The Pittsburgh Penguins have agreed to a three-year deal with ex-Washingotn Capitals center, Eric Fehr. The deal was announced on Tuesday afternoon by Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford. The deal is worth $6 million over three years.
For his 10-year NHL career, Fehr has mostly played for the Capitals, with the exception of a one year stint in Winnipeg. Last season with the Caps, Fehr had 19 goals to go with 14 assists. His 19 goals was the second most of his career.
The 29-year-old was a major contributer in the Capitals penalty killing unit. Per game, he averaged 1:23 minutes of short handed time. He also was superb in the faceoff department winning 52 percent of his faceoffs.
Fehr underwent elbow suregery on June 3rd shortly after the Capitals were eliminated from the Stanley Cup playoffs. The timetable for his return is 4-to-6 months.
The addition of Fher is a good move for the Pens. It takes away a player from divison rival Washingotn and gives the Penguins good line depth. On the same team as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the newly acquired Phil Kessel, Pittsburgh is in for a potentially big year in the upcoming NHL season.
After being ousted in the first round of the playoffs last year, the Penguins were disappointed in their teams efforts. This year should be a big bounce back year for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In a conference call Rutherford said, "We're up against the cap. We certainly have room if we want to add another forward." As well as, "The two deals went hand in hand so we could add more depth."
This was a reference to the earlier deal the Penguins made with the Vancouver Canucks. Rutherford also said Fehr has the chance to become a top-six forward, something he has rarely done in his career.
As for now, we will all have to wait and see how the new Penguins additions will play together. With a lot of big time additions this offseason, it will likely be a boom or bust type of season within the Penguins organization.