Pittsburgh Penguins sign Jonathan Gruden to one-year contract

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Jonathan Gruden to a one-year, two-way contract worth $775,000 in the NHL. Gruden played the 2022-23 season with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, scoring 16 goals and 31 points in 54 games. He also played three games in the NHL with the Penguins, averaging about five minutes of ice time and scoring no points.

Gruden was originally selected in the fourth-round of the 2018 NHL Draft by the Ottawa Senators. He was drafted out of the U.S. National Under-18 Team, scoring 34 points in 25 games in his final season there. The Rochester Hills, Michigan native joined Miami University (Ohio) for the 2018-19 season where his value as a prospect took a bit of a hit. He struggled that year, scoring only three goals and 15 points in 38 games played. He decided to take a different route in his development when he played the 2019-20 season for the London Knights of the OHL. He had a much better season there, scoring 30 goals and 66 points in 59 games, finishing fourth on the team in points.

Right at the start of the 2019-20 season, he was involved in a trade between the Senators and Penguins. The Senators acquired goaltender Matt Murray from the Penguins in exchange for Gruden and a 2020 second-round pick which was used on Joel Blomqvist. Gruden turned professional for the 2020-21 season, making his AHL debut. Since then he has been a full-time member of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, playing 161 games for the over the past three seasons and putting up 32 goals and 72 points in that span.