The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled defensemen P.O Joseph and Juuso Riikola, forward Kasper Bjorkqvist and goaltender Louis Domingue from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) and assigned them to their taxi squad.
This comes two days after the NHL reinstituted the taxi squads as a roster management tool to deal with incumbent members of the NHL roster being placed into the league’s protocols for covid-19.
Joseph, 22, has appeared in four NHL games this season with no points and an average of 18 minutes, 14 seconds of ice time. In 16 AHL games this season, he leads all of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s defensemen with 11 points (three goals, eight assists).
The 28-year-old Riikola has played in five NHL games this season and has recorded one assist while averaging 13:23 of ice time. In 10 AHL games, he has six assists.
Bjorkqvist, 23, has appeared in 17 AHL games this season and has three points (one goal, two assists). He never has played in an NHL game.
The 29-year-old Domingue has played in 10 AHL games this season and has a 3-4-2 record, a 2.69 goals-against average and a .918 save percentage. His most recent NHL action came in the form of one game last season with the Calgary Flames.
These transactions come one day after the Penguins announced forwards Teddy Blueger, Evan Rodrigues and Dominik Simon, defensemen John Marino and Mike Matheson and goaltender Tristan Jarry were placed into the NHL’s protocols for covid-19.
