Penguins Considering Morrison

-The Pittsburgh Penguins have been linked to yet another center. That center is 34 year old, Brendan Morrison. Morrison, who played with the Washington Capitals last season, scored 12 goals and recorded 42 points. He was an impressive +23 as well, which ranked 15th in the NHL. He skates well and is considered a playmaker. According to a source, he will narrow down his list of suitors by next week. If he signed with the Penguins, Evgeni Malkin or Jordan Staal would have to move to a wing.
-Reports are surfacing that Ilya Kovalchuk may be close to signing with the Los Angeles Kings. Do not believe it until you see it.
-Mike Modano is close to signing with the Detroit Red Wings.

Penguins Development Camp/Quick Hits

-The Pittsburgh Penguins first practice of the developmental camp was held yesterday at Southpointe, and it went very well. The camp started with ten players coming out to do some skating drills with an instructor. Shortly after, all of the players came out and started to do hockey drills. From what I saw yesterday, the Penguins sure have a number of talented prospects. It was great to see hockey in July. Eric Tangradi, considered the Penguins #1 prospect, certainly showed a lot of skill on the first day. He is very good on the fore-check and skates very well. His shot is very fast but he did hit the post or miss the net a lot. He showed a lot of potential to be a good player for the Penguins. He also showed that he could fit in the locker room with him joking around on the ice. Beau Bennett looked very good as well today. It was hard to do a lot of player evaluations today since each player was wearing a random number. Simon Despres may have been a steal of the 2009 draft. The Penguins really have high hopes for him, as he skated very well yesterday.
-There has been chatter about the Penguins talking to Columbus to acquire Nikita Filatov, but I do not think it is true.
-The Penguins remain in discussions with winger Maxim Afinogenov, but no offer has been made yet.  

Latest NHL News

-"Why has the free agent market slowed down?" 2 words. Ilya Kovalchuk. The top name of the free agent class has yet to sign with a team 12 days into free agency. Since Kovalchuk is demanding so much money, he is holding up the other free agents such as Alex Frolov, Maxim Afinogenov and others. Teams do not know how much money they will have left if they sign Kovalchuk, so the other players are holding out to get the best possible offer. It seems as if the Kovalchuk sweepstakes is down to Los Angeles and New Jersey at this point. He was in Los Angeles today looking around the area with Dustin Brown, a member of the Kings. It is not known when he will sign with a team, but hopefully it is soon. New Jersey has reportedly offered him around $60 million over 7 years. Kovalchuk wants $10 million per season, but I am not sure if he will get that.

 -The Penguins do not seem to want to bring back D Jay McKee this season. They have not contacted him since July 1st, which is a clear sign they are moving in a different direction. There are around five teams that do have interest in McKee. The same goes for Alexei Ponikarovsky, as teams are kicking the tires with him, but no team has made an offer yet. That will change once the Kovalchuk saga is over.
-Patrick Sharp of the Chicago Blackhawks is now being rumored to be another salary cap casualty out of Chicago. Since the team matched the San Jose Sharks offer to RFA defenseman Niklas Hjalmarsson and still need to sign goaltender Antti Niemi, they may need to shed space again. Sharp would be a good fit for the Penguins, but the price may be too high.
-The Penguins Development Camp will hit the ice tomorrow and I will be providing live updates on my Twitter page from Southpointe. Notable players attending are Eric Tangradi, Simon Despres, Dustin Jeffrey, and Beau Bennett. Follow me on Twitter!

Pens Sign D Andrew Hutchinson, Niedermayer to Sabres

-The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed D Andrew Hutchinson to a one year, two-way contract. The deal would pay him $500,000 at the NHL level. The 30 year old defenseman scored nine goals and recorded 38 points in 78 games this past season for the Texas Stars of the AHL. He was the AHL's defenseman of the year in 2007-08.
-Although Rob Niedermayer was considering the Penguins as his next team, he decided to sign with the Buffalo Sabres. He signed a 1 year, $1 million contract.

Pens Have Held Talks with Afinegenov

-The Pittsburgh Penguins are still deciding on which forward to sign to help out Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Maxim Afinegenov's agent has said that Pittsburgh has held dicussions about bringing him to Pittsburgh. Afinegenov had a breakout season last season where he scored 24 goals and recorded 61 points.
-Other veterans that have been linked to Pittsburgh are Rob Niedermayer, Mike Modano, Jeff Halpern, and Dominic Moore.

Niedermayer Talks In Preliminary Stages

-The Pittsburgh Penguins continue to talk to the agent of Rob Niedermayer in an effort to sign the veteran forward. Niedermayer, 35, wants assurance that he will be Pittsburgh's third line center in order to keep talking. That would mean that Jordan Staal or Evgeni Malkin would have to move to a wing. Malkin is the most likely one to make the switch. Niedermayer scored ten goals and recorded 22 points in 71 games for the New Jersey Devils.
-Jeff Halpern, a 34 year old center, contacted the Penguins to see if they were interested in him. It is unknown if Pittsburgh is interested because he was limited to only 16 games last year only getting two assists.

PENS GET DEFENSIVE, SIGN MARTIN AND MICHALEK

-After watching Sergei Gonchar leave Pittsburgh for a 3 year, $16.5 million deal with the Ottawa Senators, Penguins fans panicked. Are we going to have any defensemen? Ray Shero quickly answered that question by signing D Zybnek Michalek to a 5 year, $20 million contract that includes a limited no-trade clause. Michalek, a 27 year old formerly of the Phoenix Coyotes, is a perfect fit for the Penguins as he led the NHL in blocked shots in 2008-09. Then we asked, who would replace Gonchar? Shero then shocked the world by signing D Paul Martin to a 5 year, $25 million contract. Martin, a 29 year old formerly of the New Jersey Devils, will do a respectable job replacing Gonchar. He is also much younger than Gonchar. The Pittsburgh Penguins will now have much better defense than this past season. Stay tuned for more signings.