The Penguins have re-signed forward Corey Andonovski to a one-year, $775,000 contract.
Andonovski has yet to make his NHL debut, though he led all Wilkes-Barre/Scranton forwards with 23 assists in 62 games during his second full AHL season. He was called up by the Penguins in October but was never intended to play, remaining a healthy scratch during his brief stint on the NHL roster.
The 25-year-old forward had a slow start to the season, scoring just one empty-net goal in his first 29 games, leading to him moving in and out of the WBS Penguins’ lineup. However, he solidified his spot later in the season as a bottom-six power forward and penalty killer, finishing with seven goals and a team-high 99 penalty minutes.
“When he plays to (his) strengths, he’s really aggressive,” WBS Penguins head coach JD Forrest said in March, according to Tony Androckitis of The Citizen’s Voice. “He’s been contributing a lot to our penalty kill, as well, just with his reads and winning some wall battles and loose puck battles… I think that’s given us a lot of faith in him to put him in tough situations when we know we need to make a harder play.”
Seth Rorabaugh of the Tribune Review noted that Andonovski “can be viewed safely as a favorite of the Hextall regime,” but also impressed the Dubas administration, becoming a regular on the WBS roster during the second half of the 2023-24 season. The one-year RFA extension seems to support this view.
Andonovski appears to have secured his spot in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, but he hasn’t come close to a true NHL call-up in the 2023-24 season. It remains uncertain if that will change this fall, with fringe roster players like Sam Poulin seemingly closer to earning NHL spots.
Nevertheless, Andonovski’s physicality and developing penalty-killing skills could make him a candidate for a call-up if injuries impact the Penguins’ roster this fall.