It was a boring morning in Pittsburgh, as teams around the National Hockey League made headlines and handed out hundreds of millions of dollars and the Penguins sat on their hands.

But as the afternoon picked up, so did the news coming out of the press release department. However, none of these signings brought much excitement to the Steel City.

The Penguins spent their opening day of free agency scavanging the dollar store, with extremely limited term and a total of under $10 million handed out, most of it coming in the form of two-way deals. Their biggest move of the day was trading out Reilly Smith.

Nevertheless, here’s a recap of all the team’s free agent signings on July 1st:

Mac Hollowell, D

The first official signing the team made is someone you have very likely never heard of before. Mac Hollowell was signed to a two way deal worth $775K for one year. Per CapFriendly, he would make $250K in the minors.

Given the low level of this signing and the track record of Kyle Dubas, I probably don’t have to tell you that Hollowell is a former member of the Toronto Maple Leafs system, and was a player drafted by Dubas in the fourth round back in 2018.

When Dubas left, the Leafs opted not to extend him past his rookie contract. He was picked up a one year deal with the New York Rangers, but he played the whole year in the American Hockey League with New York’s affiliate, the Hartford Wolf Pack.

In 64 games with Hartford, Hollowell scored 3 goals and added 41 assists, and recorded a -3. He has 6 games of NHL experience, coming back in the 2022-23 season with Toronto. He tallied 2 assists and was a +3.

At 25 years old, he is one of likely many minor league/depth signings that Dubas will make over the course of the summer, similar to what we saw him do last season.

Matt Grzelcyk, D

First reported by Elliote Friedman of Sportsnet, Matt Grzelcyk is moving from one black and yellow team to another.

The Penguins signed the 30-year old defenseman to a one year deal worth $2.75 million against the cap.

Grzelcyk could end up being a replacement for P.O. Joseph, who the Penguins opted not to extend a qualifying offer to and, as of now, is an unrestricted free agent.

Spending his entire career with the Boston Bruins, Grzelcyk had some really underrated seasons up north, but his last few seasons have seen a considerable decline in both of his defensive work and his production from the blue line.

Last season in Boston, Grzelcyk scored 2 goals and 9 assists in 63 games, and was a +13. His goals and assists totals were both the lowest marks of his NHL career, and his +/- figure was his worst since the 2020-21 season.

Perhaps that’s why his contract with the Penguins is about a million dollars less than the four year deal with the Bruins he is coming off of. He was mostly an afterthought down the stretch, and was a healthy scratch in 10 of the team’s 11 final games of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

However, his track record of the past does provide some hope that Grzelcyk can bounce back and return to his peak days with Boston.

Anthony Beauvillier, F

After spending last season split between three different NHL teams, Anthony Beauvillier is hoping things can be a bit more stable this season, signing a one year deal worth $1.25 million deal with the Penguins.

A player who showed a ton of promise earlier in his career, Beauviller has fallen on some rather hard times. This season, with Vancouver, Chicago, and Nashville, the 27-year old winger had only 5 goals and 12 assists in 60 total games. In the playoffs for the Predators, he had a goal and an assist in 6 games.

Beauvillier is probably a name that rings a bell for Penguins fans, but not in a good way. He terrorized Pittsburgh on several occasions, including when the Penguins and New York Islanders met in the first round back in 2021. In that six-game series, Beauvillier scored 3 goals and added 4 assists as the Islanders advanced.

He is far removed from those days though, and this contract is a “show me” type deal to see if he can regain that form from his time on Long Island.

If it doesn’t work out, it’s only for a year. But on its face, it’s not a signing that moves the needle for the Penguins.

Jimmy Huntington, F

Another depth/AHL signing comes in the form of Jimmy Huntington, who inked a one year, two way deal with the Penguins that counts for $775K at the NHL level.

Huntington, 25, played 67 games last season for the Hershey Bears, AHL affiliate of the Washington Capitals. He scored 16 goals and 17 assists, and added 5 goals and 9 assists for in 20 postseason games.

The Laval, Quebec native has no NHL experience as of yet, and his regular season stats last year indicate that he will very likely be starting this season in the AHL for Pittsburgh’s affiliate.

Bokondji Imama, F

A 27-year old out of Montreal, Imama was a former sixth round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning back in 2015.

He’s bounced around a lot over his hockey career, with stops in Los Angeles Kings, Arizona Coyotes, and Ottawa Senators organizations. The latter two of those teams saw him spend very brief stints in the NHL; in total, he has 15 NHL games to his name, with 1 goal.

Offensive production is not his forte; last season in the American Hockey League with Belleville, the winger tallied just 3 goals and 7 assists in 53 games. He has never recorded more than 15 points in any AHL season.

He has, however, racked up a ton of penalty minutes. In each of his last four AHL seasons, Imama has had at least 100 PIMs, with 115 in Belleville last season. In his short NHL time, he has fought once in each of his three stints.

So, should the Penguins find themselves in the trenches and want a guy who is always down for a tilt, this is your man. He sounds like a good time.

Even if he never plays in the NHL for the Penguins, I think the folks down in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton might have a new fan favorite.

Nathan Clurman, D

To me, Nathan Clurman is this year’s Ryan Shea. The only problem is, Ryan Shea is still here. In fact, Dubas extended Shea as well today.

But in essence, Clurman is another version of him. They were both the same age when they were signed (26), and they both had no NHL experience at the time they were signed.

Shea, after a rocky start, ended up being incredibly valuable down the stretch, so let’s hope that a similar (if not better) result can happen for Clurman.

He played 37 AHL games last season for the Colorado Eagles (AHL affiliate of Colorado), scoring 1 goal and adding 4 assists. Last season was his first full year in the AHL; he split the last two seasons between the AHL and ECHL, and before that he was in college hockey.

Blake Lizotte, F

Probably the biggest signing of the day was the last one announced by the team.

Blake Lizotte is joining the Penguins on a two year deal worth $1.85 million per. Perhaps undersized in height but not in heart, Lizotte provides Pittsburgh’s bottom six, with an occasional scoring touch and some physical play as well.

At 26 years old, he is among the youngest signees the team has made so far this offseason, and he is the only player on July 1st to receive a multi-year deal with the club, which is rather interesting.

He’s spent his whole NHL career with the Los Angeles Kings. Last season, he scored 7 goals and added 8 assists in 62 games. That was coming off a year where he had career highs in both goals (11) and assists (23) in 81 games for LA.

At under $2 million a season, this is some insane value for the Penguins, who have acquired either their fourth line center or a bottom six winger. He is going to be electric for this team, and I think this is the Penguins’ best signing of the day.

However, and I mean this with no disrespect at all to Lizotte, if he is your best signing on July 1st, you didn’t have a very exciting July 1st.

(Featured photo of Matt Grzelcyk by Winslow Townson/USA Today Sports)