Penguins Prospect Watch: Santeri Airola makes Liiga debut
A weekly look at how Penguins prospects and minor leaguers have fared over the past week:
• In Finland’s Liiga, defenseman Santeri Airola made his debut in that league by recording two power-play assists for Ilves during a 5-4 home loss to HPK on Saturday.
Aside from two games in the second-tier Mestis league, Airola, 20, has been sidelined most of the season due to an undisclosed injury. A seventh-round pick (No. 211 overall) of the Penguins in 2019, Airola has yet to sign with the Penguins.
• Forward Valtteri Puustinen recorded an assist in that game as well for HPK. A seventh-round pick in 2019 (No. 203 overall), Puustinen, 21, has yet to sign with the Penguins.
• Elsewhere in the Liiga, defenseman Niclas Almari scored his first goal of the season, collecting the game-winning sore for Pelicans in a 5-0 home win against Vaasan on Thursday.
Almari, 22, was a fifth-round pick (No. 151 overall) in 2016 and is entering the second year of a three-year entry-level contract with the Penguins.
• In Sweden’s HockeyAllsvensken, goaltender Calle Clang made 43 saves on 46 shots for Kristianstads in a 5-3 road win against Mora on Jan. 11.
Clang, 18, was a third-round pick (No. 77 overall) by the Penguins in 2020 and has yet to sign with the team.
• Defenseman Clayton Phillips recorded an assist for Penn State in a 3-2 overtime home win against Michigan State in the NCAA on Friday.
Phillips, 21, was a third-round pick (No. 93 overall) in 2017 and has yet to sign with the Penguins.
• Elsewhere in the NCAA, forward Chase Yoder recorded an assist for Providence in a 3-2 home win against Maine on Saturday.
Yoder, 18, was a sixth-round pick (No. 170 overall) in 2020 and has yet to sign with the Penguins.
• In the Latvian Hockey Higher League, forward Raivis Ansons recorded an assist for Zemgale in a 9-5 road win against Dinaburga on Saturday.
Ansons, 18, is scheduled to participate in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins’ upcoming training camp. A fifth-round pick (No. 149 overall) in 2020, Ansons has yet to sign with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
• Defenseman Jesper Lindgren will also report to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s training camp. Upon his final game with MODO in the HockeyAllsvensken, he was that team’s leading scorer with 18 points (one goal, 17 assists) in 25 games.
Lindgren, 23, is entering the final year of a three-year entry-level contract. The Penguins acquired him in a trade from the Toronto Maple Leafs in August.
• Goaltender Emil Larmi is scheduled to attend Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s training camp as well. Larmi, 24, spent much of the fall and early winter on loan to HPK in Finland’s Liiga. He is in the second year of a two-year entry-level contract with the Penguins.
• On Jan. 11, the Penguins finalized their NHL roster and taxi squad. Forwards Anthony Angello, Frederick Gaudreau and Drew O’Connor; goaltenders Alex D’Orio and Maxime Lagace; and defenseman Pierre-Olivier Joseph were included on the taxi squad.
Defensemen Kevin Czuczman, Cam Lee and Josh Maniscalco, as well as forwards Josh Currie and Radim Zohorna were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Forward Nathan Legare (Val-d’Or Foreurs) and Sam Poulin (Sherbrooke Phoenix) were returned to their Quebec Major Junior Hockey League teams.
Forward Sam Miletic (undisclosed) and Zach Trotman (knee) were placed on injured reserve.
• In Russia’s KHL, forward Pontus Aberg recorded a power-play assist for Traktor Chelyabinsk in a 2-1 home win against Vityaz on Thursday.
Aberg, 27, is an unsigned restricted free agent whose rights the Penguins acquired from the Maple Leafs in an August trade.
Statistics
Forwards and defensemen
Goaltenders 
(All figures are through Sunday.)
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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