The Pittsburgh Penguins’ great youth movement might suffer another delay in the coming days.
Penguins defenseman Harrison Brunicke was en route to Pittsburgh Tuesday following Team Canada’s Bronze Medal victory at the World Junior Championship Monday.
According to a team spokesperson, the Penguins management and coaches are convening over the next couple of days “to have conversations” on Brunicke’s immediate future. A decision has not yet been made, but is likely in the next few days.
Brunicke played in all seven games in the tournament for Team Canada but registered only two assists.
Currently, Brunicke has played only nine NHL games, which means his entry-level contract has not yet kicked in, and it can slide to next season. Also, because the Penguins loaned Brunicke to Team Canada in December, he has not yet accrued 40 games of service time, the mark of service that counts as one year toward free agency.
Despite not yet enacting his ELC, the Penguins have only two choices: Keep the defenseman on the NHL roster, likely at the expense of reserve right-handed defenseman Connor Clifton, who would have to be waived, or return him to the Kamloops Blazers of the WHL for the remainder of that team’s season.
The 19-year-old right-handed defenseman cannot play in the AHL because of the current CHL-NHL transfer agreement, which prohibits teenage players from being stashed in the minors. Next season, NHL teams will get one exemption to the rule, but the CHL resisted NHL pressure to enact that addendum this season.
The Penguins already used their one available 14-day conditioning assignment on Brunicke in late November. If assigned to the WHL, Brunicke would be eligible to return to any level of the Penguins organization following the conclusion of Kamloops’ season.
A mitigating factor that may sway management to return Brunicke to the WHL is the play of 26-year-old Jack St. Ivany, who has been solid as the team’s third-pairing defenseman with Ryan Shea.
Brunicke did not dominate the WJCs. Given his lack of games this season–he has played only 21 games since mid-October (nine NHL games, five AHL games, and seven WJC games) and the Penguins’ superior options for the NHL lineup, the view here is that Brunicke is likely headed back to Kamloops.
Kamloops is currently in a playoff spot, and the WHL playoffs don’t begin until March 28. If the Penguins indeed return Brunicke to Kamloops, the earliest return to the Penguins organization could not occur until late in the NHL or AHL season.
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