Penguins add Brent Johnson, Lucas Ciona and Mark Senden to depth chart

Wilkes-Barre/Scranton added Brent Johnson, Lucas Ciona and Mark Senden on July 13, a three-player move that gives the Penguins one defenseman and two forwards before camp battles even begin. The signings came the same week the club also unveiled its 2026-27 schedule and home opener, another sign that the summer work is already pointing toward who can handle minutes, cover injuries and steady the lineup around younger players.

Johnson is the blue-line piece with the clearest Penguins tie. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton recalled him from Wheeling on Dec. 28, 2025, when he led the Nailers with 15 assists and 18 points. The organization later noted that Johnson made his AHL debut on April 18, 2025, and his 2025-26 ECHL season backed up the promotion: 12 goals and 43 assists for 55 points in 72 regular-season games, plus six assists in 13 playoff games. The Washington Capitals took him in the third round of the 2021 NHL Draft, 80th overall, and his path through North Dakota and Ohio State gives the Penguins another defenseman who has already moved through several levels of competition.

Ciona brings a different kind of value. The Calgary Flames drafted him in the sixth round in 2021, 173rd overall, and his AHL season in Colorado showed he can handle a regular role. In 61 games for the Eagles in 2024-25, he posted eight goals and 15 assists, then added two assists in nine playoff games. He also has a championship credential that matters in a room trying to build habits: he won a Kelly Cup with the Florida Everblades in 2023-24.

Senden adds the most obvious leadership track record of the three. North Dakota named him captain in both 2021-22 and 2022-23, and the school said he became the first player in program history to wear a letter in three seasons. He matched Ciona’s AHL production in Colorado last season with eight goals and 15 assists in 61 games, then chipped in two assists in nine playoff games. For a Penguins club that has also added Rafaël Harvey-Pinard, Hugh McGing, David Breazeale, Aaron Huglen and Zach Urdahl this offseason, the point is not just collecting names. It is building enough reliable depth that bottom-six and reserve blue-line jobs can be won in camp instead of handed out by default.