Pittsburgh Penguins Claim Young Defenseman Off Waivers
The Pittsburgh Penguins have claimed Utah HC defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok off waivers today while two others were placed on the wire.
Yesterday, the Utah Hockey Club made a somewhat surprising roster move, placing former 2nd round pick Vladislav Kolyachonok on waivers, hoping to send him to the American Hockey League.
This afternoon, those hopes were dashed as the 6'1" blueliner was claimed by an Eastern Conference team.
That team was none other than the Pittsburgh Penguins, who are not exactly known to play young players, so it is a bit of a surprising move.
Kolyachonok has just 62 games of NHL experience, 23 of which has come with Utah this season.
He has a total of 4 goals and 12 points in those games.
That being said, his advanced analytics paint him as a legit defender at the NHL level, so perhaps the Penguins see something in him that Utah doesn't.
This was not the only waivers news today though. In fact, two more players have hit the wire this afternoon.
The LA Kings placed defenseman Andreas Englund on waivers while the Pacific Division rivals Seattle Kraken put Mitchell Stephens in the same boat.
Combined, these two players have appeared in just 36 games this season and they have 4 points between them, 3 of those belonging to Stephens.
Both players are veteran NHL/AHL tweener types, so they are unlikely to get claimed.
That being said, you never know what might happen on the waiver wire. After all, few people around the league were probably expecting Vladislav Kolyachonok to get claimed and yet here we are.
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Tom Wilson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Alexander Ovechkin | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Brendan Gallagher | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Anthony Cirelli | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Josh Doan | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Pierre-Luc Dubois | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Guenther | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Victor Hedman | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jack McBain | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Dylan Strome | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Jake Guentzel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Brandon Hagel | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Michael Carcone | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Christian Dvorak | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Zemgus Girgensons | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Nick Paul | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brayden Point | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cam Atkinson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| John Carlson | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Nick Desimone | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Jets | 56 | 39 | 14 | 3 | 81 | |
Capitals | 55 | 36 | 11 | 8 | 80 | |
Oilers | 55 | 34 | 17 | 4 | 72 | |
Stars | 55 | 35 | 18 | 2 | 72 | |
Golden Knights | 56 | 33 | 17 | 6 | 72 | |
Panthers | 57 | 34 | 20 | 3 | 71 | |
Hurricanes | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Wild | 56 | 33 | 19 | 4 | 70 | |
Maple Leafs | 55 | 33 | 20 | 2 | 68 | |
Avalanche | 57 | 33 | 22 | 2 | 68 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||