While the biggest stories of Wednesday afternoon were the hotly anticipated acquisition of Phil Kessel and the exodus of the Penguins free agents, the Penguins quietly built up their depth on day one of free agency. Acquired in the Kessel trade, defenseman Tim Erixon should shore up the Penguins defense as a depth option. Erixon, 24, was the Calgary Flames first round pick in the 2009 NHL Draft. He’s bounced around the league since then, being traded several times, and was claimed on ... Read More
Penguins ink top WBS rookie Conor Sheary to NHL deal
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Conor Sheary to a two-year entry-level contract. Terms of the contract, which is a two-way deal, were not announced. Sheary, who turned 23 at the beginning of the month, played his first season of professional hockey on an AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League last year. He is a skilled forward that profiles as a top-nine winger at the NHL level. In 58 AHL games in 2014-15, he scored 20 goals and recorded 25 ... Read More
Six Penguins players move on early in free agency period
While the Penguins were busy making a big trade to acquire Toronto Maple Leafs forward Phil Kessel, six of the Penguins free agents found other NHL homes. Defenseman Paul Martin, who was interested in returning to the Penguins, instead signed a four-year contract with the San Jose Sharks, according to ESPN’s Pierre LeBrun. Right-winger Steve Downie has accepted a one-year deal for $1.7 million with the Arizona Coyotes per Sportsnet. That is a modest raise from the $1 million contract he ... Read More
Penguins acquire RW Phil Kessel
The Pittsburgh Penguins finally made the big move that everyone has been waiting for his offseason, acquiring winger Phil Kessel from the Toronto Maple Leafs. Kessel, 27, is signed for seven more seasons at an average annual value of $8 million. The Madison, Wisconsin native scored 25 goals and tallied 26 assists last season with the Leafs. Over the last five seasons with Toronto, Kessel has played in every single game and scored at least 25 goals in every season except the lockout ... Read More
Columbus nabs Pittsburgh native Saad
While the Pittsburgh Penguins have been mostly quiet so far in this offseason, their nearest neighbors to the west made a big splash on Tuesday and in the process, plucked from the Penguins own backyard. The Columbus Blue Jackets acquired the rights to forward Brandon Saad, a Pittsburgh-area native, and a pair of prospects for forwards Marko Dano, Artem Anisimov, Corey Tropp, Jeremy Morin and a fourth-round draft pick. The Penguins, who have sought out to acquire a top-six forward this ... Read More
Bought-out players may provide value in free agency
Twice in recent history, the Pittsburgh Penguins have signed a player that had been bought out by their former club that offseason. Both times, the Penguins signed those players to cap-friendly one-year contracts to serve as a stopgap until younger players could step into their role. In 2009, the Penguins signed defenseman Jay McKee after he had been bought out by the Buffalo Sabres. McKee, then 32, played 62 games for the Penguins in what would be his final season in the league, holding the ... Read More
Penguins send qualifying offers to five players
After a quiet 2015 NHL draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins have had a busy Monday. The Penguins signed defenseman Ian Cole to a three-year contract Monday morning, and Mon Monday afternoon, the Penguins qualified five of their restricted free agents for the 2015-16 season. According to a source close to the situation, the Penguins sent qualifying offers to forwards Beau Bennett, Bobby Farnham and Dominik Uher and defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Reid McNeill. Bennett, 23, had a disappointing ... Read More
Penguins re-sign Ian Cole
The Pittsburgh Penguins defensive corps in a state of flux, with veteran defensemen Paul Martin and Christian Ehrhoff likely testing free agent waters on July 1 and Olli Maatta and Kris Letang returning from seasoning-ending injuries. The Penguins made a big step to solidifying their blue line on Monday when they re-signed defenseman Ian Cole to a three-year contract. Cole, 26, was brought over from the St. Louis Blues in a trade deadline deal from Robert Bortuzzo. He immediately fit in on ... Read More
Pens take three more European forwards in NHL Draft
After grabbing Dutch forward Daniel Sprong in the second round, the Pittsburgh Penguins wrapped up the 2015 NHL draft on Saturday afternoon with three more selections in the fifth, sixth and seventh rounds. It’s a draft class with a lot of similarities. For the first time in team history, they selected all Europeans. All four draft players hail from different European countries, and they are all forwards. In the fifth round, the Penguins selected 20-year old Czech center Dominik Simon. Simon ... Read More
Pens select Daniel Sprong in 2nd round of NHL draft
The Pittsburgh Penguins have made their first selection in the 2015 NHL Draft, taking right-winger Daniel Sprong with the 46th overall selection in the second round. Sprong, 18, was born in Amersterdam and his father, Hannie, played professional hockey in The Netherlands. Sprong would be only the second Dutch player to play in the NHL, if he makes it. “Its more of a soccer country, no one really knows their hockey there,” Sprong said of his homeland in a draft video produced by the NHL. ... Read More