Pittsburgh Penguins Deryk Engelland going to Norway to play during Lockout -NHL Update
The Pittsburgh Penguins are losing another one of their players to the persisting lockout situation in the National Hockey League (NHL), with this time it being defenseman, Deryk Engelland.
Engelland, a 30-year-old veteran defenseman, has reportedly signing on with the RIHK, a top hockey league in Norway, after the announcement was made by that club.
The veteran defenseman is a native of Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, and was drafted by the New Jersey Devils as the 194th overall draft pick during round-six of the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. He continued to play with various minor league teams around
the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) and American Hockey League (AHL), until finally getting a chance in the major league back during the 2009-2010 regular season with Pittsburgh Penguins.
He really became a regular in the major league during the 2010-2011 regular season in which he appeared in 63 games, potted 10 points (3 goals, 7 assists) and 123 minutes in penalty time. Next season was even better for the defender as he put up 17 points
(4 goals, 13 assists) in 73 games played with 56 penalty minutes.
Engelland is also under contract with the Pittsburgh Penguins for three-years, $1.7 million, which will come to an end on July 1st, 2014, making him an unrestricted free agent.
It was prior to the official beginning of the lockout, when the collective bargaining agreement came to an end on September 15, 2012, that Engelland termed himself to be looking at what he would be doing. Since playing was a need in order to continue getting
paid, Engelland had been ready to make the transition from day one and was just waiting for the right opportunity.
Some Penguins who have already made the move are Evgeni Malkin, who signed with the Mettalurg Magnitogorsk in the Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), along with Dustin Jeffrey, who chose to go with the Medvescak Zagreb in Croatia.
It will be interesting to see how Deryk Engelland continues to play in Norway and what his performance will be like, but there is no telling whether his contract in Europe allows for him to return if a NHL regular season begins.
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