evolve.

“Sam is going through that process like most young players go through that process. I don’t think he’s any different in that regard. We’re every bit as encouraged by Sam’s game as we’ve always been. Once again, players evolve at different rates. Some guys take a little bit longer to find their game than others. Sam is going through that process. He’s a talented guy. We think so highly of him, and we believe that he’s a guy that could potentially help this team moving forward.”