Pittsburgh Penguins waive pair before regular-season debut
In attempt to trim down their roster to the National Hockey League-mandated size of 23 players, the Pittsburgh Penguins have placed forward Ryan Craig and defenceman Andrew Hutchinson
on waivers.
If the two players are not claimed off of the waiver wire, they will clear waivers and will be assigned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Pittsburgh’s American Hockey League affiliate.
The 28-year-old Craig was originally drafted 255th overall by the Tampa Bay Lightning in the 2002 NHL draft. After a relatively successful junior and minor-league career, Craig made his
NHL debut with the Lightning during the 2005-06 season. He spent the next four seasons with Tampa Bay, often bouncing between the NHL team and the Norfolk Admirals, their AHL affiliate.
Craig spent most of the 2009-10 season with the Admirals, where he scored 23 goals and 22 assists for 45 points in 73 games. Tampa did eventually call him up again, but he failed to register
any points in the three games that he played in.
During the off-season, Craig was signed to a one-year contract by the Penguins on 2 July, and he played in some of the team’s pre-season matches. He has amassed totals of 32 goals and
31 assists for 63 points in 184 career NHL games.
Hutchinson, a native of Evanston, Illinois, split last season between the Norfolk Admirals of the AHL, the Tampa Bay Lightning, and the Dallas Stars. He was originally drafted 54th overall
by the Nashville Predators in 1999. The defenceman made his NHL debut in 2003-04, playing 18 games for the Predators, and would later go on to play for the Carolina Hurricanes, where he won a Stanley Cup in 2005-06.
The 30-year-old Hutchinson signed with Tampa Bay in 2008, but was soon traded to the Dallas Stars, where he would play 38 games before being sent down to the Texas Stars of the AHL. In
135 career NHL games, he has scored 12 goals and 26 assists for 38 points.
Pittsburgh will begin the 2010-11 regular season with a game against their division rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, on Thursday night.
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