Rare that news affecting WBS breaks when most of us (including me) are sleeping. But that is exactly what happened last night. Philippe Dupuis, number 64 on Jonathan Bombulie’s big board, has signed with the Penguins.
Dupuis is a center and looks like the classic “tweener” player in that he spent 42 games at the AHL level with the Toronto Marlies and went 15-16-31 and a +12. He played 30 games with the Maple Leafs and was scoreless and a -2.
Here’s the breakdown from the aforementioned Bombulie, who apparently is more of a night owl than I, because there is a depth chart included in his posting.
Elsewhere around the East Division and the AHL…
The Bears signed Mathieu Beaudoin to a contract on Tuesday. He was an AHL All-Star with Texas a few years ago and No. 153 on the big board.
The Senators signed Hugh Jessiman Tuesday. No. 122 on the big board. Interesting that this will be Jessiman’s first stint in the AHL Eastern Conference as he has spent much of his career bouncing around in the Western Conference.
Matt Smaby stays with Anaheim on an NHL contract, but since the affiliation switched he will probably end up in Norfolk. I mention this because Smaby was on a contract to Tampa Bay a few years ago and did time in Norfolk before. By the way, he was No. 82 on the big board.
The dark horse pick for next season should be the Worcester Sharks. They signed Alex Stalock, Danny Groulx, Matt Irwin, Bracken Kearns and Jon Matsumoto. All, at one point in their careers, were AHL All-Stars.
Thursday Afternoon Update: Ryan Schnell inked with St. John’s and Syracuse signed Eric Nielson and Jared Nightengale. Also, Pittsburgh announced their prospect camp roster for next week. Notables include Simon Despres, Philip Samuelsson, Brian Gibbons, Zach Sill and Paul Thompson. Patrick Killeen was left off the list, which I find highly intriguing.
WBS News
Chirps from Center Ice 