Article:Penguins Update - Out With the New, In With the Old...Wait, What?

Following the Pens' demotion of Minard, Brent and Stone early yesterday afternoon to the WBS squad, the Pens signed former first round (7th overall) 1999 draft pick Kris Beech off of waivers.

Beech, formerly a staff member of the Pens and WBS from 2001 - 2005, comes from a short stint with the Canucks. In nine seasons with the NHL, Beech has battled the ups and downs of minor and major league affiliates. His best season came with the Caps in 2006/07 where he registered 26 points (8-18) in 64 games.

Whether Beech is expected to start or not on Tuesday against the Devils is still in question. It is possible Beech may start down at the WBS level. However, as evidenced by the Pens, injuries are abound and call-ups have been all too frequent. I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if Therrien passes on sending him down to WBS (for now at least) and keeps someone with NHL experience up with the parent club.

Perhaps to further emphasize his potential start, his NHL.com profile has been marked with the "Career against Devils" tab.

All in all I'm sure this was a rather cheap pickup for the Pens. The team is in a pretty tight spot, whereby they have the money necessary to sign decent players, but at the same time they have the caliber of players available to pick from throughout the system. The only problem is, as any Pens fan knows at this point, they're injured.