A week ago, Paul Bissonnette was being celebrated as the most improbable member of the Penguins.

He had morphed, in less than a year, from an underachiever with a suspect attitude into a 6-foot-2, 211-pound package of hope and inspiration for all the men who have chased the dream of playing in the NHL but never caught it.

Not anymore.

Bissonnette remains living proof that people, and their career paths, can change dramatically, but heading into the Penguins' first game of the season at Mellon Arena at 7:38 p.m. against New Jersey, he's mostly just another fourth-liner.

A guy keenly aware that making it to the NHL does not necessarily assure a player that he will stay there for long, that "job security" is an oxymoron for those who fill his role.

That if he has a few bad games, or even a few bad shifts, he risks having someone in the front office offer him a handshake and a map of Pennsylvania with the best route to Wilkes-Barre highlighted.

"My job's obviously not secure," Bissonnette said yesterday. "I just have to keep working hard, game to game, and prove myself."

That's a daunting challenge, of course, but Bissonnette already has conquered a far more imposing one: Rehabilitating his reputation inside the organization.

After all, in September 2007, Bissonnette was cut from training camp before he had a chance to unpack his bags and told to not bother reporting to Wilkes-Barre's camp, but to tread water until the Penguins' ECHL affiliate in Wheeling began practicing nearly a month later.

At that point, Bissonnette's looked to have as much of a future with the franchise as the "pigeon" logo from the Howard Baldwin era. Maybe less.

"You never want to say that a guy won't get there, because you don't know what's inside a guy and what makes him tick and what kind of opportunities are going to arise," assistant coach Mike Yeo said. "I will say that I wasn't expecting to see him on our roster anytime soon."

Or, more likely, ever. But as last season progressed, Bissonnette re-calibrated his priorities, sharpened his focus and began moving, against all reasonable odds, down the road that led him to a place in the Penguins' lineup for their 4-3 overtime victory against Ottawa in the season-opener Saturday in Sweden.

"I can't think of many guys you want to give more credit to, as far as attitude and what he's done in the last year to do everything it takes to get to the NHL," Yeo said.

"He's changed his game and he's changed -- I don't want to say he's changed his attitude, because I don't want to say he had a bad attitude before -- but let's be honest: He's had a change in attitude, where he's willing to do whatever it takes to get to the NHL, and he's found a way to get there."

Of course, it could be that, for all that took, it was the easy part.

Bissonnette averaged four minutes of ice time in the two games against Ottawa -- linemate Eric Godard (2:56) was the only Penguin used less -- and such limited work doesn't allow much of an opportunity to make an impression. Good thing his job description is pretty basic.

"What we're looking for is for him to bring energy every time he's on the ice, to bring a physical presence," Yeo said. "It's not easy to bring that on a consistent basis. It's going to be up to him to find a way to do it."

Although Bissonnette belongs to the relatively small group of players who have made their NHL debuts in Europe or Asia, he is glad to be back in more familiar surroundings.

"I wouldn't say [the games in Stockholm] still felt like exhibition," he said. "But it's nice to be back in North America, to have your friends and family be able to come."

Bissonnette's girlfriend plans to come in for the game tomorrow night, and the Ontario-based Bissonnette contingent could be significantly larger a few days from now.

"Next week, everyone's going to come down," he said. "If I'm still here."

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NOTES -- The Penguins acquired forward Mike Zigomanis from Phoenix for considerations. Zigomanis, 27, is 6 feet 1, 195 pounds and is expected to center the fourth line. He has 19 goals and 14 assists in 167 career games with Carolina, St. Louis and the Coyotes and was 196-132 on faceoffs last season. ... Center Jeff Taffe cleared waivers and was sent to Wilkes-Barre. ... In addition to banners commemorating the Penguins' Atlantic Division regular-season championship and Eastern Conference playoff title and the two noting the 12 scoring championships won by Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr and Sidney Crosby, the team will raise one in recognition of the five league MVP awards earned by Lemieux, Crosby and Jagr. All will be in place for the game tomorrow.