With the Pittsburgh Penguins and Wheeling Nailers renewing their affiliation agreement for an ECHL-best 17th consecutive season last week, we took a look at the five best Penguins players to have graduated from their Double-A affiliate since 1998. Honorable Mention Bobby Farnham: Farnham has just 11 NHL games under his belt, so his career rating is far from complete, but he climbed the ladder the hard way, starting off on an ECHL contract in 2012-13. After 3 goals and 46 penalty minutes in 9 ... Read More
Penguins to play 18 nationally-televised games on NBC, NBCSN
With stars such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, the Pittsburgh Penguins have long been one of the featured franchises in the NHL, and this season appears to be no different in that regard. The Penguins will appear on NBC or NBCSN 18 times in 2015-16 as the NHL’s broadcast partner will produce a record 105 regular season games league-wide. The Penguins will be tapped for NBCSN’s Wednesday Night Rivarly matchup six times: on Oct. 28 against the Washington Capitals, Nov. 11 ... Read More
Pens mailbag: Fitzgerald, fancy stats and the fourth line
Will the Penguins get a compensatory draft pick for the Devils hiring assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald? No. The new NHL policy that allows teams to seek draft-pick compensation for hired-away executives and coaches only allows teams to be compensated for someone hired to be head coach, general manager or president. When the Devils hired Ray Shero as general manager, the Penguins could have sought compensation but chose not to. They were awarded third-round draft picks when Dan ... Read More
Pens lose assistant GM Tom Fitzgerald to Devils
The Pittsburgh Penguins’ jam-packed front office got one person lighter today, as assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald left to take the same position with the New Jersey Devils. With the Devils, Fitzgerald will be reunited with his old boss, former Penguins general manager Ray Shero, who is now the GM in New Jersey. “Ray has been a good friend and mentor of mine for a long time now even going back to my Nashville days with him,” Fitzgerald said to Tom Gulitti of the North Jersey Record. ... Read More
Penguins, Nailers renew affiliation agreement
The Pittsburgh Penguins have extended their affiliation agreement with the Wheeling Nailers of the ECHL for the 2015-16 season. The Nailers will enter their 17th consecutive season as the Penguins’ Double-A affiliate, and it will be the 16th unchanged season for the Penguins minor league affiliates, the Nailers and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League. "We are pleased to extend our partnership with the Wheeling Nailers," said Penguins Associate General Manager ... Read More
Newcomers shine in Penguins prospect camp scrimmage
The Pittsburgh Penguins 2015 prospect development camp drew to a close with an open scrimmage attended by 5000 fans on Saturday. Nearly half of those players, including most of the invitees, will be heading back to school. The remaining prospects and invitees will be back again for the rookie tournament in September. The camp veterans with NHL experience stood out and it was clear they had done this before. In particular, defenseman Derrick Pouliot was on a whole different level as he skated ... Read More
Defenseman Matt Murphy trying to impress at Pens development camp
For most of the Pittsburgh Penguins prospects skating in this week’s development camp, it’s a chance to check in on their off-season progress, get a new perspective on training and have a little fun with some of their peers. For defenseman Matt Murphy, it’s a job interview. Murphy, a 20-year old native of Fredericton, New Brunswick is in a unique situation amongst those at prospect camp. Most of the players have either been drafted or signed to a professional contract by the Penguins. Those ... Read More
Penguins re-sign Dominik Uher
The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed forward Dominik Uher to a one-year, two-way contract worth $575,000 annually at the NHL level, according to a statement released by general manager Jim Rutherford on Friday. Uher, 22, got his first taste of NHL action in 2014-15. The 6-foot, 183-pound winger did not record a point and was a minus-1 in two games. He skated in 72 games for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the American Hockey League, which was tied for the team lead. He set career highs in goals ... Read More
Penguins re-sign Beau Bennett
The Pittsburgh Penguins have re-signed forward Beau Bennett to a one-year contract, according to a statement released by general manager Jim Rutherford. The contract is a one-way deal worth $800,000. Bennett, 23, scored four goals and recorded eight assists in 49 games with the Penguins in 2014-15. Bennett was sidelined by a series of injuries and the mumps, causing him to miss extended periods of time throughout the year. Bennett was the Penguins first-round draft pick in the 2010 NHL ... Read More
Penguins sign Czech forward Dominik Simon
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed their 2015 third-round draft pick, forward Dominik Simon, according to a report by Czech journalist Tomas Vrabel of Denik Sport and confirmed by the Pittsburgh Sporting News. Simon, who will be 21 in August, has been attending Penguins development camp in Pittsburgh this week. “I got a chance to actually watch him over at the World Championships,” Penguins assistant general manager Tom Fitzgerald after practice on Wednesday. “His play and his age just ... Read More