Bennett, Megna cut, Strait waived

Thursday, 17 January 2013 12:16

Written by Dave Molinari

The Penguins have assigned forwards Beau Bennett and Jayson Megna to their farm team in Wilkes-Barre and put defenseman Brian Strait on waivers.

That puts their roster at 23, the level they were required to reach by 3 p.m. Friday.

Strait will be assigned to Wilkes-Barre if he clears waivers at noon Friday.

Bennett was impressive during camp, but could not dislodge Eric Tangradi from his spot on a line wiht Evgeni Malkin and James Neal.

That he was exempt from waivers, and thus in no positioned to be claimed by another team, likely influenced the Penguins' decision to send him down.

Megna played well in camp, as well, but was an extreme longshot to stick from the beginning because of the Penguins' strong collection of centers on the depth chart ahead of him.

The Penguina also waived forwards Trevor Smith, Riley Holzapfel, Warren Peters, Philippe Dupuis and Benn Ferriero and defensemen Dylan Reese and Alex Grant, all of whom already are in Wilkes-Barre.