The Penguins on Monday signed right-handed defenseman Mac Hollowell to one-year, two-way contract worth the league-minimum $775,000, according to his agent Dan Milstein.
Hollowell is minor-league depth, one of those signings made to bolster Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and improve the team by adding internal competition. Outside of Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson, Jack St. Ivany was previously the only right-handed defenseman signed to an NHL contract in the system for next season. Hollowell being right-handed fills a need at the minor-league level.
Hollowell, who turns 26 in September, is listed at 5 foot 9 and 170 pounds. He spent last season with the Rangers' Hartford Wolf Pack in the AHL, where he scored three goals and 41 assists in 64 games. He was originally drafted by Kyle Dubas and the Maple Leafs in the fourth round of the 2018 draft and spent four seasons in Toronto's system. He made his NHL debut in the 2022-23 season, recording two assists in six games.
Hollowell played junior hockey with the Soo Greyhounds. Dubas was the Greyhounds' general manager who drafted Hollowell in the OHL draft, but Hollowell never played for Dubas at the OHL level. Hollowell's first year with the Greyhounds was the first year after Dubas left to join the Maple Leafs.
