Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 3rd year right wing Josh Archibald(45) is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season.
He has already eclipsed his AHL career high goals (11), assists (11) and points (22) in 48 games with a monster +24 rating, which helped earn him just his 2nd recall.
The small-ish looking forward, who had no points in his only other big league appearance made it worth ever shift this time.
In 18 shifts worth 10:03 of total ice time he potted a pair of NHL goals including one shorthanded on his only two shots on net and was a +2 in a 4-3 overtime loss.
The 24-year old may not stick with the parent club for the full run of the calendar but for a late training camp cut, he’s making a nice statement for a new deal and more time in the show.
Josh Archibald(42) WBS Penguins
Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 6th round pick in the 2013 draft right wing Josh Archibald(42) leaves his final year at University Of Nebraska-Ohama, turning pro with a freshly inked 3-year entry level deal.
He was a Hobey Baker Award finalist in 2012/2013 hitting the back of the net 29 times in 37 NCAA games.
The undersized 5’10” 170 lbs. forward joined minor league affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for the remainder of 2013/2014 and pocketed his first pro goal.
He plays a fairly tenacious style game to open up scoring opportunities and it certainly paid off with his first tally of the 2014 Calder Cup Playoffs in his AHL postseason debut.
The 21-year old will be in the parents’ club training camp once again, competing for a roster spot but most likely will be spending the majority of his rookie season with the farm team to see if he can produce on a regular basis.