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When Matthias Plachta left Germany to pursue his pro hockey career in North America late last summer, he spent his first few weeks living in a barn.

But Plachta didn’t sleep in a haymow or share a stall with a horse. The barn was owned by Arizona Coyotes captain Shane Doan, and Plachta stayed there with a couple of other teammates from Germany while they waited for the start of Arizona’s training camp.

“We lived there until we moved into an apartment. It was a pretty decent place. With horses. Nice,” Plachta said.

Plachta will be apartment hunting once again after he was traded by Arizona to Pittsburgh before Monday’s NHL trade deadline. Plachta has spent the entire season with Springfield and he reported to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton where he practiced with his new team for the first time on Tuesday.

After spending the last seven seasons playing in Germany, Plachta is getting his first crack at the North American game this season. The 6-foot-2, 218-pound winger has spent the entire season with Springfield, posting two goals and seven points in 46 games.

He learned about the trade via text messages from teammates on Monday and, ironically enough, chatted with former Penguin Dustin Jeffrey earlier in the day about how nice it is to play for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Jeffrey was also traded to the Penguins a couple hours later.

For Plachta, he’s looking forward to a new opportunity with the Penguins.

“Things were not going as good for me in Springfield. Things didn’t work out, I guess,” Plachta said. “We’ll see what happens here. A fresh start hopefully gets me going.”

The Penguins aren’t completely unfamiliar with Plachta. Jay Leach was an assistant coach for the Mannheim team where Plachta played last year in Germany. Plachta put up 35 points in 47 games with Mannheim last season.

His game is reminiscent of a defensive forward who can surprise opponents with a pretty deadly wrist shot.

“Maybe not the fastest guy, but good at protecting pucks. I have a good shot and want to use it more now,” Plachta said. “I always look for my teammates to. I’ll play whatever they like me to play.”

Head coach Clark Donatelli is familiar with Plachta from talking to Leach and watching him when the Penguins played Springfield three times since Jan. 1.

“He has a real good shot and a lot of skill,” Donatelli said. “A big guy that should definitely help us.”

NOTES

– Jeffrey and Conor Sheary – who was reassigned by Pittsburgh on Monday, weren’t at Tuesday’s practice. Donatelli wasn’t sure when they would arrive and was waiting to hear from Pittsburgh on when they would report.

– D Barry Goers practiced in full yet again on Tuesday and will be ready for his first game this weekend. Donatelli said the team had to be cautious with his recovery from an injury that sidelined him in training camp.

“He’s the type of guy you have to pull the reins in because he works tremendously hard on and off the ice,” Donatelli said. “I’m really looking forward to having him back.”

– F Sahir Gill didn’t practice and is still considered week-to-week.

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By Tom Venesky

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Reach Tom Venesky at 570-991-6395 or on Twitter @TLTomVenesky