The Penguins will try to shake off Wednesday's ugly 3-1 loss in Colorado and get right back in the hunt for the Metropolitan Division title as their four-game western road trip continues with a 10:00 p.m. faceoff tonight against the Anaheim Ducks. TONIGHT’S OPPONENT: This will be the second meeting between the Penguins and Ducks this season, but you may have to stretch your memory to recall the first. That would have been the season opener, way back on October 9, 2014, which the Penguins won ... Read More
Penguins bring back defenseman Ben Lovejoy
After already swapping Robert Bortuzzo for Ian Cole, the Pittsburgh Penguins have added yet another player to the fold on trade deadline day, and this one is a familiar face. Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has also acquired former Penguins defenseman Ben Lovejoy from the Anaheim Ducks. Lovejoy, now 31, has spent the last three seasons in Anaheim after starting his career with the Penguins as an undrafted free agent out of Dartmouth. He has 248 NHL games on his resume – 98 with the ... Read More
Despres beats Devils with overtime goal
With Penguins defenseman Christian Ehrhoff back in Pittsburgh being evaluated for a concussion, Simon Despres was elevated to the top pairing alongside Kris Letang. “When we put Despres and Letang together, we were trying to see if he can bump up a little bit,” said Penguins head coach Mike Johnston. “I thought he handled the minutes well, and certainly the checking responsibility. It gave us a little more balance to our defense pairs, so that we didn’t have to have (Paul Martin) and Letang ... Read More
Pittsburgh Penguins Sign Nick Spaling To Two-Year Deal, Avoiding Arbitration
Two down, one to go. The Pittsburgh Penguins entered this month with three restricted free agents to deal with: Simon Despres, Nick Spaling and Brandon Sutter. General manager Jim Rutherford agreed to contract terms with Despres two weeks ago, paying the defenseman $1.8 million over two years. That left Spaling and Sutter, with the former choosing to file for salary arbitration while the latter declined. Perhaps the threat of the arbitration process pushed things along regarding Spaling, ... Read More
Pens Make Qualifying Offers to Six
The Pittsburgh Penguins began the free agency process by extending qualifying offers to all six of their restricted free agents before the free agent signing period begins tomorrow at 12 PM. Forwards Brandon Sutter, Jayson Megna, Bobby Farnham, and recently acquired Nick Spaling all received qualifying offers, along with defensemen Simon Despres and Philip Samuelsson. A key piece in the trade that sent Jordan Staal to Carolina, Sutter was a key cog on the third line the past two seasons ... Read More
Simon Despres deserves more playing time
It’s hard to argue against the Pittsburgh Penguins having the most depth on the blue-line throughout an entire organization. In the next coming year those players that they drafted a few years ago will be ready to don a Penguins sweater. But there is one that is already at that level and has quite a few games under his belt, and that would be Simon Despres. Despres was the Pens’ first-round pick, 30th overall, in the 2009 draft. He was a highly-touted player coming out in the draft, and ... Read More