After losing Nick Bonino to Nashville in free agency, the Penguins have a vacancy to fill at their third line center position. In a reader chat, Sam Werner of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette noted that the team has only earmarked roughly $2MM towards filling that spot which will limit their options.
While the Pens have more than $10MM in cap space at the moment, most of that will be spent when they reach new deals with winger Conor Sheary and defenseman Brian Dumoulin, both of whom are expected to go through arbitration.
The remaining UFA market is largely weak down the middle aside from Mike Fisher (who isn’t expected to leave Nashville if he returns for another season). As things stand, Matt Cullen, Pittsburgh’s fourth line pivot this past season, is one of the more prominent names available. Accordingly, that spot is likely going to be filled via the trade market but it’s reasonable to expect that nothing much will happen on that front until they get their remaining restricted free agents re-signed first.
Other notes from the Metropolitan:
- Although he was drafted as a center, the Devils feel John Quenneville is best suited as a winger moving forward, AHL bench boss Rick Kowalsky told NJ Advance Media’s Chris Ryan. Kowalsky added that the 21-year-old is comfortable on both wings which could help get him to the NHL quicker. New Jersey has a lot of talent down the middle and added number one pick Nico Hischier as well as bottom six center Brian Boyle to the mix this offseason so a position change for their top pick in 2014 was already looking like a likely outcome.
- Still with the Devils, GM Ray Shero noted to The Record’s Andrew Gross that there’s no rush to lock up RFA blueliner Damon Severson. The 22-year-old is coming off his entry-level contract and didn’t have arbitration rights this offseason. Shero added that there are several different options when it comes to Severson which suggests they will be exploring short-term and long-term offers in the weeks ahead.