The Penguins assigned defense prospect Niclas Almari from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to Lukko of the top Finnish league, Wilkes-Barre announced on Wednesday.
Almari, 23, was the Penguins' fifth-round pick in 2016.
Almari, a left-handed shot, struggled to crack Wilkes-Barre's lineup this season, which already included P.O Joseph, Juuso Riikola, Cam Lee, Matt Bartkowski and Chris Bigras as defensemen who naturally play on the left side. Almari only played in 11 AHL games this season, scoring one goal and one assist.
His lone goal came in the season opener against Lehigh Valley, and stood to be the game-winner:
With Almari not playing in a game since Dec.