The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired forwards Michael Bunting, Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev, Cruz Lucius and conditional 2024 first-round and fifth-round draft picks from the Carolina Hurricanes in exchange for Jake Guentzel and Ty Smith.
Ponomarev, 21, has skated in 41 AHL games between the Tucson Roadrunners and Chicago Wolves this season, totaling eight goals and 21 assists for 29 points.
A second-round pick by Carolina in the 2020 NHL Draft, Ponomarev was a member of the Wolves’ Calder Cup championship team in 2022. In 116 career AHL games with Chicago and Tucson, he has totaled 35 goals and 50 assists for 85 points. He scored 24 goals as a rookie in 2022-23.
Ponomarev also made his NHL debut earlier this season and notched a goal and an assist in two games with the Hurricanes.
Smith, 23, has registered nine goals and 23 assists for 32 points in 51 games with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins this season. He has 16 goals and 40 assists in 90 games AHL games over the last two years.
Smith was a first-round pick (17th overall) by New Jersey in the 2018 NHL Draft and has skated in 123 NHL games with the Devils and Penguins, totaling eight goals and 39 assists for 47 points.
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