Report: Penguins sign defenseman Parker Wotherspoon for 2 years

According to Puckpedia, the Pittsburgh Penguins signed unrestricted free agent defenseman Parker Wotherspoon to a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $1 million.

Wotherspoon, who turns 28 on Aug. 24, spent the 2024-25 season with the Boston Bruins. Appearing in a career-high 55 games, the left-handed Wotherspoon scored seven points (one goal, six assists) while averaging 18:02 of ice time per contest.

Boston goal!

Scored by Parker Wotherspoon with 10:29 remaining in the 1st period.

Assisted by David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha.

Boston: 2
Tampa Bay: 0#TBLvsBOS #NHLBruins #GoBolts pic.twitter.com/jkcyAeMQNQ

— NHL Goals (@nhl_goal_bot) January 15, 2025

A significant portion of his ice time came on the penalty kill as he clocked an average of 1:20 of short-handed ice time per game.

Per the LinesLinesLines account on the social media outlet formerly known as Twitter, Wotherspoon opened 35 games on the left side and 20 games on the right.

Wotherspoon (6-foot-1, 192 pounds) was a fourth-round draft pick (No. 112 overall) of the New York Islanders in 2015 and spent the first eight seasons of his professional career with that organization, primarily at the American Hockey League level with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers/Islanders club.

A native of Surrey, British Columbia, Wotherspoon joined the Bruins as an unrestricted free agent in 2023 and spent the past two seasons with that team.

During his season-ending media availability, Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas indicated he wanted to improve the left side of his team’s defensive corps.

“I think the left side of our defense, it’s been a problem,” Dubas said. “There’s just no other way (to put it). … That’s an area I think, externally, that we have to (improve). So, we’ll be on the lookout for that as we go through here.”