Penguins officially finalize one year deals with RFA’s Strait, Tangradi, Bortuzzo and Grant

The Pittsburgh Penguins have officially finalized contracts with their four remaining restricted free agents, Brian Strait, Eric Tangradi, Robert Bortuzzo and Alex Grant.

According to the team, all four players received one year deals on two-way contracts.

Tangradi’s contract is a one year deal worth $726,000 at the NHL level. Strait will receive $605,000 at the NHL level, while Robert Bortuzzo and Alex Grant will receive $525,000 at the NHL level.

Strait, Bortuzzo and Tangradi all are eligible for waivers.

Tangradi figures to go into camp battling for one of the final forward spots and could get an early look in camp on one of the top-2 lines, although he’s best suited for a bottom role on the third or fourth line.

A big line of Tangradi, Evgeni Malkin and James Neal is said to intrigue the Penguins staff.

The Penguins feel Strait is ready for NHL action and Penguins management is said to view Strait as a player who’s likely to fill a top-7 role coming out of camp.

Like Strait, the Penguins also feel Robert Bortuzzo is NHL ready but if there is room for both remains to be seen, especially considering the possibility of Simon Despres pushing for a top-6 spot. Strait is viewed by many as being slightly more NHL ready than Bortuzzo but Bortuzzo has the higher upside.

The Penguins have eight waiver eligible defensemen in Kris Letang, Brooks Orpik, Paul Martin, Matt Niskanen, Deryk Engelland, Ben Lovejoy, Robert Bortuzzo and Brian Strait.