The Pittsburgh Penguins have five players they should explore the trade market for.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are staring down a list of important roster decisions. Between pending free agents, the upcoming draft in July, and exploring free agents outside of the team, management has a ton on their plate.
They currently have nine forwards and six defensemen under contract for the 2022-2023 season. It's no guarantee all of those players will be suiting up for the black and gold in the fall, and here's a list of five players that could be shipped out of town by then.
Brian Dumoulin
One of the biggest question marks for the Pittsburgh Penguins is Brian Dumoulin. The two-time Stanley Cup champion defenseman didn't look quite right throughout the season, despite in appearing in 76 games.
His postseason ended prematurely due to MCL injury, cementing a season to forget for the usually rock solid defenseman. Staring down his age 31 season, he is under contract for one more season at a $4.1 million cap hit. His contract also contains a modified no trade clause, meaning there is a list of 10 teams that he cannot be traded to.
Dumoulin has been the long time partner of Kris Letang, and with his future with Pittsburgh still up in the air, it may be time to move on from Dumoulin as well.
Brock McGinn
The richest contract given out last offseason by the Pittsburgh Penguins was to Brock McGinn. It may have only been for fours years and $11 million, but he was tasked with replacing the beloved and tenacious Brandon Tanev.
The production wasn't terrible in his first season, putting up 12 goals and 22 points, but his defensive and penalty killing skills left a lot to be desired. With three years remaining on his contract and a $2.75 million cap hit, he is a strong candidate to be moved for cap relief.
If a team is interested in a bottom six player, the Penguins should pull the trigger to move on from McGinn.
Jason Zucker
The final big swing of the former management regime has been a poor fit in Pittsburgh. Injuries have been a nagging reoccurrence during his time here, highlighted by missing half of this past regular season with different injuries.
In 41 games, he only put up 8 goals and 17 points. When he is in the lineup, he produces, but after two years of injury plauged seasons, it may be time to move on from his $5.5 million cap hit. Like Dumoulin, he also has a modified no trade clause, but his veteran reputation around the league could be enough to help facilitate a trade.
Marcus Pettersson
The deepest area of the Pittsburgh Penguins current roster is at middle pairing defensemen. Between Marcus Pettersson, Mike Matheson, John Marino, and Brian Dumoulin, the Penguins have a glut of defensemen who are ideally suited to play on the 2nd and 3rd pairings, and are paying a premium for it.
Pettersson had a solid age 26 season playing next to John Marino, providing a steady defensive presence. He put up 19 points as well, and he makes just over $4 million against the cap.
The Penguins will most likely need to move on from one of their other defensemen to retain Kris Letang, and Pettersson is a definitely a candidate to trade because of that.
Jeff Carter
The least likely but most needed move the Pittsburgh Penguins need to make is to move on from Jeff Carter. The 37-year-old was a wonderful deadline acquisition in the 2020-2021 season, fitting in the locker room seamlessly and putting up goals at a torrid pace. GM Ron Hextall committed two more seasons at $3.1 million per season, and that contract is problematic.
The Penguins have lost important younger players like Jared McCann in order to retain Carter. In addition, his new contract has a no movement clause, making a trade or any other transaction (like waiving or demoting to the AHL) impossible without his approval.
The Penguins will rely on him to be a 15-20 goal scorer for two more seasons, but they would be much better served to move on from Big Jeff Carter.
With the amount of free agents inside and outside of the organization to evaluate and focus on, the Penguins are unlikely to be active early in the trade market. When the dust settles from that, however, they have many more decisions to make about players already under contract. To make another run at the Stanley Cup, the roster needs more tweaking, and management is continuing the challenge of which adjustments to make first.
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