Penguins sign Beech, Stone, Thomas

Posted: Tue Jul 15 2:46 PM

Pittsburgh, PA (Sports Network) - The Pittsburgh Penguins kept two of their own players and added another Tuesday, re-signing forwards Kris Beech and Ryan Stone and signing free agent forward Bill Thomas. All three players signed one-year contracts.

Beech, 27, tallied 11 points in 25 games during the 2007-2008 season with the Columbus Blue Jackets and the Penguins. He was claimed off waivers from Columbus before making his season debut for Pittsburgh on February 7 against the Islanders.

Stone played in six games over three stints with Pittsburgh last season. He recorded his first career point on March 12 against Buffalo. The 23-year-old was selected in the second round (32nd overall) in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. In three seasons in the American Hockey League for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton he has tallied 108 points in 181 games.

Thomas, a native of Pittsburgh, played seven games with the Phoenix Coyotes in 2007-2008 and has 17 points in 40 career games with Phoenix. He has 85 points in 122 career games in the AHL.