Penguins A to Z: Peter DiLiberatore was simply a throw-in
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With the Pittsburgh Penguins’ 2022-23 season coming to an end without any postseason action, the Tribune-Review will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 49 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until next season — with the organization, from mid-level prospect Corey Andonovski to top-six winger Jason Zucker.
This series will publish every weekday leading into the NHL Draft on June 28 and 29.
(Note: All contract information courtesy of Cap Friendly.)
Peter DiLiberatore
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Age: 23
Height: 6-foot
Weight: 185 pounds
2022-23 AHL statistics: 30 games, five points (two goals, three assists)
2022-23 ECHL statistics: 23 games, four points (zero goals, four assists)
Contract: In the final year of a three-year, entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $880,833. Pending restricted free agent this upcoming offseason.
(Note: DiLiberatore is exempt from waivers for any transactions involving a minor league affiliate.)
Acquired: Trade, March 1, 2023
Last season: A sixth-round pick (No. 180 overall) of the Vegas Golden Knights in the 2018 NHL Draft, DiLiberatore’s 2022-23 campaign got off to a rotten start as he was unable to fully participate in training camp and appeared in no preseason games as he recovered from offseason surgery for an undisclosed injury.
Assigned to the Henderson Silver Knights of the American Hockey League to open the regular season, DiLiberatore healed in time for that team’s season opener Oct. 14 and largely progressed as expected given his skillset as a defensive defenseman.
That’s to say he generated little offense.
A native of Nova Scotia who played at the NCAA level with Quinnipiac, DiLiberatore offered scant traces of being a threat to fill opposing nets with pucks.
In fact, in 22 games with the American Hockey League’s Henderson Silver Knights, DiLiberatore recorded a mere three assists.
Scratched for five of Henderson’s first eight games of the 2022-23 campaign, DiLiberatore was assigned to the ECHL’s Savannah Ghost Pirates on Oct. 31. And even at that level, his offensive contributions were limited. Appearing in 18 games with Savannah, DiLiberatore racked up three assists.
In total, DiLiberatore was moved between Henderson and Savannah on five occasions before the start of March.
Then, two days before the NHL’s trade deadline, DiLiberatore was sent to the Penguins along with a third-round pick in the 2024 NHL Draft in exchange for forward Teddy Blueger.
For the Penguins, they needed to move out Blueger’s contract in order to clear salary cap space that would allow them to acquire forward Mikael Granlund in another trade. For the Golden Knights, they needed to move out DiLiberatore simply to stay under the league’s limit of 50 NHL contracts.
DiLiberatore was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and made his Penguins debut in a big way. Appearing in the AHL’s Outdoor Classic at Cleveland’s FirstEnergy Stadium, DiLiberatore opened the scoring with his first goal of the season in what eventually was a 3-2 overtime loss to the Cleveland Monsters.
He followed that up with his second goal March 17 in a 5-4 home shootout win against the Rochester Americans.
But much like his time with Henderson, DiLiberatore was an infrequent presence in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s lineup as he was scratched for five of of a possible 13 games with the Penguins.
By April 4, he was assigned to the ECHL’s Wheeling Nailers and finished the season by recording one assist in five games with that team.
The future: There’s really not much to dissect here. DiLiberatore, who has never played at the NHL level, had trouble even staying in the AHL while trying to rebound from an injury in 2022-23. And he’s on an expiring entry-level contract with a franchise looking for a new general manager.
Whoever will lead the Penguins’ front office is unlikely to extend a qualifying offer to DiLiberatore this offseason and will allow him to become an unrestricted free agent.
At the risk of being harsh, DiLiberatore was simply a throw-in to make a trade possible.