Jeffrey returning to Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins, parent club of the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, have acquired forwards Dustin Jeffrey and Dan O’Donoghue and defenseman James Melindy from the Arizona Coyotes, parent club of the AHL’s Springfield Falcons, in exchange for forward Matia Marcantuoni.

The Penguins have assigned Jeffrey to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. O’Donoghue and Melindy have been assigned to Wheeling of the ECHL.

Jeffrey, 28, returns to the Pittsburgh organization for a second tour of duty after originally skating in 100 NHL games with the Penguins from 2008-13, tallying 15 goals, 13 assists and 28 points.

This season the 6-foot-1, 205-pound forward has played a majority of the campaign for the Springfield Falcons of the AHL, where he has produced 13 goals and 33 assists for 46 points in 45 AHL games. An AHL All-Star this year, Jeffrey’s point total is tied for ninth-best in the league. Jeffrey has also played in seven NHL games for Arizona, registering two points (1g, 1a).

A Calder Cup champion with Texas in 2014, Jeffrey has played 317 career AHL contests with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Texas, Bridgeport, Utica and Springfield, totaling 94 goals and 180 assists for 274 points. The native of Sarnia, Ont., has played in 131 career NHL games with Pittsburgh, Dallas and Arizona, scoring 18 goals, 15 assists and 33 points.

O’Donoghue, 25, has three goals and one assist in 18 AHL games with Springfield this season. Melindy last played in the AHL in 2014-15, skating in nine games with Portland.

Marcantuoni, 22, has two goals and three assists for five points in 17 AHL games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton this season. He put up four goals and 10 assists in 59 AHL games as a rookie with the Penguins in 2014-15.