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The Penguins made a minor signing today, adding center Michael Chaput from free agency to a one-year, two-way contract. From the team:
The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed forward Michael Chaput to a one-year contract, it was announced today by general manager Ron Hextall.
The two-way contract runs through the 2021-22 season and carries an average annual value of $750,000 at the NHL level.
Chaput, 29, spent the 2020-21 season with the Arizona Coyotes, split between the team’s taxi squad and main roster, appearing in 13 games. In total, the 6-foot-2, 199-pound forward has played parts of eight seasons in the NHL with Columbus, Vancouver, Montreal and Arizona, registering six goals, 16 assists and 22 points in 182 games.
The Ile Bizard, Quebec native has also played parts of eight seasons in the American Hockey League where he dressed for 388 games and recorded 259 points (109G-150A). Chaput has eclipsed the 40-point plateau on three different occasions, and has scored 10-plus goals seven times. He’s served as an alternate captain for the Lake Erie Monsters (2015-16) and Laval Rocket (2018-19). Chaput won the Calder Cup with Lake Erie in 2016, picking up eight points (2G-6A) in 17 postseason games.
The Penguins needed some center depth in the organization, and Chaput is that. He took 69 faceoffs in the 13 games he appeared in last season with Arizona. Chaput does painfully little offensively, but has some NHL experience and could be a player to plug into the lineup in the event of injury. Here’s his career path from hockeydb:
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The Pens needed a veteran center, and here is a veteran center. It’s very unlikely that Chaput will offer as much as Frederick Gaudreau did, when signed in a similar manner last off-season, but as far as getting a big body that has been around the block a little, they can check that off the list. Ideally Pittsburgh doesn’t need Chaput too much in the NHL, but the organization did need to replace players like Gaudreau and Josh Currie, so here ya go.