Penguins Announce Another Wave Of Roster Cuts — With One Surprise

Ahead of the AHL pre-season opening on Friday, the Pittsburgh Penguins made another small wave of roster cuts.

And there was one name on it that came as a bit of a surprise.

The Penguins announced that the re-assigned Liam and Markus Ruck to the Medicine Hat Tigers of the WHL. They also re-assigned forwards Atley Calvert, Tanner Howe, Mikhail Ilyin, and Avery Hayes to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS), Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate. 

In addition, goaltender Colin Delia was released from his paid tryout (PTO), and forward Oliver Okuliar - injured in practice on Sunday - was designated as injured non-roster and sent to WBS to continue his rehabilitation process.

The biggest surprise on the list was Hayes, who put together a strong training camp. He scored a next-effort goal against the Buffalo Sabres in the 4-1 pre-season opening win, and he had five goals in 14 games with the NHL club last season. 

"He's a good young player. I think there are other guys that, right now, are ahead," head coach Dan Muse said. "Sometimes it is about what you've done, and sometimes, it's also that you've got to get it down to numbers and other guys that have played better or we feel like, right now, are going to be a better fit. Those are all part of the decisions."

The Penguins have assigned the following players to @WBSPenguins (AHL):

F Atley Calvert
F Avery Hayes
F Tanner Howe
F Mikhail Ilyin

Forward Oliver Okuliar has been designated as injured non-roster and will continue his rehabilitation process in WBS.

Forwards Liam and Markus…

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) September 25, 2026

The Penguins are down to their final pre-season game, which will take place in Buffalo on Saturday at 3:00 p.m. ET. There are still a group of prospects that remain with the NHL club and took the ice with the main squad for practice Friday, including forwards Bill Zonnon and Ville Koivunen as well as defenseman Harrison Brunicke and goaltender Sergei Murashov.

Of note, forwards Rutger McGroarty and Tristan Broz, defensemen Owen Pickering, Ryan Graves, Caleb Jones, Jake Livanavage, and Chase Pietila and goaltender Joel Blomqvist skated earlier in the day and remain on the training camp roster as of now.

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