Penguins
Penguins Sign Depth Forward From Canadiens; Re-Sign Goalie
Goaltender Taylor Gautheir, who has had success with the Wheeling Nailers while waiting his AHL turn in the Penguins’ goaltending logjam, re-signed with the organization Wednesday.
Gauthier, 24, completed his third professional season and improved on his award-winning numbers. In 2023-24, Gauthier was the ECHL goalie of the year with a .920 save percentage. Last season, he posted a 2.23 goals against average and a healthy .928 save percentage.
In 88 games as a Nailer, Gauthier has gone 50-33-5 with a 2.33 goals against average, .920 save percentage, and seven shutouts.
However, Gauthier has also performed capably in his limited AHL opportunities. In 25 games with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, he has a 10-5-7 record to go along with a 2.77 goals against average, .908 save percentage, and two shutouts.
Rafael Harvey-Pinard
The little engine that could. Harvey-Pinard was the Canadiens’ seventh-round pick of the 2019 Draft (201st overall). He has played in 84 NHL games, scoring 17 goals, with 14 assists.
The Penguins have signed him to a one-year, two-way deal that pays $775,000 at the NHL level.
The 5-foot-9, 181-pound forward played just one game with the Canadiens last season and 40 games for their American Hockey League affiliate, the Laval Rocket. In the AHL, he scored five goals with 19 points in 40 games.
Phil Kemp
Kemp signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Penguins that also pays $775,000 at the NHL level. In his four-year professional career, he’s played one NHL game (Edmonton, 2023-24).
The right-handed defenseman will add right-side depth to the organization and replace Dan Renouf, who signed in the German league, as a veteran presence. Kemp has played 291 professional games, including 32 in the Swedish Elite League. He spent the 2024-25 season with the Bakersfield Condors, playing 56 games, scoring seven goals, with five assists.
The 6-foot-3, 212-pound defenseman has played in parts of five seasons in the AHL with the Condors since 2020-21. In 258 career AHL games, Kemp has recorded 18 goals, 40 assists, and 58 points with a plus-38.
Okay, i guess i was premature to say goodbye to T G. He should definitely be in the competition for playing time in Pittsburgh. The net belongs to whoever plays the best!
That’s ok, at least we can officially say goodbye to POJ!!!
We couldn’t even sign Kapanen or Granlund! Or Petry! 😁
And that’s a bad thing?
Not at all. From a certain perspective, at least we still have JJ!
Agreed. TG deserves as much of a chance as everyone else. They have 8 preseason games. TG, Mush, Larsson and Bloom should each get at least 1 full game each, maybe 1.5 just to see how they perform when coming off the bench cold vs being a starter. Give Jarry the last two games just to get warmed up before the opener. Pick the best two to start the season.
Personally I am so tired of Pittsburgh sports team signing has beens, retreads, and minor league talent. What has happened to this city.
OMG man, it’s a hard life. Savor the championships! 16 straight seasons being in the playoffs. We all can only hope that this rebuild goes quickly, but this is only beginning. Though, I cannot speak to the other Pittsburgh sports teams.
You sound like a positive guy lol
You lack understanding of the life cycle of an NHL team
Still livin’ in the past.
We are getting to the cap limit $775,000 at a time.
😂
I don’t have much hope for winning this season but that seems to be the plan. I’m sad for Geno finishing on this sour note but we need to start rebuilding now. With the picks and extra cap space we have Dubas will be able to grab the right younger player should one come available. I’m betting as the summer goes on teams are going to need to deal to get under the cap and we will be ready! I really am trying to look at this with a positive attitude.
95% of the players labeled as “depth” means they’ll be in the AHL or 13th forward initially, but could become NHL players in the future. There are some that will rise to the top quicker but it shouldn’t be expected. And many will never make the NHL.