Ansons, 20, recently completed his third season in the QMJHL split between Baie-Comeau Drakkar and the Saint John Sea Dogs. The 6-foot-1, 191-pound forward finished the 2021-22 campaign with 18 goals, 42 assists, 60 points and was plus-29 in 56 games, all of which were career highs. Ansons and Saint John are set to begin their first-round playoff series against Rimouski on May 5.
In three seasons of QMJHL hockey split between Baie-Comeau and Saint John, Ansons has registered 33 goals, 68 assists, 101 points and 13 power-play goals in 125 regular season games.
Ansons is a native of Riga, Latvia, which is the same hometown as Penguins' forward Teddy Blueger, and has represented his home country of Latvia at the 2019, 2020 and 2021 Division 1A World Junior Championship. He helped Latvia to a silver medal in 2021, serving as alternate captain and recording a team-best nine points (4G-5A) in five games.
Ansons was originally drafted by Pittsburgh in the fifth round (149th overall) in the 2020 NHL Draft. He is the second member of the Penguins' 2020 draft class to sign an entry-level contract after 2020 fourth-round draft pick Lukas Svejkovsky on April 5.
