WBS Penguins sign a Hershey Bear

[eastonpensfan]

The Penguins have now signed a fourth defenseman to their roster, Deryk Engelland, who will probably be a bottom-pairing d-man this year. All of the details are up at http://www.faceoff-factor.com

[K2]

Solid depth signing for WBS. He's a tough customer and a capable defender. I would say that he's a slight upgrade over Brookbank and Skolney

[eastonpensfan]

Solid depth signing for WBS. He's a tough customer and a capable defender. I would say that he's a slight upgrade over Brookbank and Skolney

I think he's pretty close in size and attitude to Skolney, with a little more offensive talent (but then that's not saying much). Brookbank should have been an animal with his hitting and when dropping the gloves, but a nagging shoulder injury seemed to take away any desire he had to hit or fight. I like this signing, but then again, I'd probably like any d-man that signed right about now.

[K2]

Whenever I saw Brookbank, he seemed to have issues clearing the puck from the D-zone, but that could be a biproduct of the shoulder injury. Engelland, like Brookbank, has also been used (sparingly) as a winger. He never really got a fair shot in Hershey because he wasn't Washington property, which meant stiffs like Jeff Schultz and Timo Helbling played over him. The I-81 rivalry has just gotten more interesting with him jumping ship to WBS