Sebastian Aho is a Penguin. No, not that one.
That would be the Swedish defenseman Sebastian Aho, not the Finnish forward Sebastian Aho who plays for the Hurricanes.
The Penguins on Tuesday signed Aho to a two-year, one-way contract worth the league-minimum $775,000. As a reminder, whether a contract is one-way or two-way only has to do what a player gets paid if in the minors and has no bearing where he can actually play or anything else.
Aho, 28, is a left-handed, two-way, puck-moving defenseman listed at 5 foot 11 and 183 pounds. He was originally a 2017 fifth-round pick of the Islanders and has spent his entire seven-year North American professional career with the Islanders.
Aho was limited by a few injuries last season and played in 58 games, scoring two goals and seven assists -- career-lows for full NHL seasons.
AHO! ๐จ pic.twitter.com/uuYM5B2aW0
โ New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) December 24, 2023
WHAT A FEEEEED. AHO MAKES IT 6-2 pic.twitter.com/7Lbth3ZQcT
โ New York Islanders (@NYIslanders) March 8, 2024
It'll be interesting to see how and where Aho fits in. The Penguins' defense corps looked like this after Monday's opening day of free agency:
Ryan Graves - Kris Letang
Marcus Pettersson - Erik Karlsson
Matt Grzelcyk - Jack St. Ivany
There's also the left-handed John Ludvig, Ryan Shea and now Aho who could potentially also make the roster, either as a bottom-pairing or extra defenseman. But they certainly can't carry all three extras. So, barring further trades, it looks like Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is going to end up with a pretty good defenseman or two among those possibilities. That's in addition to a pair of right-handed defensemen signed on Monday who are likely to start in the AHL in Nate Clurman and Mac Hollowell.
