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Salary Cap Deep Dive: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Navigating the salary cap is one of the more important tasks for any GM.  Teams that can avoid total cap chaos by walking the tightrope of inking players to deals that match their value (or compensate for future value without breaking the bank) remain successful.  Those that don’t see struggles and front office changes.

PHR will look at every NHL team and give a thorough look at their cap situation for the 2023-24 season.  This will focus more on players who are regulars on the roster versus those who may find themselves shuttling between the AHL and NHL.  All cap figures are courtesy of CapFriendly.

Pittsburgh Penguins

Current Cap Hit: $84,629,281 (over the $83.5MM Upper Limit)

Entry-Level Contracts

None on the active roster.

Signed Through 2023-24, Non-Entry-Level

F Jeff Carter ($3.125MM, UFA)
F Jake Guentzel ($6MM, UFA)
F Jansen Harkins ($850K, UFA)
D Pierre-Olivier Joseph ($850K, RFA)
G Alex Nedeljkovic ($1.5MM, UFA)
D Chad Ruhwedel ($800K, UFA)

Guentzel’s situation is well-known at this point.  There haven’t been any substantive discussions about a new deal but the 29-year-old is set to be one of the top forwards available in free agency this summer and will be eyeing a multi-million-dollar raise on a long-term agreement.  That will still be the case whether it’s Pittsburgh or someone else giving it to him.  Whoever has him on their roster after the trade deadline will be the only team that can offer the max-term eight-year deal; everyone else will be limited to seven.

Carter did well in his first year and a bit with the Penguins, earning this extension as a reward.  But on this contract, he has struggled considerably, especially this season.  Now 39, it’s fair to wonder if this will be his final year.  If it’s not, he’ll be looking at a deal worth close to the league minimum with perhaps some small incentives.  Harkins came over in October as a waiver claim before clearing waivers less than three weeks later.  Despite that, he has spent most of the season in the NHL on the fourth line.  That gives him a chance at securing another one-way contract but it’s also likely to be at or very close to the $775K minimum salary.

Joseph has battled injuries this season and hasn’t played a lot when he’s healthy.  While his qualifying offer is for just under $900K, tendering it would give him arbitration eligibility.  With over 100 NHL games under his belt, the potential award could be more than what Pittsburgh would want to pay him.  If they can reach a deal beforehand, it should come in close to the $1MM mark.  Ruhwedel has been a serviceable depth piece for several years now and being a right-shot player certainly helps his value.  Another one-way contract close to this one should be doable.

After a particularly rough showing last season with Detroit, Nedeljkovic has bounced back quite nicely with his best performance since his breakout stretch in 2020-21.  If teams feel this level of play is sustainable, then he could conceivably double this on the open market.  But with the year-to-year volatility, something closer to the $2.75MM range may be more realistic.

Signed Through 2024-25

F Sidney Crosby ($8.7MM, UFA)
F Lars Eller ($2.45MM, UFA)
D John Ludvig ($775K, RFA)
F Matt Nieto ($900K, UFA)
F Drew O’Connor ($925K, UFA)
D Marcus Pettersson ($4.025MM, UFA)
F Jesse Puljujarvi ($800K, UFA)
F Reilly Smith ($5MM, UFA)

Crosby has been a Penguin for his entire 19-year NHL career and while some have openly speculated about him being traded, that doesn’t seem like a probable outcome at this point.  He will have just turned 38 when the 2025-26 season gets underway so another multi-year agreement (between two and four years) isn’t entirely unrealistic.  For Pittsburgh, the longer the term of the offer, the lower the cap hit would be, similar to some of the other deals their long-term veterans have received.  Considering how he has performed this season, there’s a chance that his next contract could carry the same cap charge as this one and the one that preceded it.

Smith came over from Vegas in a cap-dumping move but he’s still a capable middle-six player.  However, this price point is on the high side for someone in that role based on his usage with the Penguins.  If he winds up being in the 40-point range (compared to the 56 he had in his final year with the Golden Knights), Smith may need to take a small pay cut heading into his age-34 campaign in 2025.  Eller is still a serviceable third-line center for now but he’ll be 36 when his next contract starts.  Assuming he slows down a bit more, he’ll likely have to go year-to-year with a price tag a bit below this one.

O’Connor had been more of a role player until this season where he’s averaging nearly 15 minutes a night while setting career highs offensively.  If that usage and production hold next season, he could at least double his current price tag on his next deal.  Nieto has battled injuries this year but, when healthy, has been a regular on the fourth line, a role he is used to holding.  This has been his price range for the last two contracts and it’s unlikely that will change on his next one.  Puljujarvi’s market was recently set with the winger finally signing earlier this month.  Unless he can establish himself as a top-nine regular, he’ll continue to be on the fringes, keeping his price tag close to the minimum.

Pettersson had a couple of rough seasons but turned things around last year and has been even better in 2023-24, showing he can still be a top-half defender on a depth chart.  However, his lack of offensive output most years will limit his earnings upside.  Still, another long-term agreement and at least a small raise should be doable, an outcome that would have been surprising just a couple of years ago.  Ludvig was a waiver claim but an early-season concussion has limited him thus far.  If he can stick around as even a seventh defenseman, however, he could land at least a mild raise a couple of years from now.

Signed Through 2025-26

F Noel Acciari ($2MM, UFA)
F Evgeni Malkin ($6.1MM, UFA)

Malkin has certainly slowed down this season but at 37, that’s to be expected.  He’s still producing at a top-six rate so for now, they’re getting a good return.  As he ages, however, the value of this contract will drop.  Similar to the Crosby discussion, that’s the trade-off for getting an AAV that’s lower than what his market value would have been otherwise.  Acciari has shown flashes of third-line production over the year (he even had a 20-goal campaign) but is best utilized as a fourth liner with some extra faceoff utility.  This contract is a bit pricey for someone with that profile but it’s not a significant overpayment either.

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Noel Acciari Out With Concussion

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Brenden Dillon To Have Hearing With Department Of Player Safety

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The NHL’s Department of Player Safety tweeted this morning that Winnipeg Jets defenseman Brenden Dillon will have a hearing today for his illegal check to the head of Pittsburgh Penguins forward Noel Acciari. According to Frank Seravalli of DailyFaceoff, the hearing will be a phone hearing, meaning that Dillon will receive a suspension of five games or less.

The hit happened at the 4:15 mark of the second period in a game that was 1-0 Pittsburgh at the time. Dillon was originally given a two-minute penalty and then received a match penalty on the play after it was reviewed.

Acciari hit the ice hard and in a scary moment tried to get up to his feet but fell back to the ice. He eventually skated off with assistance from the Penguins training staff and left the game with an undisclosed injury. Acciari was visibly bloody from the incident. The Penguins scored twice on the five-minute powerplay and eventually beat the Jets 3-0.

It wasn’t Dillon’s first run-in with the Penguins as Dillon has had some tough battles with Pittsburgh while he was a member of the Washington Capitals. He also had an incident back in January 2022 where he broke the jaw of former Penguins’ center Teddy Blueger with what appeared to be a check to the head. Dillon escaped discipline for that hit, but that doesn’t appear to be the case this time around.

Dillon’s absence will create a hole on the Jets’ backend as he has been playing over 18 minutes a night this season and is having one of his better offensive seasons while still providing sound defensive play for the team.

Noel Acciari Will Not Return To Game

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  • During the team’s game tonight against the Winnipeg Jets, the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that forward Noel Acciari would not return to the game. During the second period, Winnipeg defenseman Brenden Dillon delivered a hit that made contact with Acciari’s head, resulting in a match penalty on the play. After receiving the hit from Dillon, Acciari attempted to get up, but quickly fell back down on the ice, indicating that he may be headed for concussion protocol.

    [SOURCE LINK]

Penguins Sign Jesse Puljujärvi To Two-Year Deal

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The Penguins signed UFA winger Jesse Puljujärvi to a two-year contract on Sunday, per a team release. The 2016 fourth-overall pick will earn $800K per season through the end of 2024-25.

Per PuckPedia, Puljujärvi will earn the league minimum $775K salary this season before seeing a $50K pay bump in 2024-25. He will be an unrestricted free agent for the second time in his career when the deal expires.

Puljujärvi, 25, had four goals and nine points in 13 games on a PTO with Pittsburgh’s AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after returning from a double hip surgery he had received during the offseason. He began training with the Penguins in early December, signing a PTO at the NHL level to do so.

The Finnish winger looked like a long-term fixture in the Oilers’ top six as recently as two years ago. A long and winding development path led him to a career-best 2021-22 campaign in which his 36 points and +22 rating in 65 games, oftentimes playing alongside Connor McDavid, earned him a spattering of Selke Trophy votes. Their line with Zach Hyman was arguably the best in the league that season at generating offense, producing 4.18 expected goals per 60 minutes, according to MoneyPuck.

However, Puljujärvi regressed significantly in 2022-23. After posting five goals and 14 points (along with a -11 rating) in just 12:15 of average ice time compared to the prior season’s 16:14, the Oilers cut bait with their former top prospect and traded him to the Hurricanes for the signing rights to forward prospect Patrik Puistola. His possession impacts rebounded down the stretch with Carolina, but the point production did not – he went without a goal in 24 regular-season and playoff games and added only three assists. As such, the Hurricanes opted not to issue Puljujärvi a qualifying offer and let him become a UFA last July.

Last summer’s surgery suggests his skating and overall play were hampered by a lingering hip issue in 2022-23, and the Penguins are banking on his ability to keep driving possession in a limited role out of the gate. There is a fair amount of upward mobility for Puljujärvi in Pittsburgh if his play warrants it – underwhelming seasons from Rickard Rakell and Reilly Smith have created multiple openings in the team’s middle six. He may be best used in a bottom-six role to start, however, as poor defensive play from veterans like Noel Acciari and Matthew Nieto has been one of the team’s biggest weaknesses. Puljujärvi could provide an upgrade there and boost the team’s goal differential, even if he’s not providing a truckload of offense himself.

Could Pettersson Be A Trade Chip For Penguins

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  • If the Penguins opt to sell at the trade deadline, Jake Guentzel would obviously receive the most interest. Beyond him, Matt Vensel of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette suggests that defenseman Marcus Pettersson might be their next-best trade chip.  The 27-year-old has had one of his more productive years with 19 points in 46 games while averaging a career-high 22:37 per night, third among Pittsburgh’s rearguards.  With one year left on his deal after this one with a cap hit of just over $4.025MM, he could certainly be an intriguing acquisition for a playoff-bound team looking for more than a one-year rental.

Penguins “Not Afraid” To Trade Jake Guentzel If Extension Talks Don’t Progress

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Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas won’t shy away from moving winger Jake Guentzel before the March 8 trade deadline if the two sides aren’t close to an extension, The Athletic’s Josh Yohe writes Thursday.

Keeping the pending UFA around long-term is still Dubas’ preference, as Yohe relays, but the team is unlikely to let him walk for nothing this summer. Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported last month that Dubas planned to hold talks with Guentzel’s camp over this weekend’s All-Star break.

Previous reports indicated Guentzel’s agent, Ben Hankinson, could wait until the end of the season to discuss an extension. If Hankinson holds firm in that approach, the apparent likelihood of a Guentzel trade in the next five weeks increases dramatically.

Guentzel, 29, is on pace for his third straight 30-goal season. He’s been stapled to future Hall-of-Famer Sidney Crosby’s wing since breaking into the league in 2016-17, recording 219 goals and 463 points in 499 career games.

That chemistry is something Dubas recognizes, per Yohe, and plays into his desire to keep the winger with the Penguins long-term. Yohe cites a rising salary cap and “keeping [Crosby] with his preferred left wing for the rest of his career” as primary reasons why Dubas is amicable to an extension that will likely take Guentzel into his mid-30s.

Crosby’s desire to remain on a line with Guentzel won’t be enough for Dubas to lose out on recouping value in a deadline deal, however. Sources have told Yohe that Dubas “isn’t afraid to trade Guentzel, even if Crosby and [head coach Mike] Sullivan would prefer to keep him employed in Pittsburgh.”

The Canucks’ acquisition of pending UFA center Elias Lindholm from the Flames on Wednesday likely sets the baseline for any Guentzel trade talks if he’s being dealt without an extension in place. Given Guentzel is far out-producing Lindholm this season, there’s a fair argument to be made that he could fetch slightly more. However, there may be some league-wide concern that Guentzel’s production could dip without Crosby on his line.

It’s a reasonable fear, but few players have put up points with consistency like Guentzel has. He’s averaged over a point per game over the past six years and has never been on pace for less than 34 goals in a full season since 2018. Combine that with the fact he’s averaged over 20 minutes per game in every season since 2018 and has solid power-play impacts, and it’s fair to assume he could command more value than Lindholm’s up-and-down track record over the past half-decade.

The Penguins could drive up the asking price further by offering to retain some of his $6MM cap hit, which wouldn’t affect the squad past this season. Guentzel has a 12-team no-trade list, per CapFriendly.

Penguins Notes: Puustinen, Ludvig, Shea

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have assigned forward Valtteri Puustinen to their AHL affiliate the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Puustinen began his NHL recall on a tear in December with a goal and five assists in his first eight games. However, since his early surge he has posted just two assists in his last 13 NHL games.

Puustinen’s skill set is much better suited to play in the team’s top six and he posted very good numbers while playing alongside center Evgeni Malkin. However, once top six wingers Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell returned from injury it bumped Puustinen to the third line where he hasn’t been able to produce much in the way of offense.

Puustinen’s move to the AHL is likely a paper move but it will also afford him the opportunity to play in a scoring role once again and maybe re-capture some of the confidence he displayed early in December.

In other Penguins notes:

  • The Penguins also announced that they’ve sent defenseman John Ludvig to the AHL on a conditioning loan. The 22-year-old has been working his way back from an upper-body injury in recent weeks and has been on the injured reserve. Yesterday Ludvig began practicing in a regular contact jersey but didn’t dress in last night’s game. With the Penguins on a break until February 6th Ludvig will have a chance to practice regularly with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and get into game action if he is healthy enough.
  • The Penguins also assigned defenseman Ryan Shea to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. Shea had been on recall since January 17th but did not dress during the recall as he served as the team’s seventh defenseman. Shea has dressed in 22 NHL games for the Penguins this season but is unlikely to be the team’s first defensive recall after the break as Ludvig is most likely destined to occupy that spot should he be healthy by February 6th.

John Ludvig, Reilly Smith Return To Full Contact

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Playing in their final game before the All-Star break tomorrow night, the Carolina Hurricanes will see the return of their primary starting goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov. Team reporter for the Hurricanes, Walt Ruff, announces that the team has activated Kochetkov from the injured reserve, and he will be an option for them tomorrow night against the Arizona Coyotes.

Kochetkov had originally been out since January 12th with a concussion, missing the last six games for Carolina. Now down to a tandem of Antti Raanta and recently claimed Spencer Martin, the team produced a 4-2-0 record in Kochetkov’s absence, averaging three goals against per game.

It has been the tale of two seasons for Kochetkov up to this point, who originally started off the 2023-24 campaign with a 4-5-1 record coupled with a .871 save percentage. Since the team’s blowout loss to the Edmonton Oilers on December 6th, however, Kochetkov has turned into a completely different goaltender, managing a 7-2-2 record in his next 12 games, including an impressive .921 save percentage in the process.

Other Metro notes:

  • Seth Rorabaugh of Tribune-Review Sports reported today that defenseman John Ludvig and forward Reilly Smith had returned to regular practice for the Pittsburgh Penguins today, switching out of their previously worn non-contact jerseys. Although neither player suited up in the team’s game tonight against the Florida Panthers, both are effective pieces to get back into the active roster, as Smith has been out for a little over two weeks, and Ludvig has been out for nearly a month. 
  • Preparing for their game tomorrow night against the Tampa Bay Lightning, team reporter for the New Jersey Devils, Amanda Stein mentions that forward Erik Haula did not practice with the club today due to personal reasons. As it is unclear if Haula will suit up tomorrow night against the Lightning or not, with the Devils already having lost plenty of man games to injuries to some of their top stars throughout most of the year, Haula being unable to play would put some more strain on the offensive depth of the organization.

Minnesota Wild Acquire Will Butcher

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In a minor-league swap, the Minnesota Wild and Pittsburgh Penguins connected on a trade sending forward Maxim Cajkovic east to Pennsylvania, and defenseman Will Butcher to the State of Hockey. Both teams have officially confirmed the trade.

Brought into the Penguins organization over the summer to serve as defensive depth, Butcher suffered an undisclosed injury during training camp and was not cleared to play until late November. Spending the entirety of his Penguins tenure playing for their AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Butcher would only suit up in 14 games, scoring seven points total.

Coming into the league as a college free agent back in the 2017-18 season, Butcher got off to a solid pace with the New Jersey Devils, scoring five goals and 44 points in 81 games. The next season, although watching his offensive production dipped considerably, Butcher put together a solid 30-point performance over 78 games. Scoring 74 points in his first two seasons in New Jersey, the Devils opted to extend Butcher by way of a three-year, $11.2MM contract.

Unfortunately, injuries would take their toll on Butcher, limiting him to only 79 games over the next two seasons in New Jersey, before finally being dished to the Buffalo Sabres in 2021. Wholly unable to get his offensive production back on track, Butcher spent last season a part of the Dallas Stars organization, putting together a respectable 43-point performance over 66 games with their AHL affiliate, the Texas Stars.

Cajkovic was originally acquired by the Wild from the Tampa Bay Lightning in the same deal that brought veteran winger Pat Maroon up north. Spending last year as an effective offensive presence for the Lightning’s ECHL affiliate, Cajkovic has continued to increase his production in the same capacity for the Iowa Heartlanders this season. Being plausible that Cajkovic may join on with the Penguins’ ECHL affiliate, the Wheeling Nailers, it would not all be surprising to see him end up in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, due to the offensive troubles the team has experienced this season.

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