Penguins Waive Zatkoff, Re-Assign Dumoulin, Farnham

The Pittsburgh Penguins trimmed their roster this morning, waiving goaltender Jeff Zatkoff and re-assigning defenseman Brian Dumoulin and forward Bobby Farnham to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (AHL). If Zatkoff clears waivers by noon tomorrow, he will likely be re-assigned to the AHL Penguins as well.

What this leaves for Pittsburgh is 28 players - two goaltenders, 10 defensemen and 16 forwards. With Derrick Pouliot, Beau Bennett and Robert Bortuzzo out and the status of Olli Maatta & Evgeni Malkin for the season opener in question, there are still a few roster battles left.

Here's a quick look at the NHL roster:

Goalies (2) - Marc-Andre Feury and Thomas Greiss.

Defensemen (10) - Kris Letang, Christian Ehrhoff, Paul Martin, Robert Scuderi, Simon Despres, Olli Maatta*, Robert Bortuzzo*, Derrick Pouliot*, Taylor Chorney and Scott Harrington.

Forwards (16) - Sidney Crosby, Chris Kunitz, Pascal Dupuis, Patric Hornqvist, Brandon Sutter, Steve Downie, Marcel Goc, Nic Spaling, Craig Adams, Evgeni Malkin*, Beau Bennett*, Zach Sill, Andrew Ebbett, Kasperi Kapanen and Oskar Sundqvist.

Everyone with an asterisk is either currently injured or recovering from one. Greiss beat out Zatkoff for the backup spot to Fleury, but there are still decisions to be made up front and on the blue line.

Bubble Forwards (4) - Zach Sill, Andrew Ebbett, Kasperi Kapanen and Oskar Sundqvist.

Bennett is out for another month or so, but Malkin's status for the season opener is in a bit of doubt. As soon as Malkin is ready, then two of the four guys on the bubble will be re-assigned either to their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton - or in the case of Kapanen & Sundqvist - back overseas. Sill and Ebbett were also placed on waivers today, though they remain on the NHL roster.

Bubble Blue Liners (3) - Scott Harrington, Taylor Chorney & Derrick Pouliot

Pouliot is recovering from an off-season shoulder surgery and when he is ready to play he'll likely rehab with some AHL time to start his pro career. Harrington is waiver exempt and Chorney was placed on waivers today as well. Chorney - like Ebbett and Sill - remain on the NHL roster. With Bortuzzo out and Maatta working his way back to game action, it looks as though one of Harrington/Chorney will begin the season in the NHL until Maatta is ready.

If I'm reading all these waiver rules correctly, the three aforementioned players can clear waivers and remain on the NHL roster for up to 30 days after they clear before being re-assigned to the AHL. We'll find out tomorrow at noon who made it through waivers and who (if any) were claimed by another NHL club. Sill, Ebbett and Chorney would have to go through waivers again if they played 10 NHL games. Thanks to Derrick Graffius (@TKNoodle) and Alan Saunders (@ASaunders_PSN) for helping me clear things up.