The Pittsburgh Penguins are a week away from beginning their 2026-27 NHL season.
Their first regular season game is scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 30 — and it’s a fun in-state showdown for the Penguins, who will travel to Philadelphia to take on the Flyers that night.
With that in mind, the Penguins are starting to get their roster in order. It’s that time of year when NHL teams start to move players out of training camp and to whichever other team they’ll be starting the year with.
Pittsburgh did that on Wednesday with nine players who will no longer be in contention for the Opening Night NHL roster.
Penguins Part With 9 Players
The Penguins shared a list of players on social media who will no longer be with the NHL team right now.
Six of these players were assigned directly to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton:
- David Breazeale
- Tyler Duke
- Brent Johnson
- Ryan Mast
- Maleek McGowan
- Broten Sabo
All six of those guys are defensemen.
The Penguins are also trying to assign goalie Taylor Gauthier to the AHL, but he will have to pass through waivers first.
Then there are two other destinations for the final two players.
Carter Sanderson, a forward, has been sent back to the WHL, where he will play for the Calgary Hitmen.
Then there’s defenseman Tomas Galvas. He has been loaned to a team in Czechia, where he will play for Bili Tygri Liberec.
What To Know
The first thing to keep an eye on is if Gauthier clears waivers. It certainly seems like he should, but you never know as teams are always seeking more goalie depth.
Gauthier played last season in the ECHL for the Wheeling Nailers and had a 2.09 goals against average.
He has appeared in games in parts of three seasons in the AHL, too, but Gauthier hasn’t been able to carry his ECHL success into the AHL yet.
Galvas, the player heading to Czechia, is actually heading back to the club he has spent the past four seasons with. He’s just 20 years old and was the No. 54 overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft, so he’ll get more development time in Europe before he gets a true chance stateside.
Sanderson is also a young player. The Penguins took him in the sixth round of the 2025 NHL Draft. He spent the last two seasons with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the USHL but now gets the move to the WHL for the first time.
The defensemen sent down look like they’ll be the main core of players on the blue line for Pittsburgh’s AHL team in 2026-27. They also were in camp long enough to leave potentially positive impressions on the Penguins staff — if they need another defenseman at some point, they’ll know plenty about the depth that they’ll be choosing from.
Regular season hockey is just a week away in Pittsburgh, and the Penguins are getting ready.
Penguins Cut 9 Players From NHL Roster