As reported here on Pensburgh last night, Dan Bylsma said the first round of cuts would happen today, and happen they have. From the team:
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Jean-Sebastien Dea to a three-year entry-level contract, it was announced today by executive Vice President and general manager Ray Shero.
The contract will begin when Dea turns pro.
Pittsburgh also re-assigned 11 players today. Dea, goaltenders Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry and forward Matia Marcantuoni were sent back to their respective junior teams. Forwards Paul Thompson, Tom Kostopoulos, Brian Gibbons and Dominik Uher, and defensemen Clark Seymour, Reid McNeill and Nick D'Agostino were sent to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
Pittsburgh now has 44 players on its training camp roster (25 forwards; 15 defenseman; 4 goaltenders
No true surprises in the list, all the players sent packing today weren't close to the NHL roster bubble and better to let the junior kids go back to their respective teams and prepare for their long seasons.
The signing of Dea could be the most important bullet point- he was an undrafted forward who finished 11th in scoring in the high powered QMJHL with 85 points in 68 games. Given his step up in age and experience, he should be in a position to do even more damage this season in the Q, and the Pens liked him well enough in prospect camp and now big boy NHL camp to see a professional future with Dea. Congrats to him and hopefully it's just the beginning of things to come.
44 players means the Pens need to cut at least 21 players to fit under the maximum 23 man roster when training camp breaks on September 30th. Due to the pressing salary cap issues, they may even carry less than that, so the decisions are only going to get tougher from here as Pittsburgh prepares for the 2013-14 season.