Penguins trade winger to the Avalanche in exchange for a defenseman

Colorado finally did the kind of quiet little move contenders keep making, cheap, targeted, and aimed at adding one more usable forward for spring.

The deal is simple on paper: Colorado gets Valtteri Puustinen plus Pittsburgh's own 2026 seventh, and the Penguins take Ilya Solovyov.

Puustinen is 26, shoots right, plays RW or LW, and he was a 2019 seventh-rounder by Pittsburgh, the classic «found money» profile.

His cap hit sits at $775,000, and he's under contract through 2025-26, which matters when you're trying to keep the top-six expensive and the bottom-six useful.

The NHL production is real enough to take seriously: five goals, 15 assists, 20 points in 52 games last season, and 21 points in 53 career NHL games.

The tweet that kicked this around also noted Puustinen has spent 2025-26 in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton with 26 points in 35 games, 7 goals and 19 assists.

For Colorado, the fit is pretty easy to see, a puck-moving winger who can survive the pace, find soft ice, and keep the third line from turning into a dump-and-change loop.

If Jared Bednar wants to get creative, Puustinen's shot can live on a second power-play look, especially if they want a righty option who thinks pass first, then rips it.

On the way out, Solovyov is 25, a left-shot defenseman, 6'3 and 209, originally drafted in the 2020 seventh round by Calgary.

Pittsburgh's release says he had one goal, two assists, three points in 16 games with Colorado this season, plus a short AHL stint.

Honestly, Avs fans are going to like this one because it's the rare add that doesn't touch the core and still gives you a new button to press when a line goes cold.

The blue line part is the only real question, because Solovyov was a serviceable depth option and those minutes have to come from somewhere when injuries pop up.

Colorado is betting that forward depth wins more nights than the last defenseman on the roster, and the extra 2026 pick sweetener makes it feel like smart asset work.

For Puustinen, the assignment is clear: keep up with Colorado's tempo, make the simple play on the wall, and shoot when the puck finds him in the slot instead of over-passing.

From the Penguins side, they're basically turning a winger into a bigger body on defense, and Solovyov's contract is the same $775,000 level through 2025-26.

Now the fun part is seeing where Puustinen lands in the lineup, because if he clicks early, this looks like one of those «tiny January trades» people remember in May.

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