A New Face In The State Of Hockey: Zenon Konopka

Zenon Konopka
Forward

6'0"

209 lbs

Shoots: Left

Born: January 2, 1981

Birthplace: Niagara On The Lake, Ontario

Konopka was a July 1st signing, when he signed a 2 year deal worth $1.85 million ($925,000 cap hit per year). He played for Ottawa last season, and he posted 193 penalty minutes, which was third in the NHL behind Derek Dorsett (235) and Zac Rinaldo (232). 

As you can imagine, Konopka was simply brought in here to be the team's enforcer. Between 2009-2012 Konopka has spent those three seasons with three different teams (Lightning, Islanders, and Senators), but has racked up 765 penalty minutes, the most of anyone during that time.

Plain and simple, Zenon Konopka is here to throw some hits, and drop the gloves.

Like most bruisers, he doesn't give you much offensive production (11 career NHL goals). So he will be a mainstay on the fourth line for the next two seasons.

After Derek Boogaard left the team, we all thought Brad Staubitz was the team's future enforcer. After a year and a half of that project, Staubitz proved to be a poor replacement. But, they have found a proven NHL tough guy in Zenon Konopka. And I for one, am glad to have him on the team for the next two years.

Welcome to the Team of 18,001, Zenon Konopka.

This is the second post in a 5 post series on the Wild's free agent signings this offseason. Yesterday, we looked at Jake Dowell. Monday, we will take a look at Torrey Mitchell.