Free agency, the NHL’s annual jobs fair for the short-term unemployed, begins at noon today.
One day after a failed attempt to acquire Gibsonia native Brandon Saad from Chicago — he ended up in Columbus — the Penguins will try to upgrade their lineup from the ranks of the league’s jobless.
Who, if anyone, they will be able to cull from other clubs is unclear, but they’re expected to formalize an agreement with winger Sergei Plotnikov, a Russian free agent. They also have been courting another Russian forward, Viktor Tikhonov, a former first-round choice in Phoenix who will be free of his ties to the Coyotes at midday.