Penguins recall forward Joona Koppanen from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled rookie forward Joona Koppanen from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League on Tuesday afternoon.
This transaction comes as incumbent fourth-line center Noel Acciari was ruled out for Tuesday’s home game against the Columbus Blue Jackets because of an undisclosed injury. Additionally, fourth-line left winger Jansen Harkins was declared as a “game-time decision” for Tuesday by coach Mike Sullivan after Harkins left Sunday’s 6-1 road loss to the Edmonton Oilers with an undisclosed injury.
Tuesday’s transaction marks the second time this season that Koppanen, 26, has been summoned to the NHL roster. He was previously recalled in early December and appeared in three games with no points while logging an average of 7 minutes, 25 seconds of ice time per contest.
The left-handed Koppanen (6-foot-5, 210 pounds) is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s 12th-leading scorer this season with 16 points (five goals, 11 assists) in 49 games.
An unrestricted free-agent signing this past offseason, Joona Koppanen (pronounced: YOH-nuh koh-PAH-nehn) is in the first year of a contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000.
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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