Wilkes-Barre/Scranton will not be competing for the Calder Cup this season.
Wilkes-Barre was officially eliminated from AHL postseason contention this week with a 5-0 loss to the Charlotte Checkers on Wednesday. The Penguins currently sit last in the eight-team Atlantic Division with a 26-31-7-6 record and 65 points, 14 points away from a playoff berth.
Wilkes-Barre at one point held the longest active playoff appearance streak in the AHL, a 16-year run from the 2002-03 season to the 2017-18 season. The streak ended when they failed to qualify for the playoffs in the 2018-19 season. No playoffs were held in the AHL in the 2019-20 and 2020-21 seasons due to COVID-19's impact on those seasons. The Penguins returned to the playoffs in the 2021-22 season, eliminating the Hershey Bears in three games in the best-of-three first round before being swept by the Springfield Thunderbirds in the best-of-five second round.
There are two games left in the regular-season schedule -- a game in Hartford against the WolfPack on Friday, then a home game against the Checkers on Saturday. If Pittsburgh clinches a playoff spot, one can expect a group of NHL-contracted players from Wilkes-Barre to all be recalled as Black Aces for the NHL playoffs.
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.Here's how the Penguins' other NHL-contracted players in the minors or draft picks elsewhere whose teams are still playing did over the last two weeks:
FORWARDS
Corey Andonovski
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-1/194
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 60 games, 8 goals, 11 assists, 64 PIM
Andonovski recorded two assists in his last five games.
Raivis Ansons
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-1/190
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2020, fifth round
Age: 20
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 44 games, 2 goal, 4 assists, 27 PIM
Ansons has been sidelined with an upper-body injury since March 17.
Drake Caggiula
Position: Center/wing
Size: 5-10/176
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 28
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 64 games, 22 goals, 29 assists, 43 PIM
Caggiula scored four goals and an assist in his last seven games.
Luke Devlin
Position: Center
Size: 6-2/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2022, sixth round
Age: 18
Team: West Kelowna Warriors (BCHL)
Season totals: 51 games, 11 goals, 26 assists, 27 PIM (regular season), 6 games, 3 PIM (playoffs)
The Warriors were eliminated in Game 6 of the first-round of the BCHL playoffs on Sunday. Devlin was scoreless in six games.
That's it for Devlin's junior career. He'll be attending Cornell University next season.
Jordan Frasca
Position: Center/left wing
Size: 6-2/183
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 21
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Season totals: 7 games, 16 PIM (AHL), 36 games, 7 goals 5 assists, 8 PIM (ECHL)
Frasca was scoreless in four games for Wilkes-Barre in the last two weeks.
Ty Glover
Position: Center/ left wing
Size: 6-3/201
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 47 games, 6 goals, 5 assists, 13 PIM
Glover had two goals and two assists in his last seven games.
Jonathan Gruden
Position: Center/left wing
Size: 6-0/172
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Acquired via trade
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 52 games, 15 goals, 15 assists, 54 PIM (AHL), 3 games (NHL)
Gruden recorded six assists in his last seven games.
Filip Hallander
Position: Center/left wing
Size: 6-3/201
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2018, second round
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 43 games, 11 goals, 22 assists, 20 PIM (AHL), 2 games (NHL)
Hallander has been sidelined with an upper-body injury since March 29.
Nathan Legare
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-0/205
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2019, third round
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 66 games, 8 goals, 11 assists, 61 PIM
Legare scored two goals and an assist in his last seven games.
Zam Plante
Position: Center
Size: 5-9/161
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2022, fifth round
Age: 18
Team: Chicago Steel, Fargo Force (USHL)
Season totals: 33 games, 8 goals, 15 assists, 2 PIM (USHL Chicago), 14 games, 3 goals, 5 assists (USHL Fargo)
Plante had three assists in his last four games.
Sam Poulin
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-2/214
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2019, first round
Age: 21
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 15 games, 4 goals, 6 PIM (AHL), 3 games, 1 assist, 2 PIM (NHL)
Poulin played his first two games since returning to Wilkes-Barre after his absence for mental health reasons. He centered the second line and was a combined minus-3 with four shots on goal.
Valtteri Puustinen
Position: Wing
Size: 5-9/183
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 70 games, 23 goals, 33 assists, 22 PIM
Puustinen has two goals and five assists in his last seven games.
Lukas Svejkovsky
Position: Wing
Size: 5-9/170
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2020, fourth round
Age: 21
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 46 games, 3 goals, 12 assists, 6 PIM
Svejkovsky suffered an upper-body injury on March 26.
DEFENSEMEN
Isaac Belliveau
Size: 6-2/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, fifth round
Age: 19
Team: Gatineau Olympiques (QMJHL)
Season totals: 55 games, 11 goals, 35 assists, 48 PIM (regular season), 5 games, 2 assists, 6 PIM (playoffs)
Belliveau and the Gatineau Olympiques eliminated the defending Memorial Cup champion Saint John Sea Dogs in the first round of the QMJHL playoffs. Belliveau had two assists in the five games.
Nolan Collins
Size: 6-3/194
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2022, sixth round
Age: 18
Team: Sudbury Wolves (OHL)
Season totals: 63 games, 8 goals, 22 assists, 50 PIM
Collins was injured in the last game of the regular season and was sidelined for the playoffs. His Sudbury Wolves were eliminated in the first round of the OHL playoffs this week.
Collins won his team's leadership award after the season ended.
Peter DiLiberatore
Size: 6-0/185
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Acquired via trade
Age: 22
Team: Savannah Ghost Pirates (ECHL), Hendeson Silver Knights (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 18 games, 3 assists, 16 PIM (ECHL Savannah), 22 games, 3 assists (AHL Henderson), 2 games, 2 assist (ECHL Wheeling) 8 games, 2 goals, 8 PIM (AHL WIlkes-Barre)
DiLiberatore was assigned to Wheeling this week where he recorded one assist in two games.
Taylor Fedun
Size: 6-1/201
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 34
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 58 games, 3 goals, 8 assists, 22 PIM (AHL), 4 games (NHL)
Fedun sustained an upper-body injury on April 7.
Josh Maniscalco
Size: 6-2/205
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Season totals: 25 games, 2 goals, 2 assists, 7 PIM (AHL), 31 games, 8 goals, 20 assists, 42 PIM (ECHL)
Maniscalco has a goal and an assist in his last four games with Wilkes-Barre.
Ryan McCleary
Size: 6-2/180
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Age: 19
Team: Portland Winterhawks (WHL)
Season totals: 66 games, 13 goals, 18 assists, 51 PIM (regular season), 5 games, 1 assist, 6 PIM (playoffs)
McCleary and the Winterhawks eliminated the Everett Silvertips in the first round. McCleary had one assist in five games.
Xavier Ouellet
Size: 6-0/196
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 29
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 29 games, 2 goals, 15 assists, 21 PIM
Ouellet suffered an ankle injury on Dec. 31. He underwent successful surgery last week and is done for the rest of the year. He's still signed to a two-way NHL contract through next season.
Owen Pickering
Size: 6-4/180
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2022, first round
Age: 19
Team: Swift Current Broncos (WHL), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL)
Season totals: 61 games, 9 goals, 36 assists, 30 PIM (WHL), 6 games (AHL)
Pickering joined Wilkes-Barre on an amateur tryout after his junior season ended. Wilkes-Barre has nothing to play for and Pickering isn't old enough to play in the AHL full-time next year, he'll be going back to juniors. This opportunity is more of just a learning experience for him, giving him the chance to get his feet wet in the pro game.
He's primarily played on a second pairing alongside Fedun and has quarterbacked the second power play unit. If there's any takeaway to be had, it's that it's clear he needs to get stronger. But he knows that, everyone knows that. Nothing new there.
Ty Smith
Size: 5-11/179
Shoots: Left
Drafted: Acquired via trade
Age: 22
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 37 games, 6 goals, 15 assists, 20 PIM (AHL), 9 games, 1 goal, 3 assists, 4 PIM (NHL)
Smith returned from his fractured jaw. He had to have a procedure done to repair the damage, as well as get his jaw wired shut and get braces to fix his teeth. He lost a fair amount of weight from the all-liquid diet that followed.
Smith has two goals and four assists in seven games since returning.
Jack St. Ivany
Size: 6-3/201
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 61 games, 8 assists, 28 PIM
St. Ivany was scoreless in his last seven games.
Colin Swoyer
Size: 6-0/185
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 24
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Season totals: 34 games, 1 goal, 10 assists, 12 PIM (AHL), 6 games, 1 assist, 4 PIM (ECHL)
Swoyer has two assist in his last three games.
GOALTENDERS
Joel Blomqvist
Size: 6-2/183
Catches: Left
Drafted: 2020, second round
Age: 21
Team: Karpat (Liiga), Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL)
Season totals: 21 games, 2.29 GAA, .907 SV% (regular season), 3 game, 3.69 GAA, .848 SV% (playoffs)
Blomqvist joined Wilkes-Barre after his Liiga season ended and signed his entry-level deal for next season. More on that here. He has been practicing with the team but has yet to play.
Taylor Gauthier
Size: 6-2/207
Catches: Right
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 21
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Wheeling Nailers (ECHL)
Season totals: 20 games, 2.71 GAA, .907 SV% (AHL), 16 games, 3.09 GAA, .896 SV%, 1 shutout (ECHL)
Gauthier started two games for Wilkes-Barre.
Filip Lindberg
Size: 6-1/194
Catches: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 23
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Season totals: 19 games, 3.13 GAA, .896 SV%
Lindberg has been sidelined with an upper-body injury since Feb. 11. He's considered day-to-day.
Sergei Murashov
Size: 6-0/167
Catches: Right
Drafted: 2022, fourth round
Age: 18
Team: Loko Yaroslavl (MHL), Lokomotiv (KHL)
Season totals: 42 games, 1.53 GAA, .948 SV%, 11 shutouts (MHL regular season), 1 game, 1.00 GAA, .947 SV% (KHL), 10 games, 2.07 GAA, .932 SV% (MHL playoffs)
Murashov's team was swept in the best-of-five conference finals in the Russian junior league. Murashov was in net for all three losses. He stopped 27 of 30 shots in Game 1, 25 of 28 shots in Game 2, and 20 of 22 shots in Game 3.
Dustin Tokarski
Size: 6-0/198
Catches: Left
Drafted: Free agent signing
Age: 33
Team: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL), Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Season totals: 35 games, 2.63 GAA, .912 SV%, 1 shutout (AHL), 4 games, 3.44 GAA, ,897 SV% (NHL)
Tokarski played in five games over the last two weeks.
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These are the final regular-season stats for the players whose teams' seasons have been over for at least the last two weeks
Tristan Broz
Position: Center/wing
Size: 6-0/178
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, second round
Age: 20
Team: Denver (NCAA)
Season totals: 40 games, 10 goals, 18 assists, 33 PIM
Kirill Tankov
Position: Center
Size: 6-1/185
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Age: 20
Team: SKA-Neva (VHL)
Season totals: 1 game
Chase Yoder
Position: Center
Size: 5-10/176
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2020, sixth round
Age: 20
Team: Providence (NCAA)
Season totals: 37 games, 8 goals, 7 assists, 14 PIM
Santeri Airola
Position: Defenseman
Size: 5-11, 163
Shoots: Right
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Age: 22
Team: Ilves/SaiPa (Liiga), KOOVEE (Mestis)
Season totals: 5 games, 2 PIM (Ilves Liiga), 10 games, 7 assists (SaiPa Liiga) 29 games, 8 goals, 14 assists, 22 PIM (Mestis)
Daniel Laatsch
Position: Defenseman
Size: 6-5/183
Shoots: Left
Drafted: 2021, seventh round
Age: 21
Team: Wisconsin (NCAA)
Season totals: 36 games, 1 goal, 6 assists, 6 PIM
Thimo Nickl
Position: Defenseman
Size: 6-2/176
Shoots: Right
Drafted: Acquired via trade
Age: 21
Team: AIK (Allsvenskan)
Season totals: 47 games, 8 assists, 69 PIM
