Faceoff Factor

Pesonen Recalled From AHL

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Nov 1, 12:15 AM | Hype this story!

The Pittsburgh Penguins today recalled Finnish forward Janne Pesonen from their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

According to Jonathan Bombulie, Pesonen will join AHL linemate Chris Minard as the Pittsburgh Penguins head to St. Louis for the last game of the Western Conference road trip Saturday.

There is no word yet on what other roster moves were made to keep the active roster at 23. Without an additional move, Pesonen would count as the 24th member of the roster.

It seems most likely that one of Sidney Crosby or Pascal Dupuis has been placed on injured reserves, thus creating a roster spot.

Pesonen was a free agent signing out of Finland this summer and quickly became the talk of the town, despite very little information about him.

What is known is that in his time in the AHL this season, he was one-third of a very talented top line with Minard and previously-demoted center Jeff Taffe.

From Bombulie:

“[Pesonen is] a smooth player with plenty of skill, so he’ll fit in at the NHL level no problem. He won’t look bad. But will he help Pittsburgh’s struggling offense? I have my doubts. In the AHL, he thrived with the puck on his stick. He probably won’t have that luxury in the NHL.”

More word on other roster movement, as well as a game preview will be available Saturday morning.