Penguins re-sign Valtteri Puustinen to two-year deal

Puustinen played on a one-year contract this past season with an AAV of $775,000. It saw the Kuopio, Finland native play his longest stretch of games with Pittsburgh. In 52 appearances, Puustinen scored five goals and 20 points, scoring his first NHL goal on Dec. 27 against the New York Islanders.

Puustinen was originally selected by the Penguins in the seventh round of the 2019 NHL Draft, shortly after winning the Liiga with HPK in Finland, and helping his country win the gold medal at the IIHF World Junior Championship. He made the jump to North America in 2021, making his NHL debut on March 11, 2022. Puustinen spent the entirety of the 2022-23 campaign, and the first two months of this past season, with the Penguins’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

He was called up this past December, and spent most of the remainder of the 2023-24 season in Pittsburgh. In 177 AHL appearances, Puustinen has scored 50 goals and 120 points.

Puustinen is currently in Czechia, representing Finland in the 2024 IIHF Men’s World Championship.

As a result of the signing, the Penguins have 32 standard player contracts signed for next season. According to CapFriendly, Pittsburgh is projected to have a little over $12 million in cap space for 2024-25.