PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Newly acquired defensemen John Ludvig will be part of the Pens opening night roster Tuesday against Chicago.
Pens will start the season with no back-up forwards and eight defensemen as the team sent forwards Vinnie Hinostroza, Colin White and Radim Zohorna to the minors with Raivis Ansons on the non-roster injured list. Defensemen Mark Friedman was sent to the minors with Will Butcher on the non-roster injured list. The goalies sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton are Magnus Hellberg and Garret Sparks.
The Roster
Forwards-Sidney Crosby, Jake Guentzel, Rickard Rakell, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Jeff Carter, Noel Acciari, Drew O'Connor, Jansen Harkins, Matt Nieto, Lars Eller, Reilly Smith)
Defensemen-Kris Letang, Ryan Graves, Marcus Pettersson, Erik Karlsson, Chad Ruhwedel, PO Joseph, Ryan Shea, John Ludvig
Goalies-Tristan Jarry, Alex Nedeljkovic
Newest guy
Defenseman John Ludvig was grabbed off waivers from Carolina. The 23-year-old played in 54 games with the Charlotte Checkers of the American Hockey League last season with three goals and 14 assists. A third-round pick by Florida in 2019, the 6’1”, 213-pounder has played 70 games in the AHL overall with 25 points. Before playing in the AHL, Ludvig played three seasons with the Portland Winterhawks of the Western Hockey League with 24 goals and 63 assists in 169 games and was captain in his final season. He’s signed for this year and next at $775,000.
Related
Roster Notes
· 10 of the 22 players are new to the Pens roster
· 2 players were waiver claims (Ludvig and Jansen Harkins)
· 2 players acquired by trade (Erik Karlsson, Reilly Smith)
· Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin & Kris Letang will combine to play in 55 seasons with the Pens
· 9 players are from the United States (2 from Cleveland)
· 4 also played for Metropolitan Division rivals (Jeff Carter-PHL, Lars Eller-WSH, Ryan Graves-NJ, John Ludvig-CAR)