Penguins A to Z: Despite intrigue, Juuso Riikola remains a healthy scratch

While the NHL is on hold because of the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 54 individuals under NHL contract with the organization, from mid-level prospect Niclas Almari to high-profile trade acquisition Jason Zucker.

Player: Juuso Riikola

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Age: 22

Height: 6-foot

Weight: 189 pounds

2019-20 NHL statistics: 36 games, seven points (one goal, six assists)

Contract: One-year contract with a salary cap hit of $850,000. Pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason.

Acquired: Free agent signing, May 18, 2018

This season: If preseason games counted for anything, Juuso Riikola might have won the James Norris Memorial Trophy at least once. Maybe twice.

Over the past two seasons, Riikola has been among the Penguins’ top performers in September, taking advantage of ample minutes against hodge-podge lineups. Riikola has collected five points (three goals, two assists) in nine career preseason games for which the NHL has maintained statistics.

(Video courtesy of NHL)

As far as games in October and beyond, Riikola largely has been a bystander in two seasons as a member of the Penguins.

Of the 144 games he could have played since the start of 2018-19, Riikola has been a healthy scratch for nearly half of them (71).

That number probably would be higher had he not been assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for seven games last season or if the NHL did not halt the 2019-20 regular season in mid-March.

Yet, he remains.

Penguins coach Mike Sullivan seems to be intrigued by Riikola and what he can offer. But that doesn’t mean he trusts Riikola enough to be a regular member of the lineup.

In the early portions of this season, when a salary cap crunch and injuries forced some considerable lineup changes, coach Mike Sullivan experimented with Riikola for a handful of games as a fourth-line left winger, a position Riikola never has played before.

When he was used at his listed position, Riikola primarily was a bottom-pairing defenseman and averaged 13 minutes, 53 seconds of ice time per game, least among the team’s defensemen.

One area where Riikola seemed to stand out in his limited usage was the second power-play unit. Blessed with perhaps the best one-timer among the team’s blue liners, he regularly was used on the left point during his irregular deployments with that group.

The future: Assuming the NHL resumes play this season, Riikola likely will remain the team’s eighth defenseman.

Chad Ruhwedel has established himself as arguably the best seventh defenseman in the NHL, if such a designation can be acknowledged.

As this season has illustrated repeatedly, Penguins defensemen rarely stay healthy. Depth at the position is always vital, and Riikola, if nothing else, is a trustworthy option as a fill-in should one (or in his case, two) of the top six defensemen be unavailable.

In the long-term, Riikola’s future is a question mark. As a restricted free agent, the Penguins have contract control. He is hardly a huge priority, but re-signing him would help maintain some depth, particularly if the team parts ways with pending unrestricted free agent defenseman Justin Schultz.