The Pittsburgh Penguins have claimed forward Mark Arcobello on waivers from the Nashville Predators, general manager Jim Rutherford announced in a statement on Wednesday.
The acquisition will immediately add some skill to the Penguins bottom six. Depsite Marcel Goc scoring in last night’s 7-2 victory over Minnesota, the Acrobello has already more than doubled the production of the Penguins’ fourth line of Goc, Zach Sill and Craig Adams.
The current Penguins fourth line trio has just three goals and seven assists on the year, and while they have never been the most glaring of problems, now that the team’s injury situation seems to have settled, it is a good time to make an upgrade.
Arcobello is also solid defensively, despite the minus-7 rating, all of which was accrued with the Oilers. He was in the top half of the Oilers forwards in plus/minus at the time of his trade. His Corsi-for percentage on the year is 50.2 and his Corsi-for relative to his teammates is a 1.5%, high for a fourth-liner.
He can play center and right wing and is a right-handed shot. He played mostly center in Edmonton, and won 48% of his faceoffs there.
Arcobello had only played four games with Nashville after being acquired in a trade with Edmonton for forward Derek Roy. Through 40 games between the Oilers and Predators this season, Arcobello has eight goals, five assists, 12 penalty minutes, and a minus-7 rating.
Arcobello, 26, is signed to a one-year, one-way contract worth $600,000 and will be a restricted free agent as season’s end. Edmonton originally signed Arcobello as an undrafted free agent out of Yale in 2010. He checks in at 5’9” and 165 pounds, and is a native of Milford, Connecticut.
Arcobello will wear sweater number 26 with the Penguins.
Photo credit: CBC
