Exciting Penguins Summer Signing Brings Grit and Depth to Blue Line

This summer hasn't exactly been the busy one that most Pittsburgh Penguins fans expected, but despite that GM Kyle Dubas has still made some solid additions to the team.

One that nobody saw coming was a pickup for the Penguins blue line, with the team signing former Boston Bruins defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, who has clearly been wanting a bigger role in the NHL since arriving.

At 28-years of age, Wotherspoon has finally gotten his chance in the NHL over the past two seasons, playing 96 games with the Bruins and in that time tallying 1 goal and 15 points, but it's not the scoring that his game is based on.

Standing 6-foot-1, Wotherspoon uses his fantastic frame to be a defensive stud, as he has the skills and the toughness to be a difference maker with his physicality, and that's something this Penguins team have been sorely missing.

While Wotherspoon won't be any more than a third pairing defenseman, The Hockey News have broken down his potential impact for this team, and with his balanced game and level head on the back end, he could be the perfect pairing for one of the young defenseman like Owen Pickering who is trying to break into the team.

Ultimately, it's not going to be a signing from Dubas that we look back on as a stroke of genius, but it's a safe move to add a third-pairing defenseman for cheap in free agency as the team look to find the stability on the back end to lead them forward into a successful future.