Pittsburgh Penguins
Timing is everything in sports, and the Pittsburgh Penguins could not have a worse time for the NHL to come up with a flat salary cap. On paper, they are going into the offseason with more than $13 million in space, but they have some players to get under contract. Beyond that, they only add another $7 million in space in the 2021 offseason.
The Penguins have 10 forwards under contract next season. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are the forwards making the most obviously, but a lot of their contributing pieces make a decent salary (Brandon Tanev-$3.5 million, Patric Hornqvist-$5.3 million, Bryan Rust-$3.5 million).
The Penguins have a lot of restricted free agents they must figure out. Most important of these is the two at the goaltender position. Once again, timing is biting the Penguins in the behind. Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry are both restricted free agents this offseason. Will the Penguins attempt to sign both, and how much could they both command? That might take up most of that $13 million. Add on players like Jared McCann, Evan Rodrigues, and Dominik Simon who still haven’t hit their ceiling but see their contracts up this season.
The Penguins need to make room desperately, and they could pay a premium price to do it. How much would the Penguins be willing to give up to get rid of a contract like Hornqvist, who has three more years remaining? They don’t have a ton of draft capital, so they need to give up prospects to make a deal work with the Devils.