Can Radim Zohorna rejoin the Pittsburgh Penguins? 'Yeah, why not?'
CLEVELAND — Being in the American Hockey League (AHL) isn’t anything new for forward Radim Zohorna.
Ever since he opted to come over from his native Czechia in 2020, he has spent the majority of his professional experience in North America at the AHL level.
But he did get to enjoy a first for him at any level of hockey on Monday while suited up for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
A hat trick.
In a 5-2 road win against the Cleveland Monsters at Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse, all three of his goals came through redirections off shots from the perimeter by teammates.
What a tip from Z! pic.twitter.com/Ug9RuBfLAQ
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 19, 2024
“I never scored a hat trick,” the 6-foot-7, 225-pound forward said. “It was pretty fun. I finally did. It feels good.”
What presumably did not feel good was being on waivers. Such was the case for Zohorna who was waived by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Jan. 16. After going unclaimed, he was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and has remained with the AHL affiliate ever since.
That transaction represented a reversal of fortunes for Zohorna who enjoyed a strong preseason with the Pittsburgh Penguins and looked as if he might have secured steady work on the NHL club’s third line after he posted five points (two goals, three assists) in his first nine games of the season.
But a significant lag in his play throughout December led to a series of healthy scratches then an assignment to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
“Everybody wants to play in the NHL. It is what it is. I’m here. I’ll try to be better and we’ll see where it’s going.”
It’s been going pretty well from a production standpoint for Zohorna since returning to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He has 18 points (seven goals, 11 assists) in 20 games since being assigned.
A lot of that has been the byproduct of having a top-six role with the AHL club.
“My first weeks, I need to get conditioning because I didn’t play a lot of minutes in (Pittsburgh),” Zohorna said. “The first couple of weeks was hard but now I feel good.”
“Everybody wants to play a lot of minutes. I’m glad I can get the minutes here.”
In addition to finding offense, Zohorna has found himself in a leadership role by serving as an alternate captain.
“We’ve known him since he first came over here,” Wilkes-Barre/Scranton coach J.D. Forrest said. “He’s been great. He was good tonight. When he gets his legs going, I think he’s finding some of his confidence again. Obviously, starting to produce a little bit more for us regularly. One of the reasons why he has a letter on his jersey is because of the way he’s handled him. He’s a really good player. I can’t say enough about his attitude.”
It’s hard to say what Zohorna’s future with the organization might be. Signed to a one-year, two-way contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000, he is a pending unrestricted free agent this upcoming offseason.
Is there still a chance he could carve out a steady role with the Pittsburgh Penguins?
“Yeah, why not?” Zohorna asked rhetorically. “Everybody is trying to be better. We’ll see how things are going. The last month has been good.”
Ty Smith stays
One of the more interesting details of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ multi-player trade which sent All-Star forward Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes on March 7 was the inclusion of reserve defenseman Ty Smith in the deal.
He too was moved to Carolina. But he didn’t go anywhere. At least not physically.
Smith remained with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after the transaction because the Hurricanes do not have an AHL affiliate and usually loan their prospects or minor leaguers to other minor league teams.
As such, all parties concerned opted to keep Smith with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
For the Hurricanes, this allows him to get playing time. As for the Penguins, Smith is Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s leading scorer this season with 37 points (nine goals, 28 assists) in 56 games.
This shot had eyes ???? pic.twitter.com/ppn6Jp0iIf
— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) February 10, 2024
His continued presence keeps the AHL team competitive and in a playoff position which, ideally, will benefit their prospects.
Smith’s tenure with the Penguins fell well short of hopes when he was acquired via trade in the 2022 offseason from the New Jersey Devils.
A first-round pick (No. 17 overall) of the Devils in the 2017 NHL Draft, Smith never played in the AHL in his first two professional seasons, suiting up exclusively at the NHL level for New Jersey.
After the 2022 trade, he enjoyed a strong preseason with the Penguins but wound up with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton due to salary cap limitations with the NHL roster. Aside from a nine-game stint with the NHL club, he spent the majority of the 2022-23 campaign in the AHL.
After new Penguins management re-signed him to a one-year contract as a restricted free agent in the 2023 offseason, things did not improve for him entering the 2023-24 season as he was waived fairly early in training camp.
Going unclaimed — even with a league-minimum salary cap hit of $775,000 — Smith was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. And aside from an unusual loan to Hockey Canada for the unique Spengler Cup tournament in December, he has remained with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, even after being traded.
Smith hasn’t been shy with his displeasure over not being in the NHL. Regardless he has sated management with his professionalism through less-than-ideal circumstances.
“He’s been great,” Forrest said. “He has the whole time. If you go back to last year, a guy that played pretty much exclusively in the NHL and now he’s in the (AHL). He’s doing well for us. He plays a lot of minutes for us. He can control the play. He loves playing hockey. That’s one of the things we love about the guy is he just always wants to play. He’s happy to do that, he’s happy playing.
“With the trade happening, it didn’t really change much from our perspective. He’s going to be with us which we felt a little lucky to have that. A guy like that gets traded and then you get to keep him on your (AHL) team. Maybe that will open a door up for him with a different organization. We have a good relationship with Ty. He could have a bad attitude and you can see why but he doesn’t. He’s been a pleasure to deal with.”
Ansons, Svejkovsky work through second pro seasons
Two members of the Penguins’ 2020 NHL draft class are in the midst of their second full professional season and are in different stages of their development arcs.
Forward Raivis Ansons (fifth round – No. 149 overall) suffered an undisclosed injury late last season and the recovery process kept him sidelined through training camp and into mid-November when he opened the season with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL.
A bottom-six defensive forward, Ansons was promoted to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton later in the month and has been steady in that role. In only 22 games this season, he has seven points (two goals, five assists).
He registered only six points (two goals, four assists) in 44 games last season.
“He looks better than ever to us,” Forrest said. “He’s been really good for us on the penalty kill. He’s taken some big steps in his faceoffs, he’s winning a lot of faceoffs. Hard to play against. Then he’s shown a little bit more speed than we’ve seen from him before. So, some ability to hang onto the puck and make some plays. Some of that stuff comes from just playing more and having a little bit more confidence.
“He knows us (better compared to last season) and he knows exactly what we’re looking for from him. He’s been really steady for us. He didn’t seem to miss a beat after that injury.”
Forward Lukas Svejkovsky (fourth-round – No. 108 overall) open the season with the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers and was productive with that club, posting 37 points (16 goals, 21 assists) in 30 games while primarily inhabiting a top-six role.
???? HE CALLED BANK ????
Lukas Svejkovsky gets crafty with the puck to put the Nailers up 1-0 on the Powerplay! #ForgeTheFuture pic.twitter.com/JWbPjMMXOT
— Wheeling Nailers (@WheelingNailers) December 23, 2023
Stationed with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton since Feb. 9, he hasn’t enjoyed the same production or role. On Monday, he opened that contest on the third line.
In 11 AHL games this season, he has two points (one goal, one assist).
Forrest suggests patience with Svejkovsky who was a highly productive player at the junior level while playing in the Western Hockey League.
“It’s a little bit different for him because you’re looking for him to be a skilled guy, a top-six (forward), someone that can produce. He’s had some looks with some different lines throughout his time this year with us. It’s been a little bit harder only because, like Raivis is a bigger guy, a stronger guy. He’s playing a little bit of a ‘worker’ game and (Svejkovsky) has got to still find a consistent way to win some battles, to make some space for himself. He does it from time to time. It’s just for him, it’s more about consistency and being able to do that shift in and shift out. And when you can, find your offensive game to provide something else to the team.
“He’s taken steps for sure like most guys have. It’s just I think he’s in a different scenario there. It might take a little bit more time with Lukas given what we’re looking there for him.”
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.
Remove the ads from your TribLIVE reading experience but still support the journalists who create the content with TribLIVE Ad-Free.