Penguins and Panthers make a 1 for 1 trade on Saturday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Florida Panthers have struck a deal on Saturday morning.

In an official press release, the Panthers have confirmed that they have acquired 21 year old defenseman Emil Pieniniemi from the Pittsburgh Penguins with 26 year old forward Oliver Okuliar going back the other way in this deal.

Emil Pieniniemi is the player with the most pedigree in this trade having been selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the third round (91st overall) of the 2023 NHL Entry Draft. The Finnish blue liner has yet to play in the NHL but did spend last season split between the Penguins AHL and ECHL affiliates. With the baby Penguins in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Pieniniemi appeared in 9 games and had 1 goal and 2 assists for 3 points and a plus minus rating of +5 over that stretch. With the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL, Pieniniemi had 26 games in which he had 6 goals and 5 assists for 11 points.

Oliver Okuliar on the other hand is an undrafted prospect out of Sweden who is coming off of a championship season in the Swedish Hockey League as a member of Skelleftea AIK. He appeared in 46 games this past season where he had 15 goals and 14 assists for 29 points, and no doubt landed on the Penguins radar for this very reason.

He does however have previous experience playing in North America, having spent the 2024-25 season as a member of the American Hockey League's Charlotte Checkers. In 69 games last season he put up 19 goals and 22 assists for a total of 41 points and very much embodied the style of the Florida Panthers with 119 penalty minutes on the season as well.