The Penguins made a small but tidy swap on the blue line, sending Caleb Jones and Daniel Laatsch to Buffalo in exchange for Ryan Johnson.
Johnson arrives as the more notable name in the deal. The 25-year-old was the 31st pick in the 2019 draft and has logged 47 career NHL games.
Most of that came in 2023-24, and he has spent the bulk of his time in the AHL since then, appearing in only three NHL games in both 2024-25 and 2025-26. This season, he has been strictly in the AHL.
The 6’1”, 195-pound left shot spent four seasons at the University of Minnesota before turning pro, and his contract runs through 2027-28.
For Pittsburgh, the move also trims the organization’s contract count. The Penguins get down to 48 of the 50 contracts they’re allowed each year by moving Jones and Laatsch out of the system.
Jones had already cleared waivers weeks ago. He appeared in four games with AHL Wilkes-Barre and picked up all three of his assists this season in one game. The 29-year-old also played seven NHL games for Pittsburgh last season, but his year was derailed by a pair of long-term injuries and a rare suspension for violating the terms of the NHL/NHLPA Performance Enhancing Substances Program.
Laatsch, a seventh-round pick in 2021, is another depth piece on the move. The lanky defender spent four seasons at Wisconsin and then handled most of his rookie year in 2025-26 with ECHL Wheeling, while also getting into 10 AHL games. He has not played this season and was viewed as a potential swing ECHL/AHL option in the organization.
The bigger picture here is simple: Pittsburgh is clearing out a logjam on the left side in the minors. Ilya Solovyov, Jones, Owen Pickering, Jake Livanavage, Laatsch and AHL-contracted Maleek McGowan were all in the mix for time in Wilkes-Barre, and this deal should ease that squeeze.
Whether it leads to anything at the NHL level is still an open question. Johnson comes with some intrigue as a former first-round pick and a member of the US National Development team, but his career has been stalled for a while.
Even if he ends up as nothing more than extra depth, that would have been the ceiling for what Pittsburgh was parting with this season anyway. At the very least, the Penguins got a chance to reset the numbers and take a look at a player who may benefit from a fresh start in a new organization.
In Other News...
Sabres Just Added A New Concern To Their Blue Line Depth
Buffalos blue line depth took another hit with a minor trade on Tuesday, as the Sabres and Penguins swapped organization-level defensemen in a move that could still ripple beyond the AHL roster. Pittsburgh picked up Ryan Johnson, while Buffalo brought in Caleb Jones and Daniel Laatsch, with all three players currently assigned to minor league teams. For the Penguins, it is a low-risk way to add another young defenseman to the system and see whether Johnson can carve out a path within a different organization.
For Buffalo, the deal closes the book on Johnsons time in the organization after a long run that began when he was drafted in 2019. Jones is the name most likely to matter in the short term, since he is expected to give the Sabres some defensive insurance while injuries continue to test the teams depth. The rest of the move is more about rearranging pieces than making an immediate NHL impact, but it is the kind of transaction that can quietly shape what a team has available when the season starts to wear on. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Head Into Tough Trip With One Big Question Still Unsettled
After a rough start to the week against Winnipeg and Washington, the Penguins steadied themselves enough to pick up three of a possible four points in back-to-back games against Columbus and Dallas. The Dallas showing in particular offered a better snapshot of where the group can be when it is skating with purpose, and now the next test arrives quickly as Pittsburgh opens a difficult road trip in Chicago.
The trip brings the usual lineup and goalie questions into sharper focus, especially with the Penguins trying to keep momentum while making small adjustments around the edges. The Blackhawks have been struggling through a poor season and a low expected goal share, but there is still some uncertainty around whether Connor Bedard will be available Tuesday, leaving Pittsburgh to prepare for more than one version of the matchup. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Just Added A Blue Line Piece Worth Watching
Pittsburgh continued its blue line shuffle by bringing in Ryan Johnson from Buffalo, a move that adds another young defenseman to the mix as the Penguins keep sorting out their depth on the back end. Johnson has spent parts of four professional seasons working between the NHL, the AHL and college hockey, and his background gives the Penguins a player with some mileage but still room to grow.
For a team that has been looking for useful pieces on defense, Johnson arrives with a manageable cap hit and some runway left on his contract. The question now is how quickly he can carve out a role in Pittsburgh after getting a longer look in Buffalo, where he logged 47 NHL games before this change of scenery. [Read more 🡒]