Taffe, Minard leaving Penguins for other organizations
Published: July 4, 2009
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times-tribune file Jeff Taffe of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins looks to shoot against Houston Aeros goalie Barry Brust during a game this season. Taffe, who finished second on the team in scoring with 75 points, has signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Florida Panthers.
The backbone of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins' offense - center Jeff Taffe and winger Chris Minard - is moving on.
Minard, who set a club record with 34 goals last season, has signed with the Edmonton Oilers.
Taffe, second on the team with 75 points in 74 games last year, signed a two-year, two-way deal with the Florida Panthers.
"I've been talking to (assistant general manager Jason) Botterill and those guys for a month and a half and I think we were just a little off as far as where I was and what the offer they were giving me," Taffe said Friday while vacationing with his family in California. "I told them I appreciated everything they've done for me. It's one of the best places I've ever played. But Florida called right away and it was the kind of deal I couldn't pass up at this point in my career."
Minard expressed a similar sentiment, adding that the NHL door in the Penguins organization seemed to close a little more when the parent club re-signed winger Ruslan Fedotenko on Friday afternoon.
"I didn't want to leave Pittsburgh and I didn't want to leave Wilkes-Barre, but things happen," Minard said. "Edmonton, you see their lineup in the NHL, they have a lot of young players, a lot of good young players, but they haven't really been established yet. If you look at the lineup in Pittsburgh, there aren't a lot of holes. My agent and I thought Edmonton was a pretty good fit."
If Taffe doesn't stick in the NHL, he'd be assigned to the Rochester Americans, giving the vaunted AHL franchise the kind of veteran scorer they've lacked for several years.
If Minard doesn't stick in Edmonton, he'd be assigned to the Springfield Falcons. Minard said the minor-league portion of the two-way contact he signed was significantly more lucrative than the one the Penguins offered.
"We asked if they could bump the offer up and it wasn't really close," he said.
With Minard and Taffe moving on and Finnish scoring sensation Janne Pesonen unlikely to return, the Penguins will likely have a dramatically different look on offense next season.
"I feel bad for (coach Todd Reirden)," Minard said. "He's going to have to do it with a whole new group of guys. But he'll be all right. He's a good coach and they'll bring in good players. They'll be young and inexperienced, but they'll be all right."
The Penguins made one key addition to their lineup Friday as well, signing stay-at-home defenseman Nate Guenin.
A native of the Pittsburgh suburb of Sewickley, Guenin was an important defenseman for the Philadelphia Phantoms the past three seasons, earning 12 games' worth of call-ups to the Flyers.
A 6-foot-2, 210-pound Ohio State graduate, Guenin had four seven goals, 36 assists and 333 penalty minutes in 207 games with the Phantoms. He is the third Pittsburgh-area native to sign with the Penguins, following forwards Ryan Malone and Bill Thomas.
In other Penguins news Friday:
- Wilkes-Barre/Scranton strength and conditioning coach Chris Pietrzak-Wegner has been promoted to the NHL. He will join former Penguins coach Todd Richards' staff with the Minnesota Wild.
- Fedotenko re-signed with the parent club, taking a pay cut to accept a one-year, $1.8 million deal.
- Tom Fitzgerald, who joined Dan Bylsma's staff when he was promoted to the NHL on Feb. 15, will leave the bench and return to the front office as an assistant to general manager Ray Shero.
Contact the writer: sports@timesshamrock.com
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