Penguins sign Parker Wotherspoon to two-year deal

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.