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Jim Rutherford always has his ear on trade discussions around the league, even if there’s no chance the Penguins can be a player because of their cap situation, ect, but, what the ability to dump Erik Gudbranson on the Anaheim Ducks this early in the season did is it opens the opportunity to game plan for the deadline in a much more realistic manner.
Because of all of the callups and injuries, moving Gudbranson didn’t clear a straight four million off the cap for right now, but its created a couple million in cap space to put themselves in a different position than expected where Jim Rutherford is already planting seeds with other General Manager’s, sources say.
As the season progresses, another dynamic to watch is using Alex Galchenyuk’s expiring contract as an asset.
Will Galchenyuk’s biggest value to the Penguins this season be on the ice or as a trade candidate?
It’s been a question since day 1.
Unless a player with term and similar money is going the other way, the Penguins intend to be cautious this season of acquiring players with term (Talking $4 million + range) because of their impending cap situation for next season.
Pittsburgh projects to have three of their key pending RFA’s taking up around $15 million in cap space next season.
Contract talks for Matt Murray have been slow moving by design but both parties know where that number ($To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
The framework of a long-term deal for Marcus Pettersson is already done that will be signed in January will see Pettersson bump up next season to a cap hit in the neighborhood of To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
Then there’s going to be a big decision on pending To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
NHL sources contend Galchenyuk’s expiring contract is an asset to the Penguins in multiple ways.
If Pittsburgh in a month or two wants to move on from Galchenyuk and add a different type of rental top-9 forward, there are going to be plenty of options from expected non-playoff teams where Galchenyuk is still at the age where some coaches remain intrigued they can tap back into that previous 30 goal ability.
Galchenyuk could still hold some value as more of a money thrown-in to a young non-playoff team with cap space that wants to take an in-person look at Galchenyuk for a few months.
Some situations that stand out:
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Kings RW Tyler Toffoli: Toffoli, not Tanner Pearson was the primary player Pittsburgh pushed for in trade talks that eventually sent Hagelin to LA for Pearson. The organization has had their eye on Toffoli for a while now. A $4.6 million cap hit, Toffoli’s reached the point where he’s now a change of scenery candidate, but acquiring him for a mid-round pick or prospect makes no sense from the Penguins end as he’s not the type of player worth eating up your cap space unless it’s right at the deadline, but Galchenyuk for Toffoli could be something to consider for both teams down the road a bit if Galchenyuk doesn’t find a fit in Pittsburgh soon.
Rangers LW Chris Kreider: All signs continue to point to Kreider not being in the Rangers long-term plans. Multiple teams have been monitoring his situation since the summer and that has continued. You want an ideal type of winger the Penguins coaching staff would love to place next to Evgeni Malkin and it’s Chris Kreider. Executives around the league contend this is a situation Rutherford will have his pulse on and does. The anticipation is New York will land a 2nd round pick + an NHL-ready prospect in return for Kreider. This is where Galchenyuk could come into play as an attractive option where from Pittsburgh’s end where you wouldn’t eat up all your cap space into one trade target and the Rangers in a rebuild/re-tool could be intrigued at bringing Galchenyuk for a couple months to see if there’s a long-term fit or quickly flip him to a contender.
You can add the New Jersey Devils to this list also.
Of course Jim Rutherford is going to poke around on Taylor Hall, it’s just what he does when a big name talent like Hall is on the market. Whether Pittsburgh has assets the Devils to even them a seat at the table remains to be seen, but that’s another situation where Galchenyuk’s cap hit lines up to make the numbers work and the Devils are a team that could also be a long-term landing spot for Galchenyuk.
Hence, what’s intriguing about Galchenyuk is that many around the league contend he’s still young enough where he’s going to hold value on the market whether things work out or not in Pittsburgh that puts the Penguins in great position to be able to maximize the created cap space with the Erik Gudbranson trade. [/hide]
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