Ryan Mast signs one-year AHL deal with Penguins organization

Ryan Mast is headed to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on a one-year AHL contract, giving Pittsburgh’s affiliate a right-shot defenseman with 83 games of recent AHL experience.

The move landed as AHL and NHL free agency opened at noon ET on July 1, and it fits the Penguins’ familiar playbook of adding inexpensive depth around the start of the market. For Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Mast looks less like a headline grab and more like insurance on the right side of the blue line, the kind of piece that can absorb minutes in camp and keep the roster from being stretched thin if injuries or call-ups hit early.

Mast, a native of Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, was selected by the Boston Bruins with the 181st pick in the sixth round of the 2021 NHL Draft. Boston signed him to a three-year entry-level contract on July 18, 2022, before moving him to the Chicago Blackhawks on June 13, 2025, in the Victor Söderström trade that also sent Boston’s 2025 seventh-round pick to Chicago.

His recent AHL track record gives the Penguins something concrete to work with. Mast played 37 games for the Providence Bruins in 2024-25 and finished with five assists, then moved to the Rockford IceHogs in 2025-26 and produced 14 points in 46 games. That is not the profile of a finished shutdown defender, but it does point to a player who can handle regular AHL minutes and contribute enough offense to stay in the lineup.

For Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, that matters because the organization does not need Mast to be a centerpiece. It needs him to be available, right-shot, and steady enough to ease the burden on younger defensemen while the Penguins sort out their camp competition. In that sense, the signing is a low-risk bet on an experienced AHL body who already has two seasons of pro hockey behind him and a clear path to help the affiliate immediately.