Penguins A to Z: Valtteri Puustinen remains intriguing
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 all 54 individuals signed to an NHL contract — 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.
Valtteri Puustinen
Position: Right winger
Shoots: Right
Age: 23
Height: 5-foot-9
Weight: 183 pounds
2021-22 NHL statistics: One game, one point (zero goals, one assist)
2021-22 AHL statistics: 73 games, 42 points (20 goals, 22 assists)
Contract: In the first year of a two-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $863,333. Pending restricted free agent in the 2023 offseason.
(Note: According to Cap Friendly, Puustinen remains exempt from waivers in the event of a recall or assignment involving Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.)
Acquired: Seventh-round draft pick (No. 203 overall), June 22, 2019
Last season: Even if he was a late-round draft pick, Valtteri Puustinen entered the 2021-22 campaign as one of the organization’s most intriguing prospects.
Having put up prolific numbers during each of the past two seasons in the Liiga, the top-tier league in his native Finland, there was plenty of curiosity as to how Puustinen’s bundle of speed and skill would translate to North America.
As it turned out, little was lost in translation.
Playing on this continent for the first time, Puustinen wound up being Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top scorer in 2021-22.
He wasted little time in making an impression and scored a power-play goal in his North American debut, a 2-1 home win for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton against the rival Lehigh Valley Phantoms in the season opener on Oct. 16.
In total, Puustinen put up eight points (four goals, four assists) in his first seven games of the season.
As the grind of the season set in, Puustinen dealt with dry spells offensively throughout the campaign but remained one of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top players and by Feb. 7, he earned his first recall to the NHL roster, then was reassigned by Feb. 11.
A second recall came March 11 and on that same day, Puustinen made his NHL debut, recording a secondary assist on a goal by veteran linemate Jeff Carter during a 5-2 home win against the Vegas Golden Knights.
Two days later, Puustinen was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and remained with that team for the remainder of the season.
In the final weeks of the regular season, Puustinen was not as productive as he was during earlier junctures of the campaign. In his final 20 games, he scored eight points (three goals, five assists).
During the Calder Cup playoffs, Puustinen appeared in six games and recorded three assists.
The future: Puustinen remains one of the team’s top prospects, admittedly in a shallow pool of candidates. After the season, general manager Ron Hextall identified Puustinen as being capable of challenging for a spot on the NHL roster going into 2022-23.
A waterbug of a skater, Puustinen has speed to burn, a laser of a shot and thinks the game like a veteran. At the same time, he is still adapting to North America, on and off the ice (English remains a work in progress for him). And he still needs to find a greater level of day-to-day consistency.
While the base elements required to be a top-six scoring winger are there, it’s fair to wonder if he’s ready for a full-time gig at the NHL level.
But after his first season in North America, there remains plenty of reason to be intrigued by Puustinen’s potential.
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.
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