Penguins Lose Young Forward Zohorna to Flames

Story by Yinzer Crazy Contributor Ryan Fiore

Ron Hextall, what are you doing? 

The Penguins have reportedly lost young winger Radim Zohorna to the Calgary Flames after Zohorna was put on waivers Monday afternoon. 

I’m a little upset by this because Zohorna is a pretty solid forward who would have continued to create the type of offense that the Penguins needed, even for a bottom 6 player. 

The 26 year old undrafted forward entered the Penguins organization during the 2020-21 season, scoring 3 goals and 8 assists in 12 games playing with the Penguins’ minor league associate, the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. He was brought up to the NHL later that season and scored 2 goals with 2 assists in 8 games. Zohorna was later sent back down and scored 12 goals and 9 assists for the 2021-22 season with the WBS Penguins. During his most recent games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, he registered 2 goals and 4 assists. 

So while there definitely was room to grow, I really thought the addition of Zohorna to the Penguins roster was positive one for the bottom 6. 

It was also reported that the Penguins are trying to trade young defender Pierre Olivier Joseph, known by the team and fans as “POJ.” The Penguins are reportedly offering POJ to the 31 remaining teams, likely to come in under the salary cap. 

POJ was acquired by the Pens in a trade that sent Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes in 2019. During his time with the Penguins, he put up 1 goal and 4 assists. However, with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Joseph has registered 14 goals and 49 assists. 

I really like POJ and would like to see him stay with the Penguins. He’s a young defenseman who has the ability to become an elite defender. However, it looks like his time with the Penguins will be coming to an end. There’s no doubt in my mind that someone will trade for him and whoever does, they’ll be lucky to have him. 

It’s pretty clear these moves are coming from needing to clear the cap, as the Penguins went over it in the summer by trading for defensemen Jeff Petry and Ty Smith. 

Trading POJ, however, would still leave the Penguins over the cap by $730K. 

Regular season is right around the corner. So, who are the Penguins going to part ways with next?