What the waiver inactivity means for Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre
The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t waive anyone today. Nothing too unusual about that in and of itself since they don’t waive players most days. But the inactivity means a little something special today, given the timing and calendar.
REMINDER: Any player on an NHL roster when Friday’s 3pm ET trade deadline passes is ineligible to play in the AHL for the remainder of the 2024-25 season and 2025 Calder Cup Playoffs
Players who need waivers to be loaned to AHL would need to be waived Thursday. @InsideAHLHockey
— Tony Androckitis* (@TonyAndrock) March 5, 2025
This mostly has to do with Wilkes-Barre eligibility. Boko Imama won’t be able to play in the AHL again this year as a result of not being on waivers today. The NHL drops the 23-player maximum for the roster after the trade deadline and the Penguins have plenty of cap space so it’s no biggie to carry as many players as they want. Won’t make for a concern for that end of things.
Similarly it means Vladislav Kolyachonok is likely to finish the season out on the NHL roster, if only as a depth player.
The same results doesn’t necessarily apply to Emil Bemstrom and Tristan Jarry…Yet. Both still could be re-assigned by tomorrow to the AHL in order to play in Wilkes-Barre again this season. Both of these players are eligible to be re-assigned without being waived due to having spent less than 30 days on the NHL roster since previously being waived — which means not being on waivers today doesn’t completely close the door on the possibility. Imama is in a different category since he has been on the NHL roster for 30+ days since he was last waived.
The biggest impact with that possibility for Wilkes would be with Bemstrom, considering he was their leading scorer before being recalled with 46 points in 43 AHL games this season. If Bemstrom ends up as ineligible for the AHL for the rest of the season, as it is shaping up as of now to appear, that is a hit to WBS’s stretch run and playoff. Similar could be said for Jarry, but goalies like Filip Larsson and Joel Blomqvist have similar or better AHL stats to minimize that potential loss.
As always, roster movement at this time of year are in flux. The Pens could make trades in the next 24 hours and make a paper move (or real move) to assign Bemstrom back to the AHL tomorrow in time to keep him eligible for playing in that league if they so choose. It’s a minor point worth watching but if the Penguins decide to keep Bemstrom and Jarry on the NHL roster today and tomorrow, they will be shutting them out for playing in the AHL for the rest of the season.