The Penguins made a trade on Monday, exchanging depth players with the Winnipeg Jets. Jack St. Ivany is off to the Jets, forward David Gustafsson is coming to the Pens.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired forward David Gustafsson from the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for defenseman Jack St. Ivany, it was announced today by President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas.
Gustafsson is a pending restricted free agent.
The 6-foot-2, 196-pound forward spent the 2025-26 season with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, recording 10 goals, 22 assists, 32 points and was plus-12 in 48 games. His 0.67 points-per-game average ranked first on the Moose while his 22 assists were third on the team. He also suited up for seven Calder Cup Playoff games, notching four points (1G-3A).
Gustafsson, 26, has spent the last seven seasons in the Winnipeg Jets organization (2019-26), split between the Jets and the Moose. At the NHL level, Gustafsson has suited up for 149 career regular-season games where he’s accumulated 20 points (6G-14A). At the AHL level, he’s notched 91 points (34G-57A) in 136 career regular-season contests.
Prior to coming to North America, the Tingsryd, Sweden native spent two seasons (2017-19) in the SHL, Sweden’s top professional league. He also represented his home country on the international level on multiple occasions, bringing home bronze medals at the 2020 World Junior Championship and 2018 World Under-18 Championship.
Gustafsson was drafted by Winnipeg in the second round (60th overall) of the 2018 NHL Draft.
It was later announced that Gustafsson has been extended a qualifying offer. Both St. Ivany and Gustafsson have been tweener level players stuck between the AHL and NHL in recent seasons. Gustafsson adds more organizational depth to the club, which lost favorite call-up Joona Koppanen to a contract in the Swedish league.
As far as defense goes, there’s another spot open and waiting for a yet-to-be-acquired player for the blueline in Pittsburgh.
