The Pittsburgh Penguins will have to wait on recalling one of their top prospects.

PITTSBURGH – Vasily Ponomarev joined the Pittsburgh Penguins organization as one of the critical pieces of the Jake Guentzel trade with the Carolina Hurricanes. Upon arrival, Ponomarev immediately became one of the system's top prospects.

The Penguins were looking forward to getting Ponomarev acclimated to the new system and then giving him a recall to the NHL level. The wait for Ponomarev’s NHL debut may be longer than expected. After four games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Ponomarev will be out on a week-to-week basis with a lower-body injury.

According to Tony Androckitis of Inside AHL Hockey, Ponomarev was an early departure when the WBS Penguins took on the Syracuse Crunch. Androckitis says this injury must carry more severity since injuries are often labeled as day-to-day.

Ponomarev has a goal in four games with the Penguins organization. Between the Penguins and Chicago Wolves, Ponomarev has scored nine goals and 21 assists for 30 points in 45 games.

Those 30 points rank him second on the active Penguins AHL roster. Ty Smith (who was also dealt to the Hurricanes in the Guentzel trade) still leads the team with 37 total points. Smith did not leave Wilkes-Barre because the Hurricanes do not currently have an AHL affiliation.

The timing of Ponomarev’s injury is extra unfortunate since the Penguins may be without center Noel Acciari, who left the game against the Colorado Avalanche early with a lower-body injury.

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