The Pittsburgh Penguins and Vegas Golden Knights were involved in a transaction involving two Canadian defensemen on Tuesday. The Penguins traded Parker Wotherspoon of Surrey, British Columbia to the Golden Knights for Kaedan Korczak of Yorkton, Saskatchewan according to Rogers Sportsnet.
Wotherspoon is joining his fourth National Hockey League team. He was with the New York Islanders in 2022-23, the Boston Bruins for two seasons from 2023 to 2025, and one season with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2025-26.
In 80 games with the Penguins in 2025-26, Wotherspoon had three goals and 27 assists for 30 points. He was a +17 with 55 penalty minutes, two shorthanded points, one game-winning goal, 70 shots on goal, 112 blocked shots, 162 hits, 26 takeaways and 118 giveaways.
Wotherspoon’s first shorthanded point came on October 16 in a 4-2 Penguins win over the Los Angeles Kings. Wotherspoon set up Filip Hallander at 6:50 of the third period to break a 2-2 tie with a game-winning goal. Wotherspoon’s second shorthanded point came on March 30 in an 8-3 Penguins win over the New York Islanders. Wotherspoon set up Rickard Rakell at 11:01 of the second period.
The only game-winning goal Wotherspoon scored in 2025-26 came on October 27 in a 6-3 Penguins win over the St. Louis Blues. Wotherspoon scored at 6:37 of the second period to put the Penguins up 3-2. Canadian Olympic gold medalist Sidney Crosby of Cole Harbour, Nova Scotia and Erik Karlsson had the assists. Crosby won a gold medal for Canada at the 2010 Olympic Winter Games in Vancouver and the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi.
Korczak is joining his second NHL franchise after five seasons with the Golden Knights. In 2025-26, he had three goals and 13 assists for 16 points in 78 games. He was a +6 with 26 penalty minutes, 60 shorts on goal, 95 blocked shots, 102 hits, 11 takeaways and 90 giveaways.
