Owen Pickering's first professional game appears to be imminent.
Pickering, the Penguins' 19-year-old defense prospect who was the team's first-round pick last summer, was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton from his junior team in the WHL on Thursday.
The NHL's transfer agreement with the CHL junior leagues prevent teams from assigning their junior-eligible prospects to the AHL during the season unless they are at least 20 years old, an effort to prevent the AHL from poaching some of the top junior prospects and depleting those leagues. Players are free to join their team's AHL affiliate after their junior seasons are over, though.
Pickering and the Swift Current Broncos failed to qualify for the WHL playoffs. They finished ninth in the Western Conference standings with a 31-33-1-3 record, three points shy of a playoff position. Pickering led all Swift Current defensemen in scoring with nine goals and 36 assists in 61 games, tying his career-high goal total from last season and surpassing his previous career-high point total of 33.
Pickering practiced with Wilkes-Barre on Thursday afternoon and could make his AHL debut as soon as Friday, when the Penguins play the Lehigh Valley Phantoms on the road at 7:05 p.m. The Penguins host the Syracuse Crunch the following night for a 6:05 p.m. puck drop.
Wilkes-Barre has eight games remaining in the regular-season schedule. They sit in last place in the eight-team Atlantic Division with a 25-27-6-6 record, but are just seven points out of a playoff position with a game in hand over the Hartford Wolf Pack, who occupy the last playoff spot.
Though Pickering is able to finish this season in the AHL, he will likely return to the WHL next season. He won't turn 20 years old until Jan. 27, too late for the cutoff for being eligible to play in the AHL next season. His options are either to go straight to the NHL or go back to junior, and given that he's not yet ready to play in the NHL full-time, returning to junior makes the most sense for his development.
