Pittsburgh Penguins place two players on waivers including Sebastian Aho

From the start of the season until the trade deadline on March 7, the NHL is only allowed to have 23 active players on their rosters.

If they are not claimed by Monday at 2:00 p.m., the Penguins may assign them to the American Hockey League's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

It comes as a little surprise that Aho hit waivers considering that he signed a two-year deal in July with a $775,000 salary cap hit.

Aho, a left-hander who can also play on the right side of a defensive duo, skated in three preseason games but finished with zero points on three shots. Aho, 28, scored 50 points-11 goals-in 190 NHL games while with the New York Islanders. The versatile defenseman's +52 plus/minus throughout his career further emphasizes how effective he is in his zone.

Imama, 28, was a free agent this past offseason who signed a one-year, two-way contract with a $775,000 salary cap hit. He was expected to play the role of enforcer.

In addition, the Pens will need to make a declaration regarding Harrison Brunicke, who is still unassigned to the junior team. The Pens' current roster is as follows.

Even after accounting for the ** players who will begin the season on injured reserve, there are still 24 healthy players, which is one too many. We also know that more roster changes will be made before the team submits its opening day roster to the NHL tomorrow afternoon because it is also significantly over the salary cap.

The moves made today don't necessarily indicate the Pens' future course. It seems to reason that they will probably move some paperwork and send it to the AHL so that they can get compliance tomorrow, use LTIR on Tuesday. There are always multiple routes to the same place in the intricate puzzle that is the NHL salary cap and rosters.