Penguins sign Wade Brookbank and Wyatt Smith

From the official site:

The Stanley Cup Champion Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forwards Wade Brookbank and Wyatt Smith to one-year contracts, it was announced today by Executive Vice President and General Manager Ray Shero.

Brookbank, 31, registered one goal and 40 penalty minutes in 27 games with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2008-09. The 6-4, 225-pound winger also spent part of the season with Norfolk of the AHL, recording one assist and 46 penalty minutes in 24 games.

Brookbank has appeared in 127 career NHL games over parts of four seasons with Nashville, Vancouver, Boston and Carolina. He was part of the Penguins organization in 2006-07, when he had one goal and 116 penalty minutes in 39 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. He is a native of Lanigan, Saskatchewan.

Smith, 32, appeared in a combined 71 games with San Antonio and Norfolk of the AHL in 2008-09, tallying 19 goals and 47 points in addition to 71 penalty minutes.

The 5-11, 205-pound center has played parts of eight NHL seasons with Phoenix, Nashville, the New York Islanders, Minnesota and Colorado. Smith has recorded 32 points (10 goals, 22 assists) 65 penalty minutes in 211 career NHL games.  He is a native of Thief River Falls, Minnesota.

This adds some depth and NHL experience for players that will likely start out the season in Wilkes-Barre.  The Penguins have had to deal with the defections of players like Chris Minard and Jeff Taffe, so these signings likely go to replace that depth.