With 24 days remaining until the NHL Trade Deadline, the Pittsburgh Penguins will look to make a few trades to help improve their current lineup. However, general manager Ron Hextall will is handcuffed due to the Penguins being up against the salary cap, a situation that he prefers to avoid.
"I had an unwritten rule to keep $2 Million in cap space to allow call-ups and possible deadline (moves)," Hextall said. "Last summer, we wanted to sign Geno (Malkin), we wanted to sign Tanger (Letang), and we knew it was going to cost us. So we stretched them out as we've talked about."
While Malkin and Letang were the headline signings of the off-season, multiple other moves led to the Penguins current cap situation, namely, signing Jan Rutta.
Rutta is a good defenseman, especially in that third-pair role, but is he that much of an improvement over what the Penguins had in that position last season with Chad Ruhwedel?
After spending his first five seasons in Pittsburgh as the seventh defenseman, Ruhwedel had an opportunity to be an everyday player in 2021-22. Playing 78 games, Ruhwedel had markedly better underlying numbers than Rutta has provided this season.
Ruhwedel finished 2021-22 with 53% of the shot attempts, 55% of the expected goals, and 54% of the scoring chances at 5v5. Comparatively, Rutta has 48% of the shot attempts, 48% of the expected goals, and 46% of the scoring chances at 5v5 this season.
The primary difference between these two defensemen on the ice is their size. Rutta, 6'3", 204 pounds, was brought in due to his ability to clear out the front of the net. However, protecting the net front has remained an issue for the Penguins defense throughout the season.
Off the ice, Ruhwedel is in the final year of his contract at $800K. Meanwhile, Rutta was signed last summer for three years, costing the Penguins $2.75 million per season. There's your $2 million buffer under the cap.
Jan Rutta has not been bad for the Penguins, but in a flat cap league, his contract is one of a few holding the Penguins back heading into the final stretch of the season and the NHL Trade Deadline.
More must-reads: