Penguins call up Blomqvist, send Hinostroza to minors in roster shuffling

Tristan Jarry won’t be able to play tonight, which triggered several moves to the Penguins’ roster today.

Without Jarry, the Pens needed a goalie to backup Magnus Hellberg tonight, and thus the first NHL stint for 21-year old top prospect Joel Blomqvist has arrived. Blomqvist has been playing very well so far in his first full year with Wilkes-Barre.

In order to fit Blomqvist and stay cap compliant, the Pens had to send Vinnie Hinostroza down to the AHL. Hinostroza has played well, but remained able to be sent down without having to pass through waivers for one more day and was been sent back. That means Jeff Carter will be in the lineup to play against his former team after all.

To preserve a spot on the 23-player roster, Pittsburgh also moved injured defender John Ludvig to the IR. Ludvig has been out of action since suffering a concussion on his lone game on October 24th, but is reportedly skating in Pittsburgh as a part of his rehab. He is eligible to return to the NHL roster at any time, when healthy.

The Pens’ roster is in flux, with backup Alex Nedeljkovic injured and on the long-term IR that will keep him out for several more weeks. The team has not recently updated the status or nature of Jarry’s injury besides describing him as “day-to-day” yesterday, while he was still undergoing medical testing/evaluation.

That leaves Hellberg, the organization’s third string goalie, to become the focal point in net for the short-term, at least. Hellberg was able to come into the game against Anaheim on Tuesday and preserve the team’s win and shutout over the Ducks by making 11 saves after Jarry’s injury.