The Pittsburgh Penguins assigned forward Matt Nieto to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League (AHL) on Friday.
Recalled to the NHL club on March 11 under emergency roster conditions, Nieto had been shuffled between the NHL and AHL rosters repeatedly in paper transactions before Friday’s assignment.
The 2024-25 campaign has been difficult for Nieto (5-foot-11, 189 pounds) as he tried to rebound from surgeries on each knee dating back to January of 2024.
Opening the season on long-term injured reserve, Nieto did not dress for an NHL contest until Nov. 15. In total, he has played in 31 games and has three points (one goal, two assists) while averaging 12:14 of ice time per contest. He has been a healthy scratch for the past five games.
With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the left-hander has appeared in eight games and has scored three points (one goal, two assists).
Nieto, 32, is in the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of 900,000.
