Penguins sign Parker Wotherspoon to two-year deal

The Pittsburgh Penguins have their first signing of 2025 NHL Free Agency, bringing in defenseman Parker Wotherspoon on a two-year, $2 million contract with an average annual value of $1 million, ahead of the 2025-26 NHL season. 

The 27-year-old skated with the Boston Bruins for the last two seasons, and previously played for the New York Islanders, amassing 108 NHL games since debuting in 2022-23, while scoring a goal and 16 points. 

Initially selected by the Islanders 112th overall in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft, Wotherspoon spent his first six professional seasons in the minors, with New York’s AHL affiliate in Bridgeport, Connecticut.

However, he has been a regular NHL player with the Bruins over the last two seasons, playing a combined 91 games across 2023-24 and 2024-25, with a goal and six assists in his most recent 55-game campaign, where he averaged 18:02 of ice time per game. 

Prior to his professional career, Wotherspoon spent five seasons in the Western Hockey League with the Tri-City Americans, where he surpassed the 90-point mark twice: first with 93 points in 72 games during the 2014-15 season and then in his final year with 99 points in 69 games during the 2016-17 season. 

Joining the Penguins, he offers defensive depth on the left side, and will take some of the minutes left by Matt Grzelcyk and Pierre-Olivier Joseph, who chose to test the market in free agency. 

While he won’t move them into contender status, general manager Kyle Dubas will hope Wotherspoon can help keep the Penguins competitive in the twilight years of Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby’s careers. 

The Penguins finished the 2024-25 NHL season seventh of eight teams in the Metropolitan Division with a 34-26-12 record and 80 points over 82 games, and look to take steps forward when the 2025-26 NHL season hits the ice in October.