Sebastian Aho's 2nd chance was sabotaged by injuries

With the Pittsburgh Penguins entering the offseason for a third consecutive year without a playoff appearance, TribLive will offer Penguins A to Z, a player-by-player look at all 55 individuals signed to an NHL contract — including those whose deals do not begin until future seasons — with the organization.

Starting with Noel Acciari and going on through to Philip Tomasino (regrettably, there is no Z on the payroll), every player will be profiled in alphabetical order.

This series is scheduled to be published Mondays through Saturdays leading up until June 23, four days before the start of the NHL Draft. In the event of a transaction, that schedule will be altered as necessary.

Sebastian Aho

Position: Defenseman

Shoots: Left

Age: 29

Height: 5-foot-10

Weight: 176 pounds

2024-25 AHL statistics: 27 games, 14 points (zero goals, 14 assists)

Contract: In the first year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $775,000. Pending unrestricted free agent in 2026.

Acquired: Unrestricted free agent signing, July 2, 2023

Last season: The addition of Sebastian Aho was largely representative of how the Penguins operated on the free agent market during the 2024 offseason.

To fill out the roster, management sought to add veterans looking for second chances to reestablish themselves as NHLers.

But unlike defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and forward Anthony Beauvillier, that second chance never really materialized for Aho in 2024-25.

After a fairly quiet preseason in which he failed to record a point in three games, Aho was among the team’s final cuts from training camp. Clearing waivers Oct. 7, he was assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League and largely remained with that team for the bulk of the season.

Opening the campaign on the left side of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s blue line, Aho recorded three assists in his first six games before an undisclosed injury sidelined him for seven games.

After skating in two more games, Aho was again injured and missed eight contests as a stop-and-start pattern emerged for him.

Around the holidays, he appeared in six games then was injured again Jan. 4. Sidelined until March 4, he posted two assists in three AHL games before being recalled to the NHL Penguins on March 11 under emergency roster conditions.

With the Pittsburgh Penguins, Aho was a healthy scratch for five games while being moved between the NHL and AHL rosters in a series of paper transactions.

By March 22, Aho was back with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton for good. One day later, in a 5-2 road win against the Bridgeport Islanders, he offered his most prolific performance of the season with three assists.

Aho is expected to serve as one of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton’s top four defensemen as it enters the first round of the Calder Cup playoffs this week.

The future: Were it not for all the injuries he suffered, Aho would have likely been on the NHL roster in a more meaningful fashion this past season.

The Pittsburgh Penguins had all sorts of issues on defense in 2024-25 and presumably, a healthy Aho, who has 190 career games of NHL experience, would have gotten recalls to fill in when injuries or poor play among the incumbents dictated.

He has shown he can skate and move the puck up ice as an NHLer earlier in his career. And having spent the bulk of his career with the defensively-oriented New York Islanders, his commitment to being stout in his own zone is reliable.

Additionally, while Aho is left-handed, he can play the right side when called upon.

Under contract for another season, Aho will likely get a second chance at his second chance that was sabotaged by injuries.