The Pittsburgh Penguins’ experiment with Jesse Puljujarvi is coming to a conclusion.

On Saturday, the team placed the right-handed forward on unconditional waivers for the purposes of mutally terminating his contract.

Should Puljujarvi go unclaimed by the NHL’s other 31 teams by 2 p.m. Sunday, he will become an unrestricted free agent.

Saturday evening, the Penguins issued a statement from president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas.

“A year ago, we committed to working with Jesse as he returned after substantial hip surgeries in the summer of 2023. Jesse put in tremendous work over the off-season and returned to Pittsburgh this fall in terrific shape and had a great training camp, earning his way to regular ice time out of camp.

“As the season has gone on, we have worked with Jesse and his representative Markus Lehto to try and ensure that his hard work returning from serious injury was not lost and to try and find him greater opportunity.

“Over the last week those discussions have led to us granting Jesse his request for contract termination so he may explore opportunities with other organizations around the world. In the end, we felt that was the fair thing to do given the work Jesse has put in to getting himself back to this level.”

The 26-year-old is in the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $800,000 and is currently assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

Over the past five weeks, Puljujarvi has gone through several transactions.

After clearing regular waivers on Dec. 30, Puljujarvi (6-foot-4, 216 pounds) was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on Jan. 14 and then summoned back to the NHL roster on Jan. 27. By Wednesday, he was returned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Puljujarvi, the fourth-overall selection of the 2016 NHL draft by the Edmonton Oilers, Puljujarvi has been trying to resurrect his once promising career with the Penguins.

After undergoing surgery to each hip in June of 2023, Puljujarvi was allowed to walk as a free agent by the Carolina Hurricanes later that summer. Going the entire offseason without signing, he linked up with the Penguins in December of 2023 on an informal tryout basis. By January of 2024, he signed a professional tryout contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Posting nine points (four goals, five assists) in 13 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Puljujarvi signed with Pittsburgh in February of 2024. Over the remainder of the 2023-24 season, Puljujarvi scored nine points (three goals, six assists) in 26 games while averaging 9:11 of ice time per contest.

Entering the 2024-25 campaign, Puljujarvi, seemingly fully recovered from hip operations, enjoyed a strong preseason, leading the Penguins in scoring with eight points (four goals, four assists) in four games.

That production did not carry over to the regular season, however, as Puljujarvi, primarily from a role in the bottom-six forwards, generated nine points (three goals, six assists) in 26 games while averaging 11:36 of ice time per contest.

He had also been a healthy scratch for 23 of a possible 49 games this season.

“It’s been (uncertain) because you don’t know where you’re going the next day or what happens,” Puljujarvi said on Jan. 7 in reference to going on regular waivers. “But I try to be a good professional hockey player and do my best off ice and on ice.”

In four AHL games this season, Puljuarvi had three points (one goal, two assists. He was held without a point during a 3-0 home win against the Bridgeport Islanders on Friday, opening that contest on the left wing of the third line.

Including Puljujarvi, the Penguins currently have 49 players under NHL contracts for the current season, one fewer than the league limit.

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