The Pittsburgh Penguins have claimed forward Jansen Harkins off of waivers from the Winnipeg Jets today, as the Jets placed several players on waivers to try and carve out their opening night roster.

Harkins, 26, has spent his entire National Hockey League career with the Winnipeg Jets to this point.

He debuted during the 2019-20 season, notching 2 goals and 5 assists in 29 games. He also played in 3 playoff contests for the Jets that year, scoring a goal.

That same season, down in the American Hockey League, Harkins put up 7 goals and 24 assists in 30 AHL games.

His work earned him a full time gig with the Jets the following two seasons, where in 103 total games he tallied 15 points.

Last season, Harkins once again split time between the NHL and AHL, putting up 3 goals and 2 assists in 22 NHL games, while being a stud in the minors with 25 goals and as many assists in 44 games.

Harkins was key to the success of the AHL’s Manitoba Moose last season, and in 5 playoff games tallied 7 points.

Noted highly for his defensive work, Harkins has struggled to produce offensively at the NHL level, and given his age, what you see is likely what you get.

But he is a solid defensive contributor, and played important roles with the Jets during his time there. He’s a very disciplined player as well; Harkins has only 36 penalty minutes in 154 NHL games played.

He can play center in a pinch, but is probably best suited to be a winger.

Harkins is in the final season of a two-year contract he signed with the Jets organization last offseason that pays him $800K against the cap.

(Featured photo by Andy Devlin/NHLI via Getty Images)