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Parker Wotherspoon

Penguins Sign Parker Wotherspoon To Two-Year Deal

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The Penguins have signed defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to a two-year, $2MM contract with a $1MM cap hit, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman and Irfaan Gaffar report.

Wotherspoon will head to Pittsburgh after climbing his way into the Boston lineup over the last two seasons. He’s had a 10-year pro career, but spent the first seven seasons fully with the Bridgeport Islanders. He stood as a heavy-set defender capable of making plays on both sides of the puck, and racking up lofty point and penalty minutes. Wotherspoon had a career-year in 2021-22, with 24 points and 127 penalty minutes across 57 games in Bridgeport — good for the team lead among the team’s defenders in both categories. It was on the heels of that season that Wotherspoon, then 25 years old, received his first taste of NHL action. He split the 2022-23 season between the NHL and AHL lineups, but only amassed one assist and one fight through the first 12 games of his NHL career.

The brief stint with the Islanders was enough to catch attention from across the Eastern Conference. The Bruins brought Wotherspoon in on a one-year, league-minimum contract in 2023 and again platooned him between the major and minor league rosters. He found a similar stride in a Bruins’ jersey, netting eight assists, 31 penalty minutes, and a plus-six through 41 NHL games in 2023-24. He added an additional two assists in 10 playoff games that year. The hardy role might not have resulted in electric scoring, but it was enough to earn Wotherspoon the clear role of Boston’s seventh-defenseman this season. He wasn’t assigned to the minors at any point this year – a career first – and even managed to score his first NHL goal en route to seven points, 10 penalty minutes, and a minus-10 in 55 games.

Wotherspoon will be a depth defender in Pittsburgh, but could offer up a reliable third-pair option behind Ryan Shea.

PHR’s Gabriel Foley contributed significantly to this article.

Bruins Extend Parker Wotherspoon

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The Bruins have signed defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to a one-year, $800K extension, per Darren Dreger of TSN.

Wotherspoon, 26, has played in a career-high 32 games this season, recording six assists and a +5 rating while averaging 17:58 per outing. He’s been a frugal free-agent pickup for GM Don Sweeney, who signed Wotherspoon to a one-year, two-way deal ($775K NHL/$450K AHL) when he reached Group VI status last summer.

His ice time has steadily increased as the season progresses, logging some significant penalty-kill time with veteran Derek Forbort battling injuries and inconsistent play. He’s been passable on special teams and at even strength, where he’s recorded a solid 46.7 CF% and 51.3 xGF% in extreme defensive-zone usage.

A fourth-round pick of the Islanders in 2015, Wotherspoon spent parts of eight seasons with their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport before making his NHL debut last season. He was solid in a 12-game stint, recording an assist and a +5 rating, but the Islanders opted not to re-sign him and let him reach free agency.

Wotherspoon was set to be an RFA with arbitration rights this summer. This will be the first one-way contract of his career.

Minor Transactions: 12/24/23

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With no games on the NHL schedule until Wednesday, many teams snuck last-minute transactions in before the full roster freeze kicked in.  We’ve covered a handful of them here throughout the day in Ottawa, Tampa Bay, Minnesota, and St. Louis; here’s a rundown of the remaining moves.  All transactions are via the AHL’s transactions log unless otherwise noted.

  • The Capitals returned winger Ivan Miroshnichenko and center Hendrix Lapierre to AHL Hershey. Both players were recalled on Tuesday with Miroshnichenko making his NHL debut.  He was held off the scoresheet in his three appearances while Lapierre has five points in 14 games with Washington so far.
  • The Red Wings re-assigned center Austin Czarnik and defenseman Simon Edvinsson back to AHL Grand Rapids. Czarnik has been shuffled back and forth frequently this month and has one assist in 16 games with Detroit while Edvinsson, who was only brought up Saturday, made his season debut last night.
  • The Kings loaned Jacob Moverare back to AHL Ontario after playing just shy of 15 minutes last night versus Calgary. The 25-year-old has been recalled and sent back down ten separate times each since mid-November.
  • The Golden Knights have loaned goaltender Isaiah Saville back to AHL Henderson, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). He has been serving as their interim backup with both Adin Hill and Logan Thompson injured.  As Thompson remains on the active roster, Saville was eligible to be sent back down.  The 23-year-old was activated off SOIR earlier this month and has made three appearances for the Silver Knights.
  • The Bruins sent three players back to AHL Providence – defensemen Mason Lohrei and Parker Wotherspoon along with center Patrick Brown. Lohrei has five points in 17 games so far in his first full professional campaign while Wotherspoon is logging nearly 16 minutes a night in eight games with Boston.  As for Brown, he cleared waivers early in the season and has been brought up four separate times now; he has an assist in nine games at the top level so far.
  • Boston also made one other transaction as they converted defenseman Ian Mitchell from an emergency recall to a regular one, per CapFriendly (Twitter link). Mitchell was recalled on Saturday and has two assists in 13 games with Boston so far.  The Bruins will now be ineligible to send him down until after the roster freeze lifts.
  • The Maple Leafs have returned center Pontus Holmberg to AHL Toronto. It’s the third time he has been sent back down since Wednesday as Toronto has been shuffling him up and down quite frequently.  The 24-year-old has an assist in eight games with the big club so far.
  • A day after recalling him, the Coyotes have sent center Justin Kirkland back to Tucson of the AHL. The 27-year-old had spent the full year with the Roadrunners prior to yesterday’s move, notching ten points in nine contests.
  • Grant Hutton is once again on the move as the Islanders have sent him back to AHL Bridgeport, CapFriendly reports (Twitter link). He has been recalled and re-assigned six times apiece in the last month and has been limited to just two appearances with New York so far this season.

Many of these transactions will be undone on the 27th or 28th as NHL teams return to action.  In the meantime, these teams will save a bit of salary money and cap space with these demotions.  Toronto and Ottawa’s moves could have AHL implications as well as their two affiliates will play on Tuesday so the players they sent down could suit up in that contest.

Boston Bruins Place Charlie McAvoy, Pavel Zacha On Injured Reserve

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The Boston Bruins have announced several roster transactions: defenseman Charlie McAvoy and forward Pavel Zacha have been placed on injured reserve, while forward Patrick Brown has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins. Defenseman Parker Wotherspoon has also been recalled, with his recall under an emergency designation.

McAvoy remains out with an upper-body injury, and his status was last classified as day-to-day. He has not played since December 7th. Zacha has not played since leaving the team’s December 9th contest against the Arizona Coyotes, and he was last reported as day-to-day with an upper-body injury.

Both Zacha and McAvoy are crucially important players for the Bruins. McAvoy is the club’s best defenseman, averaging 24:09 time-on-ice per game, the most on the team. Zacha is usually the Bruins’ top center, and he averages the most ice time per night of any Bruins pivot, including time on both special teams units.

In Zacha’s place, the team has recalled Brown, a veteran of nearly 150 NHL games. The versatile 31-year-old undrafted forward can play both center and wing and 55.8% faceoff win percentage in the NHL. He’s split time this season between Providence and Boston, skating in six games at the AHL level and eight in the NHL.

Wotherspoon, 26, is a left-shot defenseman and an established veteran in the AHL. He’s skated in over 300 AHL games and has 15 total NHL games on his resume. He’s played in three games for the Bruins so far this season, scoring one assist.

Bruins Assign Parker Wotherspoon To AHL

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The Boston Bruins returned defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to the AHL’s Providence Bruins on Friday, a team release states.

Wotherspoon, 26, heads back to the minors after serving as a healthy scratch for Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders, his former team. He’d skated the previous three games on the team’s bottom pair instead of Derek Forbort, who returned against the Islanders after missing those three contests with a lower-body injury. However, things don’t appear 100% yet for Forbort, as Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic reports that Forbort is not practicing with the team today.

The left-shot defender joined the Bruins this offseason on a one-year, two-way deal, earning him $775K in the NHL and $450K in the AHL. A 2015 fourth-round pick of the Islanders, Wotherspoon made his NHL debut last season after five full seasons of service with the team’s AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, logging an assist in 12 games. He did add one assist in three games during his recall to the Bruins’ NHL roster but is still looking for his first NHL goal.

In six games with Providence, Wotherspoon has one assist in six games and a -1 rating. He does not need waivers to return to Providence after already clearing waivers during the preseason, although he will if he plays seven more games for Boston and stays on the NHL roster for 21 more days.

Boston Bruins Place Matt Grzelcyk On Long-Term Injured Reserve, Recall Three

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The Boston Bruins have placed defenseman Matt Grzelcyk on long-term injured reserve, according to a team announcement. As a result, Grzelcyk will not be eligible to play until late November.

In addition to placing Grzelcyk on LTIR, the team has also placed forward Jakub Lauko on traditional injured reserve, and recalled defensemen Mason Lohrei, Ian Mitchell, and Parker Wotherspoon from their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.

Grzelcyk, 29, lands on LTIR after leaving the Bruins’ October 30th contest with an upper-body injury. Grzelcyk has established himself as a top-four defenseman in Boston, having scored at least 20 points in four consecutive seasons and averaged over 18 minutes of ice time per game in his NHL career.

He’s gotten off to a slow start this season, but thanks to his $3.687MM cap hit his LTIR placement provides the Bruins with the financial headroom to make this trio of recalls.

The most noable name in the list of players called up is Lohrei, who ranks among the top prospects in a thin Bruins prospect system. Set to turn 23 in January, the 2020 second-round pick is a rangy, mobile blueliner who scored well across his two-year collegiate career with the Ohio State Buckeyes.

So far, Lohrei has just 15 professional games on his resume. But with this recall, he is now positioned to potentially make his NHL debut on a Bruins’ roster that, before these recalls, boasted just four defensemen eligible to play.

As for Mitchell and Wotherspoon, neither holds the kind of upside or top prospect intrigue that Lohrei has. What they do have that Lohrei doesn’t, though, is significant experience playing pro hockey and some NHL experience. Mitchell, 24, has played 84 career NHL games while Wotherspoon has 12 NHL games and nearly 300 in the AHL.

As a right-shot blueliner, Mitchell is the likeliest candidate to immediately land in the NHL lineup while head coach Jim Montgomery will have to choose between Wotherspoon and Lohrei as to which left-shot defensemen he’ll dress for games.

That being said, the left-shot blueliners may stand a stronger chance at lasting on the NHL roster beyond the next four games. Once Charlie McAvoy’s suspension ends, a major void on the right side of the Bruins’ defense gets filled.

Meanwhile, Grzelcyk is set for a more extended absence, meaning Lohrei or Wotherspoon could extend their stay on the NHL roster beyond Mitchell, assuming they can handle the NHL minutes thrown their way.

Waivers: 10/03/23

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Oct. 4: All players have cleared waivers, per Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman. This means a pair of rather highly-touted Senators, Bernard-Docker and Sokolov, will remain with the organization.

Oct. 3: Following a large list of players hitting the waiver wire this time yesterday, today’s list is quite a bit smaller, but there is some solid talent that could potentially be claimed by a different organization. Today’s full list of players hitting the waiver wire comes courtesy of TSN’s Chris Johnston:

Boston Bruins

D Alec Regula
D Dan Renouf
F Anthony Richard
D Reilly Walsh
D Parker Wotherspoon

Edmonton Oilers

F Seth Griffith

New Jersey Devils

G Erik Kallgren

Ottawa Senators

D Jacob Bernard-Docker
F Matthew Highmore
D Jacob Larsson
F Egor Sokolov

Philadelphia Flyers

F Tanner Laczynski
G Calvin Petersen

Boston Bruins Sign Kevin Shattenkirk, Five Others

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Per Andy Strickland of Bally Sports Midwest, the Boston Bruins have signed veteran defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk to a one-year deal, just over $1MM. NBC Sports Boston’s Ty Anderson adds they’ve also signed forward Patrick Brown, with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman saying it’s a two-year deal worth $800K per season.

They’ve also added forward Anthony Richard on a one-year deal with a hefty $450k AHL salary, per TVA Sports’ Renaud Lavoie. In another signing, they’ve brought in right-shot blueliner Parker Wotherspoon on a two-way deal, according to TSN’s Darren Dreger. Dreger adds that Wotherspoon’s deal has a league-minimum cap hit and a hefty $500k AHL salary, underscoring the Bruins’ significant investment in their AHL affiliate, the Providence Bruins.

The Bruins have also signed forward Jayson Megna to a one-year, two-way contract at a league-minimum $775k cap hit, as well as Luke Toporowski to a two-year entry-level deal, per Anderson.

Shattenkirk provides the Bruins with some proven NHL experience on the cheap and won’t be forced into anything higher than a bottom-pairing role, sitting behind Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo on the Bruins’ depth chart of right-shot defenders. A dual threat on the power play and penalty kill, this should be an incredibly effective use of space for the cap-strapped Bruins.

Brown, who played in a career-high 61 NHL games this season, is a likely candidate to stick around on Boston’s roster without many AHL talents ready for NHL ice time. He could very well begin the season slotted as the team’s fourth-line center. Richard, Wotherspoon, Megna, and Toporwoski are all likely destined for AHL Providence.

Alexander Romanov Back Skating With New York Islanders

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New York Islanders defenseman Alexander Romanov is apparently back skating with the team ahead of their game 3 matchup with the Carolina Hurricanes. Stefen Rosner of The Hockey News wrote that Romanov rotated in and out of line rushes and the penalty kill, but little is being said about whether the 23-year-old will return for game 3. Romanov suffered an upper body injury on April 1 and missed the final five games of the regular season as well as games one and two of the Islanders opening round series.

Romanov had a successful first season with the Islanders after being acquired from Montreal via trade last summer. He set a career high in points with 22 in 76 games and fit in nicely on the team’s penalty kill. His 22 points were the highest point total he has posted in any level and could be jumping off point for the Russian rearguard in upcoming seasons.

The Islanders didn’t acquire the 215-pound defenseman for his offense though, they acquired him to play hard hockey this time of year and so far, he has been unable to get back into game action. The Islanders could certainly use Romanov in the lineup as rookie Samuel Bolduc has struggled as his replacement and was benched in game two. Should Romanov miss game three, it appears as though Parker Wotherspoon would draw in to replace him instead of Bolduc.

The 25-year-old Wotherspoon dressed in 12 games in his first NHL season, notching just a single assist. He could offer the Islanders a different look on the backend as they return home and try to climb back into their first round series with the Carolina Hurricanes. The Islanders trail 2-0 after losing both games by one goal.

New York Islanders Recall Aatu Raty

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The New York Islanders have been busy ahead of their game against the Florida Panthers tonight, making four different transactions. Kyle Palmieri and Semyon Varlamov have been moved to injured reserve, while Aatu Raty and Parker Wotherspoon will come up from the AHL to take their roster spots.

Raty, 20, will certainly draw most of the attention, as he comes up for the first time this season and potentially makes his NHL debut. The young forward was once considered a potential top-five pick in the 2021 draft but ended up falling all the way to the middle of the second round after some disappointing performances in Finnish professional hockey. Since being selected 52nd, though, he has turned things around and is now one of the Islanders’ top prospects.

His first post-draft season was outstanding, as Raty was moved from Karpat (where he had struggled) to Jukurit and instantly started to find success. With 40 points in 41 games, spectators finally saw what had made him such an interesting prospect growing up. At the end of the yer, he joined the Bridgeport Islanders and fit right in, recording four points in six AHL playoff games.

This year, after an excellent training camp that nearly landed him an NHL spot right away, things have been a little slower for the young Finn. He has 12 points in 23 games for Bridgeport but hasn’t quite been the dominant presence that some hoped for. Still, he has earned a call-up as the team deals with several injuries upfront.

Unfortunately, he’s coming into a tough situation. The Islanders have lost seven of their last ten and now sit sixth in the Metropolitan Division. A win over the Florida Panthers today would be a huge boost before breaking for a few days, and perhaps Raty can give them some energy should he debut this evening.

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