Per TSN and SDPN’s Chris Johnston, the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed five players on waivers today.

The Penguins, just a few thousand dollars over the salary cap, have a lot of players to sift through to establish their opening night roster, but some of their moves today have been rather puzzling.

Defensemen Ty Smith, Taylor Fedun, and Xavier Ouellet, as well as forwards Jon Gruden and Rem Pitlick, are all on waivers for the Pens.

Ty Smith, the lone player in return for when Ron Hextall shipped John Marino off to New Jersey, is probably the most likely to be claimed.

The 23 year old defenseman had two seasons of NHL experience under his belt when he was traded to Pittsburgh. Since then, he’s been buried in a mass of defensive depth and bubble players, unable to really break through and get a shot at the NHL level.

Last season, due to injuries on the Pittsburgh blue line, Smith was called up and played 9 NHL games for the Penguins, tallying 4 points in that time. He looked rather impressive in those games, and was primarily sent back down to the AHL in order for Pittsburgh to be salary cap compliant.

Smith is on a one year, one-way deal worth $775K, and has a lot of potential still at such a young age. It’s hard to imagine he goes unclaimed.

Also on the defensive end on waivers are veterans Taylor Fedun and Xaiver Ouellet. Both Fedun, 35, and Ouellet, 30, served as AHL depth for the organization last year, logging a lot of minutes with the WBS Pens.

Both plays are on two way deals and are likely to clear, meaning they will spend the year in the AHL and serve as potential fill-ins if the Penguins suffer injuries on defense.

Prospect forward Jon Gruden, 23, also finds himself on waivers today as well. Gruden, acquired by the Penguins along with a second round pick from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Matt Murray, made his NHL debut last year for the Penguins, appearing in 3 games for the club.

He registered no points in those games, and was returned to WBS when the Penguins got some players back from injury. At 23, he still has potential as well, tallying 31 points in 54 AHL games last season. However, he’s had middling AHL numbers in the two prior seasons, evident that maybe he will be a late bloomer kind of player.

Lastly, forward Rem Pitlick is on waivers. Acquired from the Montreal Canadiens as part of the three-team Erik Karlsson trade, Pitlick was hoping to establish himself with his fourth NHL team in five years.

However, it’s looking like that journey is going to have to wait, or maybe even start with a fifth team at just 26 years old. Pitlick had 15 points in 46 NHL games for Montreal last season, and 22 points in 18 AHL games down in Laval.

His contract is one-way and carries a $1.1 million dollar cap hit.

Pitlick is no stranger to the waiver wire; he’s been placed on waivers three prior times in his career, being claimed twice, including by the Canadiens.

Friday Update: All five players cleared, and have been sent down to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton

(Featured photo of Ty Smith by Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)