Penguins Ink Joseph to One-Way Deal

The Penguins signed their top defensive prospect, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, to a two-year, one-way contract on Tuesday. The average annual value is $825,000.

Of course, the significant part is the one-way clause. It sounds like the team fully intends to give Joseph a shot at full-time duty. With a glut of established (and well-paid) left-handed shots in front of him, it would seem GM Ron Hextall is primed to deal Brian Dumoulin, Mike Matheson or Marcus Pettersson. Of the three, I’d probably rule out Matheson as trade bait.

It seems odd to still refer to Joseph, now 23, as a prospect. A former first-round pick of Arizona, he’s spent the vast majority of his pro career, 139 games to be exact, honing his skills (and packing on weight) at Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He enjoyed his best season in 2021-22, pacing the Baby Pens’ defensemen with 10 goals and tallying a solid 33 points in 61 games.

With the Pens? He’s been a bit of a mixed bag. Pressed into service in January 2021 due to a Biblical plague of injuries to the black-and-gold defense, Joseph performed brilliantly out of the chute, culminating in a three-assist (plus-three) performance in a 5-4 overtime victory over the Rangers on January 30.

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