Penguins General Manager, Ray Shero, today announced that he has extended qualifying offers to seven restricted free agents. There are a couple of surprises on the list.

Mark Ardelan, Paul Bissonnette, Tim Brent, Patrick Ehelechner, Daniel Fernholm, Jonathan Filewich, and Ryan Stone all received offers.

Bissonnette and Ehelechner stand out...especially Ehelechner, who has not attended a Penguin training camp in two seasons. He was originally acquired in the Nils Ekman deal with the San Jose Sharks. This is another sign that Shero is trying to bolster the goaltending depth in the organization. (coupled with selecting two goalies in the draft)

I am wondering if this is a sign of Paul Bissonnette working himself back into favor with Penguins management. Coming out of training camp last season, all signs pointed to Bissonnette moving on, but he eventually made his way from Wheeling to Wilkes Barre-Scranton during the season and must have made a good enough impression.

Stone and Filewich still factor into the Penguins plans, but they are the stage where they need to put up or shut up. Chuck Fletcher pretty much said that about them during the Calder Cup Finals. They will be given an opportunity to make the Penguins roster coming out of camp, as there are jobs available, but the Penguins may look at cutting bait if things do not work out this season.

Tim Brent was a huge player for the baby Penguins and he still has some NHL upside.

More in a bit...

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