Penguins shuffle roster during Eastern Conference Final run

With Wilkes-Barre/Scranton down 2-1 in the Eastern Conference Final, every roster move carried playoff weight. The Penguins were not just shuffling paper before Game 4 at Coca-Cola Coliseum in Toronto, they were protecting themselves against the kind of one-night injury or fatigue swing that can tilt a best-of-seven. After a 4-2 loss on May 27 and a 2-1 overtime defeat on May 29, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton answered with a 5-3 win in Game 3 on June 1, but the series was still sitting at Toronto’s advantage when the Penguins started adjusting the depth chart.

The first move came on June 1, when Wilkes-Barre/Scranton recalled defenseman David Breazeale from Wheeling. Breazeale had already been part of the organization’s shuffle earlier in the season, appearing in four games for the Penguins during a January recall. In a series that has already demanded a lot from the blue line, that matters. It gives Wilkes-Barre/Scranton another body who has been through the system and can step in if the postseason pace starts taxing the same core group.

One day later, the Penguins brought back goaltender Taylor Gauthier and defenseman Emil Pieniniemi after both spent Wheeling’s Kelly Cup Playoffs run with the Nailers. Gauthier is the name that changes the margin for error most. He has appeared in 25 career AHL games, all with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and owns a 10-5-7 record with a 2.77 goals-against average, a .908 save percentage and two shutouts. In Wheeling this season, he started every playoff game and posted a 2.23 goals-against average, a .922 save percentage and three shutouts.

His 2025-26 regular season in Wheeling was even sharper: a 21-9-5 record, a league-leading .929 save percentage, a 2.09 goals-against average and three shutouts. The Nailers also credited him with franchise records for wins and shutouts, and he became the first goalie in team history to win the ECHL Goaltender of the Year award. That is not ordinary depth. That is a goalie who can stabilize a series if the Penguins need another option.

Pieniniemi’s return carries a different kind of value. Pittsburgh drafted the Finnish defenseman in the third round, 91st overall, in 2023, and he made his AHL debut on Jan. 31. This season, he logged nine games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and posted three points with a plus-5 rating. In Wheeling’s playoff run, he led Nailers defensemen with seven assists and eight points, while also finishing the regular season with 11 points in 26 games. That kind of production gives the Penguins a defenseman who can move pucks, not just survive shifts.

The message from the roster work is plain enough: Wilkes-Barre/Scranton is treating the final like a series that can still be won on the margins. Toronto took the early edge, but the Penguins are making sure one injury, one tired defender or one goalie decision does not decide the rest of their spring.