P.O. Joseph Nearing Return to Penguins Lineup

The Pittsburgh Penguins recalled P.O. Joseph and could see him back in the lineup very soon.

Along with the announcement that the Pittsburgh Penguins have brought on Jesse Puljujarvi to a free agent tryout, it was also announced that P.O. Joseph was recalled from his conditioning stint.

The Penguins loaned Joseph to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for a pair of games as part of his recovery from a lower-body injury.

Joseph recorded an assist in those two games and said getting that time at the AHL level wasn’t just a huge help to his recovery, but also a good time seeing familiar faces and old pals.

“It’s one thing to be injured but being away from the game is hard,” Joseph said. “I was able to go back there and play so it was definitely fun.”

The Penguins have been making good use of the AHL conditioning stint with Joseph being the third player they’ve loaded to WBS.

Goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and defenseman John Ludvig were assigned for a game and two games respectively.

For Joseph, he feels like this time off may have given him time to process, watch, and work on things that held him back from hitting his full potential to start the year.

The Penguins’ third pairing has been steady with Ryan Shea and John Ludvig, but with Joseph and Chad Ruhwedel nearing a return, the competition will once again be back for depth defensemen.

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