The Penguins were lacking AHL defensive depth on the right side after some departures this offseason.
Of the blue liners who were on Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last year, right-handed defenseman Zach Trotman retired due to injuries, and AHL-contracted Billy Sweezey signed an AHL deal with Cleveland. Jon Lizotte, a left-handed defenseman who played on the right side of the top defense pairing alongside P.O Joseph, signed an NHL deal with Minnesota.
The Penguins addressed those depth concerns Wednesday by signing 33-year-old right-handed defenseman Taylor Fedun to a one-year, two-way contract that carries a cap hit of $750,000 at the NHL level.
Fedun, 6-foot-1 and 200 pounds, only appeared in two games with the AHL's Texas Stars last season, spending the majority of the year on Dallas' taxi squad. In 2019-20 Fedun played 27 games in Dallas and recorded two goals, seven assists, and a plus-3 rating.
In his 10-year professional career, Fedun has appeared in 127 NHL games and 356 AHL games. Over his career he's been an alternate captain with Rochester, Utica, and Oklahoma City in the AHL.
Fedun will likely be a candidate for Wilkes-Barre's captaincy, after previous captain Josh Currie signed in Russia for next season.
