Pens sign D Alain Nasreddine

Nasreddine has signed a two-way contract. With the off-season acquisition of Sydor and the likely arrival of Letang, Nasreddine is probably going to be in Wilkes-Barre again.

Pens sign G Ty Conklin

The Pens have signed Ty Conklin to a two way contract, worth $500,000 if he plays in the NHL and $100,000 if he plays in Wilkes-Barre.

Why is the contract status significant? Because Dany Sabourin has a one way contract, paying him just over $1 million, no matter where he plays. That means that Ty is just depth, and he'll likely play in Wilkes-Barre.

Pens sign Aaron Boogaard

The Pens signed Aaron Boogaard to an entry-level contract. Boogaard was drafted by the Minnesota Wild in 2004 and has been playing the WHL for the past 5 seasons.

Aaron is still only 20 years old, and will likely be a fixture for Wilkes-Barre for a few years. He hasn't put many points on the board (only 21 this season - 10 G, 11 A), but has racked up 384 penalty minutes over the past two seasons in the WHL. Can you say Dennis Bonvie replacement?

Hat tip to Will for pointing this out in the comments.

Pens acquire Nolan Schaefer

The Pens acquired goaltender Nolan Schaefer from San Jose for a 7th round draft choice. Nolan was assigned to Wilkes Barre.

Minor league goalie. 27 years old. Nothing more to see here. Move along.

Pens acquire Joel Kwiatkowski

The Pens acquired Joel Kwiatkowski from the Florida Panthers for a fourth round draft pick in 2007.

Kwiatkowski is, according to TSN, a big mobile guy that moves the puck well. Sounds like a Ray Shero kind of fellow. The knocks against him include a lack of willingness to use his size (he's 6'2") and a tendency to make "critical errors".

Not a bad addition. Good size and speed. Maybe a less talented, older version of Ryan Whitney? I'll take it for a 5th or 6th D-man. He hasn't played that much this year, averaging less than 10:00 per game. It will be interesting to see how Therrien uses him.

Pens send Dominic Moore to Minnesota

The Penguins have sent Dominic Moore to the Minnesota Wild in exchange for a third round draft pick.

This essentially means that the Pens got Georges Laraque in exchange for Moore and Carcillo.

I liked Dominic Moore, but something had to give with the Pens acquiring two forwards (Roberts and Laraque) while not moving anybody out. I think the writing was on the wall for Dominic. He was a PK specialist, but with the emergence of Max Talbot, he was largely made redundant. The Pens are in good shape on the PK with the play of Army, Staal, Talbot and Malone.

Good luck to Dominic in Minnesota. I think he'll fit in quite well there.

Pens acquire Georges Laraque

The Pens acquired Georges Laraque from the Phoenix Coyotes in exchange for Daniel Carcillo and a third round draft pick.

Laraque is signed through next season. He has a $1.1 million salary this year and $1.3 next. He will essentially make a guy like Ronald Petrovicky unnecessary.

I like the addition of Laraque. He's big (6'3", 240 lbs) and is arguably the best fighter in the NHL. He has decent hands and can contribute offensively. The only thing I don't like is that his skating is sub par.

Giving up Carcillo isn't easy, but considering his possible upside, along with the people already in Pittsburgh, there wasn't much room for him to play.

Hat tip to Will for pointing this one out to me.

Pens acquire Gary Roberts

The Pens acquired Gary Roberts from the Florida Panthers in exchange for Noah Welch.

I don't like this one. I don't like giving up a guy like Welch, who has a potentially big upside for a guy like Roberts who will improve the team for about two months.

Having said that, I do like the addition of Roberts. He is a tough winger who can score. He also has tons of experience. He should be able to help smooth out the valleys so that they don't hurt the team as much.

Pens close to acquiring Gary Roberts

According to this article in the Post-Gazette, the Penguins are on the verge of acquiring Gary Roberts from the Florida Panthers. Roberts has only waived his no-trade clause for Toronto and Ottawa, so it would seem the team is waiting to see if he'll waive the no-trade clause for them too.

ESPN has an article as well, citing that the Pens would send a player from their roster to the Panthers.

Roberts is 40, but he still averages about 17 minutes per game this season. He can score and also has that gritty quality that Ray Shero seems to like. Roberts will be an unrestricted free agent after this season.

TSN has an article about John Muckler, the head honcho in Ottawa. He says that the asking price for guys is too high right now. The name Gary Roberts is specifically mentioned (along with Bill Guerin) as being too expensive. That's not good for the Pens.

I'm not sure who you give up to get Roberts. I don't like that it's a player on the Pens current roster, because I can't imagine giving up someone like Petro, Thorburn or Melichar to get a guy that will play two months for you.