• Mon. Mar 18th, 2024

Penguins sign warm bodies on first day of lukewarm free agent signings

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ByDisco Stu

Jul 2, 2012

 

The highly anticipated free agent frenzy that was supposed to kick off at 12:01 PM yesterday never materialized as only a couple of “big” names signed with new teams, and like the really hot girls at prom time, the giant names sat back and let the courting begin.  Along with  the millions of dollars being offered to guys like Suter and Parisie came phone calls from Sidney Crosby (Parisie) and Wayne Gretzky (Suter) on behalf of Detroit extolling the virtues of their city.

When the day ended, the Penguins had lost one player they allowed to test the free agent waters, Aaron Asham to the New York Rangers, re-signed two of their own free agents, Brad Thiessen(Hey, someone has to play goalie for Wilkes-Barre) and Steve McIntyre (Why?) along with adding four warm bodies: Tanner Glass from Winnipeg (A replacement for Aaron Asham), Dylan Reese from the Islanders (Local kid from Upper St. Clair), Riley Holzapfel from Anaheim (Most likely to start the year centering the top line in Wilkes-Barre),  Jeff  Zatkoff a goalie from the LA Kings farm system  (Brad Thiessen II), and Warren Peters from Minnesota (I think his parents know who he is)

Two free agent Wingers that did sign that I thought the Penguins might have had a passing interest in were Ray Whitney, who left Phoenix and signed a two year $9 million deal with the Dallas Stars (More than the Penguins would have offered a 40 year old) and PA Parenteau, who left the Islanders and signed a 4 year, $16 million deal with the Colorado Avalanche (Penguins don’t give guys like that 4 year deals)

Should the Penguins not land Suter, I’m not sure I see any other defenseman out there worth pursuing now that Bryan Allen signed with Anaheim.  If they don’t land Parisie, and for what I’m hearing he is asking for, I sure hope they don’t. (Philly has supposedly offered a deal in excess of $100 million), the next option is either looking at guys like Shane Doan, bringing back Steve Sullivan,  or possibly making a trade for a guy like Bobby Ryan or Chris Stewart.  I’m not sure the Penguins have the assets to get Bobby Ryan though as Anaheim filled it’s need for defense, the Penguins’ one position of strength, yesterday acquiring both Allen and Sheldon Souray. Chris Stewart, on the other hand, could probably be had for not all that much as his trade to St. Louis just never worked out, and the Blues might just be ready to part with him.

I would really like to see the Penguins come away with 1. Suter or 2. Parisie at a reasonable deal otherwise the Penguins freed up all of this cap space for nothing as there is truly no one else out worth the kind of money they have to offer.

 

Players Penguins signed yesterday:

Dylan Reese:

 Recent Career
 Year Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM Hits BkS PPG PPA SHG SHA GW SOG Pct
 2009 NYI 19 2 2 4 4 14 7 25 0 0 0 0 1 16 .125
 2010 NYI 27 0 6 6 -12 15 17 22 0 0 0 0 0 23 .000
 2011 NYI 28 1 6 7 0 11 22 25 0 0 0 0 0 26 .038
 Career Totals (Full) 74 3 14 17 -8 40 46 72 0 0 0 0 1 65 .046

Tanner Glass:

Year Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM Hits BkS PPG PPA SHG SHA GW SOG Pct
 2009 VAN 67 4 7 11 5 115 165 19 0 0 0 0 0 52 .077
 2010 VAN 73 3 7 10 -5 72 130 29 0 0 0 0 1 45 .067
 2011 WPG 78 5 11 16 -12 73 246 51 0 0 0 0 1 86 .058
 Career Totals (Full) 262 13 26 39 -17 306 541 99 0 0 0 0 2 195 .067

 

Riley Holzapfel:

No games played in the NHL

Warren Peters:

Recent Career
 Year Team GP G A Pts +/- PIM Hits BkS PPG PPA SHG SHA GW SOG Pct
 2009 DAL 11 1 0 1 1 2 27 4 0 0 0 0 0 8 .125
 2010 MIN 11 1 0 1 -2 4 24 7 0 0 0 0 0 11 .091
 2011 MIN 58 1 4 5 -15 54 70 34 0 0 0 0 0 54 .019
 Career Totals (Full) 96 4 4 8 -18 72 121 45 0 0 0 0 0 86 .047

10 thoughts on “Penguins sign warm bodies on first day of lukewarm free agent signings”
    1. Really? I applaud Ray for not wasting his money on either player as neither is worth either 13 years or over $100 million

      1. Well, I applaud him for creating cap space and not spending on the team. No we have no Staal, no Sullivan, no Asham, and like last year,no defense. And since Bill Guerin retired, no winger to play on Crosby’s line. Oh, but we still have Paul Martin. Again, nice job…

        1. So, should the other 28 GM’s that didn’t get Parisie or Suter be fired as well? This whole story about Sullivan signing with Phoenix because he got tired of waiting for the Penguins is total BS. The Penguins had no interest at all in bringing Sullivan back. Asham isn’t gone. He just changed his name to Tanner Glass. Will you be okay if we didn’t overpay for Parisie but end up trading for Bobby Ryan, Chris Stewart or Rick Nash? Just calm down a little and back off the ledge. It’s only July and the season doesn’t start until October.

          1. Chill out, can you point me where I said he should be fired? You said it, not me… And what is that all about “Tanner Glass IS Aaron Asham” or “Brandon Sutter IS Jordan Staal”?!? How old are you, 15? Uh, sorry to inform you, but no. They’re not the same person/player… Yeah, Bobby Ryan or Rick Nash, clap clap clap… Beautiful. And what will Shero offer in a trade to get any of those player you mentioned, genius?

            1. I’m sorry. Instead of fired, I guess what you were really implying is that he sucks because he didn’t shoot his wad by overpaying above average talents superstar money. When did Aaron Asham become the second coming of………anyone? Tanner Glass is the exact, same type of player that Asham is. He is sandpaper and a guy who will mix it up and come to the aid of/defend guys like Crosby and Malkin. You know, kind of the way Asham did. If you check their stats, you’ll see that Asham is 5′ 10″/210 and scored 5/11 last year with 76 PiMs. A quick check of Tanner Glass finds him to be 6′ 1″/210 and he scored 5/11 last year with 73 PiMs. Sounds like the same guy to me.

              Do you even follow the NHL outside of the Penguins? It sounds like you’re the kind of fan who thinks everyone we have is great, and anyone on another team isn’t because if they were, they’d be a Penguin. I’m pretty sure the Penguins management is better equipped to judge talent than either of us are. If they chose not to bring back Sullivan or Asham, it was probably for a pretty good reason.

              As for Bobby Ryan, Anaheim needs Defense badly, hence their signings of Sheldon Souray and Bryan Allen in free agency, and the Penguins just happen to have defensive prospects to spare. Nash will probably be a little more difficult for them to pull off as I really see him ending up in Carolina. Chris Stewart, on the other hand, (Don’t worry, I’ll wait for you to Google him) can probably be had from St. Louis for a couple of prospects, a bag of pucks and a used skate sharpener.

              PS Yes Brandon Sutter is Jordan Staal (At least according to most knowledgeable hockey pundits plus we got Dumoulin and Pouliot as well)

  1. Well since we have to wait longer…change the banner with Staal on it and replace it with…..
    a. Sutter
    b. Vokun
    c. Paul Martin

    YEAH!!! I pick C

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