Penguins place forward Jansen Harkins on waivers

Justin Guerriero
Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023 2:58 p.m. | Thursday, Oct. 19, 2023 2:58 p.m.

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Chaz Palla | Tribune-Review

The Penguins’ Janson Harkins plays against the Red Wings Wednesday, Sept. 4, 2023 at PPG Paints Arena.

After playing four games with the Pittsburgh Penguins to begin the 2023-24 season, forward Jansen Harkins was placed on waivers Thursday, per Cap Friendly.

If no team claims him by 2 p.m. Friday, Harkins, who carries a cap hit of $850,000, can be assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.

Harkins, 26, was acquired off waivers from the Winnipeg Jets on Oct. 4 and made his Penguins debut that same day in a preseason contest against Detroit.

Earning a role within the Penguins’ bottom six to begin the season, beating out other hopefuls such as Radim Zohorna and Vinnie Hinostroza, Harkins skated primarily on the club’s third line with Lars Eller and Drew O’Connor.

Appearing in all of the Penguins’ games through Thursday, Harkins averaged 9 minutes, 28 seconds of ice time (the lowest on the team), recording four shots and seeing action on the second power-play unit.

A second-round draft pick by Winnipeg in the 2015 NHL Draft, Harkins played in 154 career games, all with the Jets, from 2019-23 before joining the Penguins.

The placement of Harkens on waivers represents the first roster transaction the Penguins have made during the regular season and suggests a shuffling of the deck to the bottom six will be forthcoming.

Noel Acciari is being evaluated for an undisclosed injury, creating another potential slot for coach Mike Sullivan to fill in his bottom six.

Waivers on 2023-10-19

Placed:
Zack Macewen #GoSensGo
Jansen Harkins #LetsGoPens
Radim Simek #SJSharks

Cleared:
Karel Plasek **

** Plasek cleared unconditional waivers and is now a free agent.https://t.co/Py76o9jtAs

— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) October 19, 2023

Note: Forward Karel Plasek cleared waivers Thursday, allowing the Penguins to terminate the contract of the 23-year-old acquired Tuesday in a trade with Vancouver.

President of hockey operations Kyle Dubas traded for Plasek and defenseman Jack Rathbone in exchange for blueliner Mark Friedman and forward Ty Glover.

On Wednesday, Plasek, a sixth-round selection by the Canucks in 2019 whom Dubas assigned to the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, was put on waivers.

Plasek’s departure creates some roster flexibility for the Penguins in the event of a future trade or acquisition.

Currently, the club has 48 players signed to NHL contracts, two under the league maximum of 50.