Penguins send Adam Johnson to Wilkes-Barre after successful first stint in NHL
The return of Evgeni Malkin from a rib injury bumped rookie winger Adam Johnson to 13th on the forward depth chart for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
Given his youth and relative inexperience, the Penguins didn’t want Johnson sitting around as a healthy scratch, so they assigned the 24-year-old Minnesota native to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL on Friday morning.
The speedy Johnson had two assists and a plus-2 rating in a six-game NHL call-up.
“It’s good for a guy like Adam,” coach Mike Sullivan said. “We don’t want him sitting on the sidelines. We want him playing games and continuing to improve and develop his overall game, and the way to do that is to play. It’s important for him to play significant minutes, and that’s what the opportunity in Wilkes-Barre does for a player like Johnny.”
The move has one other purpose: Johnson is one of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s leading scorers with 40 points in 63 games this season, and that club could use a boost in its quest to make the AHL playoffs.
Wilkes-Barre has qualified for the playoffs for 17 straight seasons. This year, in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in that league’s Atlantic Division, they trail the Providence Bruins by three points with six games to play.
An 18th straight playoff run in Wilkes-Barre would be beneficial for the Penguins organization because it would give postseason experience to some of the top prospects who have gathered there now that their college and junior hockey seasons are complete.
Two of the top 10 prospects in the organization, defenseman Calen Addison and winger Jordy Bellerive, joined Wilkes-Barre on Friday.
Addison, a quick, undersized offensive defensemen, had 65 points in 67 games for Lethbridge of the WHL. At age 18, he has another year of junior hockey ahead of him.
Bellerive recovered from offseason injuries suffered in a campfire explosion to record 33 goals and 83 points in 68 games. He will likely turn pro in the fall.
A third Penguins draft pick, Slovenian winger Jan Drozg, has also reported to Wilkes-Barre. He was a point-per-game scorer for Shawinigan of the QMJHL this season and is on track to turn pro.
The organization has also brought in a large crop of undrafted college free agents.
Chase Berger, a left wing who is second on Penn State’s all-time scoring list, scored a goal in his second AHL game Wednesday morning.
Jake Lucchini, a center who led Northern Michigan in scoring this season, has already scored two goals in 10 AHL games.
Jon Lizotte is a steady defenseman who played with Vegas Golden Knights signing Jimmy Schuldt on the top defense pair for St. Cloud State this season.
Christopher Brown is a two-way center from Boston College whose father Doug and uncle Greg played for the Penguins in the 90s.
The Penguins also brought in defenseman Michael Kim from Boston College and forward Brandon Hawkins from Northeastern.
Jonathan Bombulie is the TribLive assistant sports editor. A Greensburg native, he was a hockey reporter for two decades, covering the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 17 seasons before joining the Trib in 2015 and covering the Penguins for four seasons, including Stanley Cup championships in 2016-17. He can be reached at jbombulie@triblive.com.
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