Penguins Place Puustinen On NHL Waivers; Another Option To Bolster Islanders Depth For This Season & Next

Of Puustinen's six career goals, three have come against the Islanders.

On Tuesday, the Pittsburgh Penguins placed forward Valtteri Puustinen on waivers:

The 25-year-old winger has one goal and one assist in 10 games this season and carries an annual cap hit of $775,000 through 2025-26.

Of his six career goals, Puustinen has scored three of them against the New York Islanders, and it just so happens that Long Island is a team that needs help in their bottom six.

The Islanders' fourth line is not playing much and only has one goal in 22 games. In their 4-2 loss to the Detroit Red Wings on Monday, Matt Martin played 7:17, Oliver Wahlstrom played 8:42, and Kyle MacLean played 9:56. 

That's become a common theme for the fourth line, and maybe Puustinen could take advantage of an opportunity. 

In regards to Puustinen having term on his deal, the Islanders likley won't have Martin or Hudson Fasching back next year. Wahlstrom is a pending restricted free agent, but it seems that his time is slowly but surely -- maybe -- coming to an end on Long Island. 

MacLean has two years left on his deal after this season at $775,000.

The Islanders are 13th on the waiver wire, so we'll see by 2 PM ET on Wednesday if the Islanders get a chance to claim him and if they ultimately decide to do so.