A 2021 free-agent focus for the Pittsburgh Penguins

Free agency is now just under a month away, and many teams are already looking ahead to when it begins.  There will be several prominent players set to hit the open market in late July, while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  The Penguins took care of one notable free agent on Wednesday, but they still have some regulars in need of new contracts.

Key restricted free agents

F Zach Aston-Reese – The 26-year-old was a highly sought-after college free agent back in 2017, and while he hasn’t emerged as a big scoring threat, Aston-Reese has become a valuable checker for the Penguins, holding down a regular spot on the roster for the last two seasons.  He had a career-high nine goals in 45 games this season while chipping in with a pair of points in six playoff games, numbers that aren’t going to command a sizable raise.  His qualifying offer is $1M, and even though he’s eligible for salary arbitration, the potential for a hearing isn’t too much of a risk.  Aston-Reese is in line for a small raise, but it shouldn’t break the bank for a Penguins team that is already pretty tight to the cap.

F Mark Jankowski – After being non-tendered by Calgary back in the fall, Jankowski opted to take a league-minimum contract in the hopes that a new environment in Pittsburgh would help to boost his value.  That didn’t exactly happen.  By the end of the year, he was a frequent healthy scratch and managed to post just 11 points.  While that was still an upgrade on his final season with the Flames, it was still well short of expectations.  Even though the 26-year-old is only owed a qualifying offer of the league minimum, it seems quite likely that the 21st pick from 2012 will be looking for a new home at the end of the month.

Other RFAs: F Kasper Bjorkqvist, G Emil Larmi, D Jesper Lindgren, F Sam Miletic, F Radim Zohorna

Key unrestricted free agents

D Cody Ceci – Another player who looked to Pittsburgh to restore some value, Ceci was able to do just that as he quickly became an important piece on the third pairing.  He chipped in a bit offensively with 17 points in 53 games while logging more than 18 minutes a night.  Those numbers don’t jump off the charts, but after being miscast in a top-four role with Ottawa and Toronto, Ceci fared much better with a more limited role.  GM Ron Hextall indicated a desire to re-sign the veteran recently but acknowledged that they will need to trim payroll to do so.  After playing on a $1.25M deal this past season, the 27-year-old has earned a small raise, but barring the Penguins clearing out a pricey contract, it looks like Ceci will have to go elsewhere to get that pay increase.

F Evan Rodrigues – After Pittsburgh traded him to Toronto back in August, he wound up being non-tendered and went back for a second stint with the Penguins.  This one went a little better, even though it got off to a rocky start when he landed on LTIR early in the season.  Overall, he saw considerable action on the third line and averaged just over 14 minutes per game while chipping in with seven goals and seven assists in 35 games.  He’s not looking at a significant raise from the $700K he made this season, but another couple of hundred thousand could be doable.

F Frederick Gaudreau – This one might seem like a surprise.  Gaudreau is 27 and had eight career NHL points heading into this season.  He played in only 19 games this season but very quietly put up 10 points, earning himself a regular spot in the lineup in the playoffs.  Are there teams that will give him a shot at a full-time roster spot based on his strong two months?  If so, there should be a fair bit of interest in his services.

Other UFAs: D Kevin Czuczman, G Maxime Lagace, F Colton Sceviour

Projected cap space

Well, there really isn’t a lot.  Wednesday's deal with Teddy Blueger takes Pittsburgh within $1M of the upper limit of the salary cap with at least one more forward to sign to fill out the roster.  That’s not even enough to re-sign Aston-Reese, so some work will need to be done.  If Seattle takes a higher-priced player, Hextall would have some wiggle room to play with but otherwise, it could be a fairly quiet summer for the Penguins.

Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.