Drew O’Connor’s Arbitration Opens New Buyout Window for Penguins
The Pittsburgh Penguins may find a benefit from Drew O'Connor filing for arbitration.
Drew O’Connor may have done the Pittsburgh Penguins a huge favor by being one of the 22 players across the NHL to file for salary arbitration.
A third party arbiter will help negotiate a new contract between O’Connor and the Penguins, but once that wraps, the organization will be gifted a second opportunity to cut loose some salary.
After an arbitration hearing is closed teams are rewarded with a second buyout window.
The Penguins could benefit from a second window considering the likes of Mikael Granlund are still on the roster.
When the first NHL buyout window came and went it was a surprise to see Granlund survive considering the savings the Penguins would receive.
If the Penguins buyout Granlund, they will only have to pay $833,333 for the 2023-24 season; that’s just over $4 million in savings on his $5 million contract.
The following three seasons, Granlund would count for $1.833 against the cap, but that’s still huge savings.
President of hockey operations Kyle Dubas says that he looks at buyouts as a last resort option and more creative tactics can be found, but it might be time to reconsider that notion.
Dubas is still working on landing defenseman Erik Karlsson, and even with retained salary from the San Jose Sharks, the Penguins would have to pay a high price.
Karlsson is one of the highest paid players in the NHL with an $11 million cap hit; if Dubas still has his eyes on Karlsson, every dime saved will help.
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