The Pittsburgh Penguins added injury insurance this week, but continue to need more in the bottom of their lineup.
The Pittsburgh Penguins solidified the top half of their forward lineup earlier this week with the signings of Rickard Rakell and Evgeni Malkin. However, the bottom half of the lineup remains a skeleton crew, with Jeff Carter, Brock McGinn, and Teddy Blueger being the only players signed that played more than 30 games last season.
Penguins general manager Ron Hextall added a couple of forwards on the opening day of free agency in Josh Archibald and Drake Caggiula. However, neither of those players are expected to make the NHL roster out of training camp and are considered injury replacements for next season.
According to CapFriendly, the Penguins are $191K over the salary cap, but with the combined cap numbers of Caggiula and Archibald ($1.65 million) subtracted, Hextall's club is currently cap compliant.
While that doesn't leave much room to add significant roster pieces, the potential upcoming trade of a $4 million defenseman should give Hextall the space he needs to make a deal or two. Speaking to Danny Shirey of DK Pittsburgh Sports, Hextall confirmed that he is looking to trade a defenseman before the start of next season.
If the Penguins trade at least one of their four $4 million defensemen, they will have created at least $5.46 million in salary cap space.
One likely player that will join the Penguin's bottom six is Kasperi Kapanen. Kapanen is coming off his worst season since becoming a full-time NHL player, scoring 32 points (11-21) in 79 games. Despite his struggles, the Penguins extended the restricted free agent a qualifying offer earlier this week to retain his negotiating rights.
Kapanen will likely be taking a pay cut from his $3.2 million salary last season and could come in as low as $2 million per season. If that is the final cap number on Kapanen, the Penguins would have around $3.46 million in cap space.
Who among the remaining free agent could the Penguins target?
Jarnkrok is on the free agent market for the first time in his career and is coming off a six-year deal worth $2 million per season. The 30-year-old forward can play up and down the lineup and deploys an accurate wrist shot with a deceptive release.
The Swedish forward started last season with the Seattle Kraken before being sent to the Calgary Flames at the trade deadline. In all, Jarnkrok finished last season with 30 points (12-18) but couldn't find the back of the net after his trade to the Flames, scoring one goal in 29 games.
Jarnkrok will likely command a lower cap hit due to his cold end to the 2022 season but has shown in his career that he is a consistent 12 to 16-goal scorer.
Milano is coming off of a career season with the Anaheim Ducks in which he set new career-highs in games played (66) and in points (34). He also tied his career-high goal total with 14, including what was deemed the "dish-igan" against the Buffalo Sabres.
The 26-year-old winger made $1.7 million per season on a two-year contract with the Ducks but spent most of the first year on injured reserve dealing with an undisclosed injury. According to Evolving Hockey, Milano projects to cost something in the range of $2.5 million on a three-year deal.
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