Penguins Salary Cap Situation, Money Left for Each Position
The numbers the Pittsburgh Penguins are working with at each position.
PITTSBURGH -- The Pittsburgh Penguins have double-digit free agents left to sign after inking Bryan Rust to a new six-year contract. Those names include Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Rickard Rakell, who could be looking at higher-end deals.
Currently, the team has $58,634,342 in salary cap space. Pittsburgh has roughly $27 million to complete their blue line and about $11 million to complete their second line, according to Pittsburgh Hockey Now.
Here's how the Penguins stand per position:
Forward
UFAs: Evgeni Malkin, Rickard Rakell, Evan Rodrigues, Brian Boyle.
RFAs: Kasperi Kapanen, Danton Heinen.
The Penguins have seven forwards signed for $33.4 million. If Drew O’Connor and Radim Zohorna can serve as the fourth liners, Pittsburgh still needs to sign five more forwards. And with the same salary cap situation as last season, they have roughly $15 million to spend on the position.
Defense
UFAs: Kris Letang, Nathan Beaulieu, Juuso Riikola, Taylor Fedun
RFAs: Pierre-Oliver Joseph, Joshua Maniscalco, Niclas Almari, Will Reilly
The Penguins have six defensemen signed for $18.975 million, currently. They have enough bodies but will be without their future Hall of Famer Kris Letang.
So, they'll need to either find a way to keep Letang or use their $7-$8 million on a top defenseman.
Goalie
UFAs: Casey DeSmith, Louis Domingue
RFAs: Alex D'Orio
Right now, Tristan Jarry is the only goalie under contract, but Pittsburgh will have options at backups. Domingue could return as a third option, but chances are DeSmith is gone.
The Penguins backup situation will roughly cost $1-$2 million.
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