Stay or Go: Offseason survey of decisions will the Pens have to make

You make the calls on some of the decisions the Penguins might have to make

This summer could be the big one of change for the Pittsburgh Penguins. A record was set this season in the NHL for the first time three players had all been teammates for 16 seasons (with those players, of course, being Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang). And their ties run even deeper- Malkin was drafted by the organization almost 18 years ago in the summer of 2004, with Crosby and Letang joining the Pens a year after that.

Now, Malkin and Letang are set to become free agents. Unlike the prior management regime, not a lot of information has come out of Pittsburgh. General manager Ron Hextall has acknowledged some talks have taken place with both player’s camps, they’ve said all the right and requisite statements about “wanting to have them back if possible” and all that good stuff, yet it has never felt like momentum for either side has been prioritized.

Beyond that, Pittsburgh has a lot of other decisions to make too. Bryan Rust had a career-year at the right time and is a free agent at age 30, prime to cash in and make a healthy raise over the $3.5 million annual salary he had. Newcomer Rickard Rakell was a nice add when he was healthy, would he be a player the team might try to keep?

Then there’s figuring out if Evan Rodrigues is the scorer from the first half of the season, or the depth player from the second half, and what an appropriate salary would be to go along with the role. Rodrigues could go to the free market as well, though.

Danton Heinen got plucked off the scrap heap last summer by the Pens and he rewarded them giving him the opportunity with an 18-goal regular season (and three more in the playoffs). Heinen would require a qualifying offer to retain rights, and then he has an option for arbitration, which may negatively skew how the Pens want to handle him. Then again, it might not be such a big deal either, since most cases can be resolved prior to the arbitration award.

Another player who will need a qualifying offer and has arbitration rights is Kasperi Kapanen. That probably shouldn’t be as difficult a decision after his admitted terrible season.

In net will be interesting with Casey DeSmith’s contact ending after suffering a core muscle injury at the end of two seasons in a row. Unrelated, but did you know Marc-Andre Fleury will also be a free agent this summer?

From there, the Pens have a few minor free agents to go: Juuso Riikola’s deal is finally up, Brian Boyle (and his newly surgically repaired knee) will also be a free agent, as will a player Pittsburgh didn’t use in Nathan Beaulieu. These players typically get cycled through fairly quickly and will likely be moving on, if they’re even offered NHL contracts somewhere at all for 2022-23.

The good news for the Penguins is for the first time since probably the salary cap was put into place, they actually have salary cap space in the form of almost $29 million according to CapFriendly. That number won’t stay high forever, since re-signing (or replacing) Malkin, Letang and Rust will take big bites out of that money available.

Now, it’s survey time for the unrestricted free agents.

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