Penguins/NHL
Source: Talbot expecting Pens to offer paycut
One player who has been lost in the shuffle this off-season is pending free agent Max Talbot. However, Talbot remains somewhat in the Penguins plans.
Initial dialogue between the sides is underway and expectations are that discussions will go right up until July 1, sources tell Inside Pittsburgh Sports.com.
As the Penguins focus going into draft weekend has been on their group of top-6 wingers, the team still has a need to fill out their roster with role players.
With Mike Rupp playing hardball with the team, the door is possibly opening for Talbot to return.
Whether Talbot returns could be dictated by the term the Penguins offer.
According to a close associate of Talbot’s who spoke with Talbot on Thursday of last week, Talbot is expecting the Penguins to offer him a paycut, based off Talbot’s one discussion with GM Ray Shero earlier that week.
Talbot told the close associate of his that he believes the offer will be somewhere in the $800,000 range.
If that ends up being the case, whether Talbot returns is going to come down to term. He is said to be looking for a deal of three years or more, most notably a four year deal.
Talbot’s first choice is to return to Pittsburgh and there’s a strong belief he will return, if the Penguins go three years or more with a salary on par or close to his previous salary of $1.05 million.
