Penguins A to Z: Can Radim Zohorna find a way to stay in the NHL?

With the Penguins’ 2021-22 season coming to a quick ending in the first round of the playoffs, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at the 54 individuals who were signed to an NHL contract entering this offseason — including those whose deals do not begin until the 2022-23 season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to top-six winger Jason Zucker.

Radim Zohorna

Position: Left winger

Shoots: Left

Age: 26

Height: 6-foot-6

Weight: 220 pounds

2021-22 NHL statistics: 17 games, six points (two goals, four assists)

2021-22 AHL statistics: 39 games, 21 points (12 goals, nine assists)

Contract: In the second year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $750,000. Pending unrestricted free agent in the 2023 offseason.

Acquired: Undrafted free-agent signing, April 29, 2020

Last season: Any hopes Radim Zohorna had of claiming a spot on the NHL roster out of training camp in September were dashed pretty quickly due to an undisclosed illness he dealt with. As a result, he was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Oct. 11.

Upon reporting to Northeast Pennsylvania, Zohorna opened the 2021-22 campaign with a plum assignment as Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top center with two of the organization’s better prospects, Sam Poulin and Valtteri Puustinen, on his wings.

Despite that advantageous deployment, Zohorna was limited to two goals in his first 10 games of the season. His production did pick up a bit in mid-November but that momentum was halted in early December when Wilkes-Barre/Scranton had a handful of games postponed due to a covid-19 outbreak.

On New Year’s Eve, Zohorna was recalled to the temporarily-restored taxi squad, then was promoted to the NHL roster two days later, making his season debut at the NHL level in an 8-5 home win against the San Jose Sharks.

Zohorna was shuffled between the AHL roster, the taxi squad and the NHL roster a few times over the next nine days and got into the lineup for portions of the Penguins’ lengthy road trip predominantly on the West Coast. He scored his first NHL goal of the season in a 6-2 road victory against the Los Angeles Kings on Jan. 13.

After another assignment to the taxi squad on Jan. 17, Zohorna was back on the NHL roster by Jan. 23. After a series of four consecutive healthy scratches, four consecutive games then three more healthy scratches, Zohorna was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Feb. 20.

Zohorna put up five points (two goals, three assists) in nine games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and was summoned again to the NHL roster on March 13 after forward Brock McGinn suffered a suspected right hand injury. His final nine NHL games of the season — all in March — were his most productive as he posted four points (one goal, three assists) while primarily working as a fourth-liner.

By April 11, Zohorna was sent back to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and tallied six points (five goals, one assist) in the final nine games of the AHL Penguins’ regular season.

In the postseason, Zohorna was one of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top players producing five points (two goals, three assists) in four games before he was once again recalled to the NHL roster May 12 during the Penguins’ first-round series against the New York Rangers. He was a healthy scratch for the final two games of the series.

The future: The Penguins seem more than willing to turn to some of their younger players in order to fill out the bottom rungs of their forward ranks. And Zohorna definitely appears to be a legitimate candidate for such an assignment.

Capable of playing center or wing, Zohorna has plenty of speed despite his dimensions. And while he is hardly the most physical entity on the ice, he’s certainly capable of using his ample size to establish position on the ice with regard to puck battles near the cage or on the boards. And he had a subtle level of skill with the puck.

Throughout his still brief tenure with the Penguins, Zohorna has shown plenty of intrigue. Now, it would be ideal to show a bit more in the way of results. Starting the season at the NHL level and staying there would go a long way toward achieving that.

Follow the Penguins all season long.