Penguins Among Teams Facing Deadline to Sign One Specific Player

The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect group is one of the more intriguing ones in the NHL, as they have plenty of talent in the group, but unfortunately, the depth of potential NHLers isn't as good as other teams in the league.

One prospect that goes under the radar is 23-year old centre Vasily Ponomarev, who came to them in the Jake Guentzel trade with Carolina, but after a promising 2024/25 campaign with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton that saw him score 41 points in 55 games played, the team may not be bringing him back.

A recent update from social media has now reiterated the fact that he is not yet re-signed with the Penguins, with a date of December 1st before which the team need to make a decision on him before he officially becomes a free agent.

It's unclear what's exactly taking so long for the Penguins to get him signed, as the team are clearly heading into a rebuild, and with the team potentially moving Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, Ponomarev is the perfect type of player to join Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen as full-time NHLers.

At 23-years of age, now is the time for Kyle Dubas to make a decision on Ponomarev, as he has the talent to be a bottom-six player for this team in the coming years, but if they continue with the likes of Kevin Hayes and Noel Acciari, they risk losing a very talented young player.

Ultimately, the decision the Penguins make here will be a key indicator of how Dubas sees this organization moving forward, and while there's a chance they let him walk into free agency, it would be a major mistake until they've given him a genuine shot at the NHL level.