Penguins sign defenseman Dmitri Samorukov to one-year contract
The Pittsburgh Penguins signed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins defenseman Dmitri Samorukov to a one-year, two-way contract for the remainder of the 2023-24 season.
Per a release from the team, the contract carries a prorated salary cap hit of $775,000, the NHL minimum.
Previously signed to an American Hockey League (AHL) contract on July 31, Samorukov came to the Pittsburgh Penguins’ training camp in September and was assigned to Wilkes-Barre Scranton on Sept. 28. He appeared in one preseason NHL game and did not record a point while registering two shots.
Opening the regular season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the left-handed Samorukov (pronounced: sa-muh-ROO-kahv) has played in all 15 of that team’s games and has five points (one goal, four assists).
He is still assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s roster.
A native of Volgograd, Russia, the 24-year-old Samorukov (6-foot-3, 188 pounds) was a third-round pick of the Edmonton Oilers in the 2017 NHL Draft. In three career NHL games — one with the Oilers in 2021-22 and two with the St. Louis Blues in 2022-23 — Samorukov has no career points.
According to Cap Friendly, the Penguins now have 48 players signed to NHL contracts for this season, two short of the NHL limit of 50.
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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