Czuczman
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Kevin Czuczman to a one-year contract, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford. The contract is a two-way deal and it has an average annual value of $650,000 at the NHL level. Czuczman (CHUHRCH-muhn), 26, broke into the NHL with the New York Islanders as an undrafted free agent following a three-year collegiate career at Lake Superior State. He jumped into the NHL immediately upon signing in 2013-14, collecting two assists in 13 games with the Islanders. Last year, the Port Elgin, Ontario native spent the season with the Manitoba Moose of the American Hockey League, where he served as an alternate captain. Czuczman posted the best offensive numbers of his pro career, leading all Manitoba blueliners with 32 points (9G-23A) in 76 games. A 6-foot-2, 206-pound defender, Czuczman played the majority of the '14-15 and '15-16 seasons with the Islanders' AHL affiliate, the Bridgeport Sound Tigers. In three-plus professional seasons, Czuczman 54 points (14G-40A) in 200 career AHL regular-season games, plus AHL playoff appearances, split between Manitoba and Bridgeport. As a junior in his final year at Lake Superior State in '13-14, Czuczman was named to the All-WCHA Second Team after setting collegiate career highs in goals (10), assists (11) and points (21) in 36 games played. His 10 goals that year were tied for second-most among all NCAA defensemen. Czuczman was Lake Superior State's "Most Valuable Defenseman" as a sophomore and its "Most Outstanding Freshman" in his debut campaign.
New Signings
The Pittsburgh Penguins added further depth to their organization on Saturday with the addition of four players, it was announced by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford. Signing contracts to join the Penguins were defensemen Chris Summers, Jarred Tinordi and Zach Trotman, and forward Greg McKegg. All four contracts were two-way deals with values of $650,000 at the NHL level. Summers inked a two-year deal, McKegg, Tinordi and Trotman signed one-year deals. As junior players, Tinordi and McKegg teamed with Olli Maatta to win a 2012 Ontario Hockey League title with the London Knights. Tinordi was the Knights' captain that season.
Summers, 29, played the majority of the last two years with the Hartford Wolf Pack, the top minor-league affiliate of the New York Rangers. Summers was an alternate captain for the Wolf Pack in 2016-17, when he recorded 12 points (4G-8A) in 74 AHL regular-season contests. A 6-foot-2, 207-pound Ann Arbor, Michigan native, Summers has skated in 70 career NHL games with the Arizona Coyotes and New York Rangers, tallying nine points (2G-7A). The Coyotes' first-round (29th overall) draft pick in 2006, Summers has played 386 career AHL contests with San Antonio, Portland and Hartford, notching 59 points (13G-46A). He was a 2013 AHL All-Star while skating for Portland. Summers spent four seasons of college hockey at the University of Michigan, where he was teammates with Carl Hagelin. Summers was the Wolverines' captain as a senior, and an alternate captain as a junior. At the 2008 World Junior Championship, Summers was an alternate captain for Team USA, and he was voted one of the team's 'Top Three Players.' He won a gold medal with Team USA at the 2006 Under-18 World Junior Championship.
McKegg, 25, split this past year between the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers, tallying seven points (3G-4A) in 46 contests with those clubs. He also saw action in seven AHL games for the Springfield Thunderbirds, netting four points (2G-2A). McKegg, who stands 6-foot, 191 pounds and hails from St. Thomas, Ontario, was originally chosen by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the third round (62nd overall) in 2010. He has nine points (5G-4A) in 65 career NHL games with Toronto, Florida and Tampa Bay. At the AHL level, McKegg has skated in 244 career regular-season games with the Toronto Marlies, Portland and Springfield, totaling 135 points (62G-73A). As a junior player, McKegg was a two-year captain for the Erie Otters before his midseason trade to London in '11-12.
Tinordi, 25, spent last season with the Tucson Roadrunners of the AHL, where he had 11 points (1G-10A) and 102 penalty minutes in 64 games. He was an alternate captain for Tucson. Montreal's first-round (22nd overall) selection in 2010, the 6-foot-6, 230-pound Tinordi has split 53 career NHL regular-season games between the Canadiens and Arizona Coyotes, picking up six assists. He has one helper in five career NHL playoff contests. Tinordi was the captain of the United States' Under-18 World Junior Championship team in 2010 that won gold, and an alternate captain for the U.S. entry at the 2012 World Junior Championship. Tinordi, a Burnsville, Minnesota native, is the son of long-time NHL defenseman Mark Tinordi. The elder Tinordi competed against the Penguins in the 1991 Stanley Cup Final as a member of the Minnesota North Stars.
Trotman, 26, adds further size to the blue line as a 6-foot-3, 217-pound right-handed shooter. He spent the '16-17 campaign with the Ontario Reign of the AHL, the top affiliate of the Los Angeles Kings. Trotman was limited to just nine games played because of an upper-body injury. A native of Carmel, Indiana native, Trotman was originally a 2010 seventh-round (210th overall) draft pick of the Boston Bruins. He has 67 games of NHL experience, all with the Bruins, during which he has produced 12 points (3G-9A). At the AHL level, Trotman has put up 58 points (13G-45A) in 159 career regular-season games with Ontario and the Providence Bruins. He has five points (1G-4A) in 17 AHL playoff games. Trotman skated for three seasons at Lake Superior State, where he was an alternate captain his final year.
Center
The Pens signed two players on the opening day of NHL free agency, defenseman Matt Hunwick and goaltender Antti Niemi. While those two signings fill important needs on the team, they don't address the club's biggest hole: center. But Pittsburgh understood that free agency wouldn't be the best route to acquire a center.
"We weren't really looking at one in free agency," general manager Jim Rutherford said. "The prices were a little high on a few guys that we had talked about. I'm not surprised that we didn't get anything done today. We have a long way to go before we play. We've talked about enough different things that we're confident that we'll get somebody obviously through a trade."
The Pens lost Nick Bonino, who signed a four-year deal with Nashville, and Matt Cullen is still weighing his future plans. Currently Pittsburgh only has three centers on its NHL roster: Sidney Crosby; Evgeni Malkin; and Carter Rowney. And with the trade of Oskar Sundqvist to St. Louis, the organizational depth is slim. Rowney could fill the fourth line center role. But that means the team still needs a pivot on the third line. But Pittsburgh feels it is important not to overpay for a center. In fact, the team is willing to start the season without adding a center if it comes to that.
"It's important now not to panic and go after somebody just to say that we got a center," Rutherford said. "I've talked to the coach (Mike Sullivan) about this. He said as long as I've got my two big guys healthy (Crosby and Malkin) I can work around anything early in the season."
Sullivan would have to be very creative with his roster in that scenario, but the Pens will remain patient with their process.
"We'll move on one when we're comfortable with somebody that we like," Rutherford said. "It could be in the next day. It could take us a couple of months. It could take us early in the season before it happens."
For the first time in a long time the Pens have breathing room with their salary cap situation. The team is currently $16.5 million under the cap. That will go a long way in trying to add a center or defenseman via trades.
"We're not going to be pressured from a cap point of view. This is probably the best shape we've been in in a few years at this point in time," Rutherford said. "We'll be able to add another player and still end up under the cap, which would be a good place to be going into the season. We'll have flexibility going forward."
The Pens restricted free agents will eat up a portion of that free cap space. The most notable are defensemen Justin Schultz, Brian Dumoulin and Derrick Pouliot and forwards Conor Sheary and Josh Archibald.
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