The Pittsburgh Penguins have plenty of projected salary cap space
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now: The Pittsburgh Penguins have about $42 million in projected salary cap space after signing Connor Dewar for $2.25 million per month. Reassigning or moving Ryan Graves and Jake Livanavage would increase that number even more.
Evgeni Malkin could get a new contract with the Penguins. Egor Chinakhov is eligible for compensation, so he could come in for around $4 million on a short-term deal. RFAs Ryan Shea and Arturs Silovs could come in at around $3.3 million and $2.1 million, respectively.
If the Penguins were to move any of Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, or Kris Letang to rebuild, they may need to acquire salaries just to get to the salary cap.
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The Columbus Blue Jackets have a list of important free agents to make decisions and will have to keep in mind next year’s RFAs when looking to spend their cap space.
Jeff Svoboda of Blue Jackets.com: The Columbus Blue Jackets have about $40 million in cap space, but have a long list of RFAs and UFAs to make decisions about.
What happened last with UFAs Boone Jenner, Charlie Coyle, and Mason Marchment will tell a lot about what happens this offseason. Will they need to fill those holes and roles or not? They have had some talks, and there is interest, but they are still working.
Will Adam Fantilli and Cole Sillinger sign bridge or long-term deals, and for what amount?
If the Blue Jackets don’t bring Gudbranson back, they will be in the market for a right fielder.
You see the Blue Jackets want to commit to Greaves. Merzlikins has four years left on his contract, and that would give them more flexibility if they could get rid of him. Waddell said scoring is not easy.
If you look at this year’s free agents, it’s clear that they have to save money for this year’s RFAs – Adam Fantilli, Cole Sillinger and Jet Greaves – but also for next year’s RFAs – Kirill Marchenko, Kent Johnson and Dmitri Voronkov.
“This year, if we don’t make it to the top, it’s possible because we know next year we have contracts for many years to come,” said Waddell. “I think that’s where we have to look at the business side of signing contracts, you have a lot of guys coming next year, you have a lot of guys next year, important guys. You have to put everything in your plans.
“Let’s say you have an extra $5 million, you say this guy will help us, but you have to give him four years. Two, three and four might be tough years. That’s all we’re going to get.”
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Would the Blue Jackets consider trading for a reliever now?
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