Pierre-Olivier Joseph Signs Contract With New NHL Team After Being Released by the Penguins

Pierre-Olivier Joseph was not offered a qualifying offer from the Penguins yesterday, making him an unrestricted free agent.

Joseph has spent essentially his entire NHL career with Pittsburgh so far, outside of a short stint with the Blues last season, so this is a big change for the 26-year-old.

Of his 194 games of NHL experience, 171 of them have been with Pittsburgh.

He scored 8 goals and 32 assists for 40 points during his Penguins career and assed another 2 helpers in 23 games with the Blues last season.

Now he is headed north of the border for the first time in his pro career as he has signed a one-year, league minimum deal with the Vancouver Canucks.

The good news for Joseph is that this is a one-way contract so even if he ends up getting sent to the AHL, he will still be paid his full salary.

Furthermore, he would have to clear waivers in that case, and he is the type of player that could very well get claimed.

Based on the way Canucks fans have reacted to this news, it seems like many of them would actually prefer that to be the case as well.

Many have pointed out that the team already has a log jam on defense, so there isn't really space for him in the lineup, unless a more talented prospect like Elias Nils Pettersson is going to be a healthy scratch.

At this point in the offseason it is way to early to determine whether or not Joseph will crack the lineup for Vancouver, so it is still very possible that he could end up on another team before the season begins.