Penguins sign defenseman Taylor Fedun to one year contract

The Penguins rounded out free agency today by signing defenseman Taylor Fedun to a one year contract.

From the team:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed defenseman Taylor Fedun to a one-year contract, it was announced today by general manager Ron Hextall.

The two-way contract runs through the 2021-22 season and carries an average annual value of $750,000 at the NHL level.

The right-handed shooting Fedun has played parts of seven seasons in the NHL split between the Edmonton Oilers, San Jose Sharks, Vancouver Canucks, Buffalo Sabres and the Dallas Stars, appearing in 127 games where he’s recorded eight goals, 27 assists, 35 points and is plus-7. This past year, the 33-year-old spent the majority of the year on Dallas’ taxi squad, and appeared in two games for the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League (AHL).

The 6-foot-1, 200-pound Fedun’s best season came with Dallas in 2018-19 where he recorded career highs across the board in games played (54), goals (4), assists (7) and points (11). Fedun has also appeared in 18 career Stanley Cup Playoff contests, including 11 games during the Stars run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2020.

At 33, Fedun has a boatload of experience. That’s a good thing because most of the projected defensemen for Wilkes-Barre are in the age 22-24 range. The Pens’ organization has lost veteran defenders in Zach Trotman (retirement) and Kevin Czuczman (free agency) lately, and Fedun should slot in to fill that type of role for the organization as deep depth that the NHL team shouldn’t need to see..

..But given that the Penguins used 12 NHL defensemen in a 56 game season last year, never say never. Here’s Fedun’s hockeydb card:

Always nice to add an experienced right handed shot defender to the organization, and Fedun has been an NHL player in the not too distant past and helps stock the team for 2021-22.