Today was an odd day as a fan of the Penguins, especially with all of the hoopla surrounding the anticipation of the Penguins being in on Parise and Suter. As I said, I liked the idea of some more mid range signings, particularly on defense. I would have been thrilled to trade for Bobby Ryan using Anaheim's lack of defense, along with Martin, Despres and other picks or prospects while signing Jason Garrison or Bryan Allen to add size and grit to the Penguins. With Anaheim signing Sheldon Souray and Bryan Allen while losing Brookbank, they still seem light on quality NHL defensemen, and therefore possbily open to moveable Penguins assets in return for Ryan. The Penguins are out of the mix for both Allen who signed with Florida for 3 years at 9.5M and Jason Garrison who signed with Vancouver for six years at 27.5M killing my dreams there. They did however sign Matt Niskanen for two years at an average of 2.3M per year, adding some stability to the blue line, but to me, they need some more size and toughness on the backend. Some other " Plan B" free agent defensemen such as Greg Zanon and Filip Kuba are off the market as well. Zanon is a solid shot blocker, and Kuba a big body who can play the point on the power play. I am disppointed that we did not make any of those moves on defense, frankly. I like Bryce Salvador amongst the remaining UFA defensemen for what I think the Penguins need, but there has been no word on Pittsburgh making an offer for Salvador. The Penguins are supposed to be on a short list of teams that are still in the running for Parise, and given the ridiculous overpayment occurring for mid range players, the Penguins may be more likely to trade some younger assets to get the help they need as a team. In other news, the Penguins lost Arron Asham to the Rangers, and bascially filled his role by signing tough guy Tanner Glass from Winnipeg. Glass is not the fighter Asham is, but probably a better player. He was one of the key penalty killers for Winnipeg last season, and one of their hit leaders, placing in the top 10 of the NHL with 246 hits while skating on their third line. He should be a solid addition to the 4th line of Pittsburgh. I hear that two teams have offers in to Steve Sullivan, but he is still looking at Pittsburgh as an option, though no offer has been made to date. Ray Whitney signed a two year deal with Dallas, removing him from the list of potential targets, and Doan is looking to give Phoenix until July 8th to make a final decision which will effectively remove him from Pittsburgh's list of possibles. The strangest move to me was signing Steve McIntyre for two more years, along with other AHL players and home town kid Dylan Reese from Upper St. Clair. Paul Martin is supposedly part of the group of players who is looking to convince Zach Parise to become a Penguin, which leads me to believe that the Penguins are thinking HARD about NOT moving Martin's salary to address other weaknesses. There is a rumor that Nashville, a team that Martin cannot turn down from his No Movement Clause is very interested, but it seems as if the Parise effort might be tied to Martin's future, and if Parise IS a Penguin, Martin is going nowhere. I have heard a rumor from a friend who seems to know that Dallas and Pittsburgh are talking trades and Steve Ott, a rugged forward, and Mark Fistric a RFA defenseman who is 6'2" and 233 lbs are mentioned as people of interest for Pittsburgh, while Martin, Kennedy and prospects have been of interest to Dallas. There are also a couple of bottom six forwards still out there as UFA in Taylor Pyatt at 6'4" and 228 lbs and Daniel Winnik at 6'2" and 210 lbs who might make sense for Pittsburgh as well. Finally, rumors have it that both Suter and Parise have more than one offer of more than 100M dollars over 10-13 years, and Pittsburgh has not been ruled out in either camp. For Parise Pittsburgh is among three favorites, and for Suter, they have not been eliminated, but are not considered a favorite either. I trust in Shero, so I draw no conclusions yet, but Pittsburgh needs to address that blue line in the coming days, as well as add to their top 6 upfront. I remain hopeful that they will do that tomorrow and in coming days, as the thin market could make guys Paul Martin very valuable as trade bait, especically if Parise is not a Penguins. In addition to the above referenced Bobby Ryan move the Hockey Writers astutely talk about RW Chris Steward of St. Louis, a 6'2" 24 year old who had scored 28 goals in each of his prior two seasons before being a victim of "fit" under Ken Hitchcock for whom he only scored 15 goals and 15 assists. He is signed for one more year at 3M, and then is only RFA. He could flourish being back in an uptempo system like Bylsma's, and he is a big tough player to boot. Ironicallly, as THW mentioned, the Blues are looking for a veteran defenseman with strong puck moving skills ala Paul Martin. If the Pens could make that swap, it would add some size, grit, goal scoring, and a guy who is not afraid to drop the mitts to protect his linemates. I like it!
| DATE | PLAYER | 2012-13 TEAM | 2011-12 TEAM | DETAILS |
| JULY 1 | D Francis Bouillon | Montreal | Nashville | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Bryan Allen | Florida | Carolina | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Trevor Smith | Pittsburgh | Lightning | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F John Scott | Buffalo | NY Rangers | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | RW Brad Staubitz | Anaheim | Montreal | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Sami Salo | Tampa Bay | Vancouver | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Brian McGrattan | Nashville | Nashville | |
| JULY 1 | F Paul Gaustad | Nashville | Nashville | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Chris Mason | Nashville | Winnipeg | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Jason Garrison | Vancouver | Florida | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Sheldon Souray | Anaheim | Dallas | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Warren Peters | Pittsburgh | Minnesota | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Cedric Desjardins | Montreal | Colorado | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Michael Blunden | Montreal | Montreal | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Aaron Rome | Dallas | Vancouver | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | W Jordin Tootoo | Detroit | Nashville | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Brandon Prust | Montreal | NY Rangers | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | C Jay McClement | Toronto | Colorado | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Mike Kostka | Toronto | Tampa Bay | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Mikael Samuelsson | Detroit | Florida | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Scott Ford | St. Louis | Nashville | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Taylor Chorney | St. Louis | St. Louis | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Mike McKenna | St. Louis | Ottawa | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Greg Zanon | Colorado | Minnesota | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Matt Frattin | Toronto | Toronto | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Ryan Hamilton | Toronto | Toronto | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Jussi Rynnas | Toronto | Toronto | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Dylan Reese | Pittsburgh | NY Islanders | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Adrian Aucoin | Columbus | Phoenix | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F P.A. Parenteau | Colorado | NY Islanders | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Alexei Ponikarovky | Winnipeg | New Jersey | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F George Parros | Florida | Anaheim | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Micheal Haley | NY Rangers | NY Islanders | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Darcy Hordichuk | Edmonton | Edmonton | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Sheldon Brookbank | Chicago | Anaheim | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Dustin Penner | Los Angeles | Los Angeles | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Matt Carkner | NY Islanders | Ottawa | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Chad Johnson | Phoenix | NY Rangers | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Arron Asham | NY Rangers | Pittsburgh | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Guillaume Latendresse | Ottawa | Minnesota | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F David Moss | Phoenix | Calgary | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Filip Kuba | Florida | Ottawa | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Tanner Glass | Pittsburgh | Winnipeg | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Riley Holzapfel | Pittsburgh | Winnipeg | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Jeff Zatkoff | Pittsburgh | Los Angeles | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Chris Kelly | Boston | Boston | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Tuukka Rask | Boston | Boston | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Curtis McElhinney | Columbus | Phoenix | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Adam Burish | San Jose | Dallas | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Brad Boyes | NY Islanders | Buffalo | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Steve MacIntyre | Pittsburgh | Pittsburgh | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Ray Whitney | Dallas | Phoenix | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Torrey Mitchell | Minnesota | San Jose | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Colby Armstrong | Montreal | Toronto | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Brett Sutter | Carolina | Carolina | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Zenon Konopka | Minnesota | Ottawa | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Jonas Gustavsson | Detroit | Toronto | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Michael Leighton | Philadelphia | Philadelphia | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Mike Lundin | Ottawa | Minnesota | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Joe Corvo | Carolina | Boston | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Justin Peters | Carolina | Carolina | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F John Mitchell | Colorado | NY Rangers | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | D Stu Bickell | NY Rangers | NY Rangers | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | F Benoit Pouliot | Tampa Bay | Boston | Read story ›› |
| JULY 1 | G Yann Danis | Edmonton | Edmonton | Read story |
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