Tuesday all doubt about who would be the Penguins seventh defensemen in the long term were laid to rest. On Tuesday the Penguins signed veteran blue liner Martin Skoula who, at 29, has the skills and the talent to partially fill the void left by the departures of Hal Gill and Rob Scuderi. With 185 points (41 G, 144 A) over his career he can contribute a little offensively when need be. Overall he is a good last minute addition to the club I believe although whether or not he will have the chemistry with the rest of the team and the ability to accept and play the Penguins system will remain to be seen.

The Penguins Defense is already stacked. This morning, without Skoula, the team site officially lists eight defensemen on the roster. The locks to be wearing black and Vegas Gold on opening day are Mark Eaton, Alex Goligoski, Sergei Gonchar, Kris Letang, Jay McKee and Brooks Orpik as the starting six. Nathan Guenin (a Sewickley native) and Ben Lovejoy appear to have had their hopes dashed of remaining with the team due to this signing unless the Penguins decide to carry an extra defenseman on the roster, something I think is highly unlikely. As of this moment Lovejoy remains on the roster while Guenin cleared waivers and is now in Wilkes-Barre.

One thing is for certain thought, just as with last year the Penguins will have a plethora of defensemen ready to step up when the inevitable injury bug bites.

Knowing how good Alex Goligoski (AKA Go-Go) is the Penguins this week resigned the defenseman who has split time over the past two seasons between the NHL Penguins and the Scranton Wilkes-Barre Penguins. The deals is for three years and $5.5 million and comes just prior to this season’s free agency free for all where the Penguins may loose key blue liner Rob Scuderi as teams are often want to throw large sums of money at players coming off a championship.

Goligoski is a fine young blue liner with some offensive talent but is very good at moving the puck and running the offense akin to a Sergei Gonchar. He has proven he can play at the NHL level and Goligoski has had nothing but good things to say about the Penguins and his desire to stay with the Penguins. “The way they treat you here and with this group of guys here, I think we can be a contender every year. I want to be a winner so it was an easy decision. I’m glad we were able to get (the contract) done early. It’s just really exciting right now,” Goligoski said.