Assessing This Summer’s Buyout Candidates
Every summer, several NHL teams issue buyouts to veteran players who have significantly underperformed on their often high-priced contracts. It is usually difficult for a team to admit this mistake and make such a move, as it often reflects poorly on management’s initial decision to acquire the player. As Kyle Dubas once said, “buyouts are a last resort.”
There will undoubtedly be some this year, though, and it’s probably not who you would expect to see be bought out. Most fans might expect Darnell Nurse, Jonathan Huberdeau, Tristan Jarry, Elias Pettersson, or even Ryan Graves among the buyout candidates. However, those five players all have contracts with large signing bonuses, making their buyout prospects slim. Still, several underperforming players on big contracts could find themselves in the buyout discussion.
The first player has become a lightning rod for criticism within the Toronto Maple Leafs. No, it isn’t Auston Matthews; it’s defenseman Morgan Rielly. The 32-year-old Rielly was once a top offensive defenseman, but he’s never been particularly strong defensively.
Now his offensive game has declined, exposing many of his defensive flaws even more. When Rielly led Toronto’s transition game, you could accept everything he sacrificed defensively as the cost of his offensive contributions, but without elite offense, he’s a middle-tier offensive defenseman who struggles in his own zone.
You could argue that Rielly’s defensive struggles are mainly due to being on a poor defensive team, but the truth is that he wasn’t strong defensively even when the Maple Leafs had a solid possession numbers. Still, is it worth buying him out? Probably not. Rielly currently earns $7.5MM a year and has four years left on his contract. Despite the cost, he might be worth keeping or trading.
A Rielly buyout would have Toronto paying him $3.5MM per season for the next four years, followed by $2MM annually for the subsequent four years. Sure, the cost savings over the next four years would be $4MM annually, but then the team needs to find a top four defender to replace Rielly, and the Maple Leafs likely won’t find one for less than the savings amount. A trade would be the best option for Toronto, but Rielly still has the leverage for the next two years with a full no-movement clause, which could complicate any potential trade.
Sliding east of Toronto, the Canadiens have a potential buyout candidate in veteran forward Brendan Gallagher. Including the 33-year-old on this list will upset some, but his decline since 2021 has been well-documented.
Prior to 2021, Gallagher was one of the most consistently effective 5-on-5 scorers in the NHL. However, Father Time is undefeated, and Gallagher is no longer a top-nine forward, even though he still earns like one. With just six goals and 16 assists in 76 games this season, he has been a healthy scratch for Montreal this week, which could be a sign of what’s to come. Montreal boasts a strong group of forwards, with more young prospects on the way, and it could become a numbers game that Gallagher loses.
The other side of the argument with Gallagher is that he has only one year left on his contract, with a cap hit of $6.5MM, but he is owed just $4MM in actual salary. It’s possible he could be traded to a team trying to reach the salary cap floor or swapped for another problematic contract. If Montreal considers a buyout, it would save them $2.67MM next season but add a $1.33MM cap charge in 2027-28.
Since Montreal has most of its core signed and over $12MM in cap space available this summer, it has no immediate need to part ways with Gallagher unless it plans a major move. There’s also a potential morale issue if the Canadiens decide to release a popular veteran who has given everything to the organization, the fans, and the city.
Staying in Canada shifted the focus westward. Oilers forward Trent Frederic and his contract sent shockwaves through the NHL just 12 months ago when it was signed. Many pundits were left scratching their heads when the Oilers inked Frederic to an eight-year, $30.8MM contract extension just days before free agency opened.
The $3.85MM cap hit was a bit high for many people’s tastes, but not outrageous, given that Frederic was a pending UFA. However, the length of the deal seemed excessive for a role player, especially one who wasn’t very effective last season.
This year, Frederic has four goals and three assists in 70 games. That’s poor offensive production for anyone, let alone a player earning nearly $4MM annually. Some of this can be attributed to an unusually low shooting percentage of 5.7%, about half of his typical success rate. If he regresses to the mean next season, he should score more goals, but it’s not just his offensive numbers this season that are concerning.
Aside from one season when he tallied 40 points, Frederic has never been a significant offensive contributor or a player who drives or controls the pace of play, making the eight-year contract a particularly poor decision.
There is just a lot wrong with Frederic’s game, and in an era where making mistakes on mid-tier contracts can be disastrous due to the parity in the NHL, this one is particularly bad. That said, Edmonton would have to absorb a 14-year cap hit if it bought out the 28-year-old, which means he’s probably staying beyond this season.
Finally, we come to the most obvious candidate: Jesperi Kotkaniemi, who is somehow still just 25 years old. When the Hurricanes sent an offer sheet to Kotkaniemi back in August 2021, they were betting on his potential to become a top-six center.
After all, Kotkaniemi was a third overall pick in 2018 and had the skill set to elevate his game and move up the lineup. However, the offer sheet was very ill-advised, with the idea reportedly coming from Hurricanes owner Tom Dundon in response to the Montreal Canadiens’ offer sheeting Sebastian Aho two years prior.
Kotkaniemi never really developed an offensive side to his game, and at this stage of his career, he is what he is – a reasonably good defensive center (although his numbers there have dipped this season as well) who doesn’t score much. This year, Kotkaniemi has two goals and seven assists in 38 games. Although he put up 43 points a few years ago, it doesn’t seem likely that he’ll become a consistent 40-point player. At $4.82MM a year for four more seasons, the Hurricanes have an opportunity to save some serious cash by buying him out.
Due to his age, Carolina could buy out Kotkaniemi this summer for just 33% of the remaining money on his deal, which is about $6.8MM. That would save Carolina almost $4MM next season, and $4.35MM in each of the three years after that.
Now, the Hurricanes are usually not a cap team, but they have only $14MM available this summer (as per PuckPedia) and four players to sign. If they want to add to the lineup and improve their chances in the quest for the Stanley Cup, this could be a way to create some much-needed breathing room under the salary cap.
Photo by Sergei Belski-USA TODAY Sports
Oilers Recall Isaac Howard
The Edmonton Oilers announced that forward Isaac Howard has been recalled from the team’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors.
Howard has been in the AHL since January. He began the 2025-26 season in the NHL, but was sent to the AHL in the middle of November after scoring just three points in 17 games to start his campaign. It was likely that the Oilers were hoping Howard would build some confidence offensively at the AHL level, developing a better sense of how to score at the professional level against lighter competition.
Howard did exactly that, scoring six points in his first three AHL contests. He earned a recall in January, but his struggles to translate his offensive touch to the NHL level persisted. He hasn’t been back in the NHL for a few months, but he’s maintained his pace as a lethal AHL scorer. In total, he has 22 goals and 47 points in 45 games for the Condors.
The 2024-25 Hobey Baker winner was recently ranked the No. 1 prospect in the Oilers’ system by Scott Wheeler of The Athletic. Among all of the Oilers’ prospects, Howard is considered by most evaluators to stand the strongest chance of becoming a scoring forward at the NHL level.
While it’s unclear whether Howard will be able to hold down an NHL role for the Oilers’ upcoming playoff run, he will at least get a game or two before the end of the regular season to show Oilers brass how much he’s developed in his time in Bakersfield.
Dickinson Out With Leg Injury
- The Oilers will be without center Jason Dickinson for their game on Saturday against Los Angeles. Team broadcaster Bob Stauffer notes (Twitter link) that the veteran is unavailable after suffering a leg injury on Wednesday against San Jose. Acquired from Chicago at the trade deadline, the 30-year-old has a goal and three assists in 17 games with his new team while averaging a little over 15 minutes per game of ice time. He has been their most-used penalty killer since being acquired as well. There’s no word yet on a timeline for Dickinson’s return.
These Pending UFAs Mishandled Their Prior Trips Through Free Agency
In the NHL, some players welcome the chance to bet on themselves when it comes to unrestricted free agency. But not every player likes taking that risk, because there is always the possibility that the bet doesn’t pay off or that the player and their representatives misjudge the market and miss out on a payday. Sometimes, these players land big contracts later in their careers, and that is the hope for the three players in this article, who are approaching free agency again this summer and have another chance to learn from their previous attempts and finally cash in.
The first player on this list and one of the most recent is Chicago Blackhawks defenceman Matt Grzelcyk, who had to settle for a PTO this past offseason after his market never materialized despite coming off a career year. Grzelcyk posted a goal and 39 assists last season, playing all 82 games with the Pittsburgh Penguins, and was projected by AFP Analytics to receive a three-year deal worth $3.77MM annually. However, he ended up with a PTO and eventually signed a one-year, $1MM deal.
It was clearly a massive disappointment for the 32-year-old, and it’s hard to say exactly what transpired in his negotiations. His market did not develop as expected, and his contract fell well below the projected market value. Nonetheless, it should have been evident to Grzelcyk’s representatives that his market probably wouldn’t be very strong after the Penguins were unable to trade him at last year’s trade deadline. Grzelcyk remained in Pittsburgh after the deadline despite the team being well out of the playoff picture at that point, which suggested that teams weren’t exactly eager to add him. In any case, Grzelcyk is a free agent once again this summer after a disappointing campaign with the Blackhawks, and it’s fair to wonder if he will get a multi-year deal this offseason. AFP Analytics has him pegged for a two-year deal worth $2.8MM per season, but that may be a touch optimistic given his struggles this year.
Another player who struggled to secure a contract last summer was forward Jack Roslovic. The then 28-year-old was coming off a solid year with Carolina, where he scored 22 goals and 17 assists in 81 games. While his scoring stats looked decent, Roslovic was not exactly a seamless fit with the Hurricanes and benefited from a 15.8% shooting rate, about 3% higher than his career average. For the second consecutive summer, it seemed Roslovic misjudged the free agent market but didn’t land as softly in 2024 as he did in Carolina. In summer 2024, Roslovic signed with the Hurricanes on July 4 for $2.8MM on a one-year deal, serving as a cautionary tale for players hitting the market in 2025. Roslovic was one of those players, and unfortunately for him, his luck was much worse this time, as he had to settle for another one-year deal with the Edmonton Oilers, this time for $1.5MM.
Roslovic was projected last summer to sign a three-year deal worth $4.094MM, making his contract just over 10% of his projected earnings. He eventually changed agents and signed a one-year contract, setting himself up to hit free agency again. This summer, AFP Analytics predicts he could land a four-year deal worth $4.434MM per season, and it seems more likely this will happen given his new agent and the rising salary cap, while the free-agent class remains very thin.
Now we come to John Klingberg of the San Jose Sharks, who just a few years ago was a top-pairing defenseman with the Dallas Stars and helped lead them to the Stanley Cup Finals in 2020. Back in 2021, much of the conversation around Klingberg centered on his impending free agency, and he and the Dallas Stars were engaged in contract talks to keep him in Dallas long term. At the time, Klingberg reportedly wanted over $60MM on an eight-year contract, which would have him around an $8MM AAV, and while some sources said he turned down $7MM a season, he never came close to reaching those numbers on his eventual contracts and never even sniffed that kind of long-term security.
Klingberg finally reached free agency in 2022 and had to settle for a one-year $7MM contract with the Anaheim Ducks, then followed it up with a one-year $4.15MM deal with Toronto. Last season, he played part of the year under a one-year $1.35MM contract with the Edmonton Oilers before signing a one-year $4MM deal this season in San Jose. Regardless of what the contract discussions were like with Dallas, Klingberg left tens of millions of dollars on the table and could have avoided the stress of moving teams five times. Additionally, he went from a low-tax state like Texas to high-tax states and provinces such as California and Ontario.
The NHL is full of cautionary tales regarding free agency. For example, defenseman Cody Franson is a case from a decade ago, and Thomas Vanek is another. More recent examples include Anthony Duclair and Evan Rodrigues, who eventually secured their contracts after a few seasons of uncertainty. This summer, players like Grzelcyk, Roslovic, and Klingberg hope to cash in and recover some of the money they left on the table. The salary cap is expected to rise, which should benefit them, but none of these players have performed at their best this season, so they may face another challenging period in free agency.
Oilers Activate Colton Dach From Long-Term Injured Reserve
Oilers head coach Kris Knoblauch told reporters Tuesday that forward Colton Dach will be in the lineup tonight against the Mammoth, signaling he’s been activated from long-term injured reserve (via Jack Michaels of Sportsnet).
Dach, acquired from the Blackhawks before the trade deadline along with Jason Dickinson, hasn’t been an option for the last 12 games due to an undisclosed injury. The cap-strapped Oilers were able to quickly place him on LTIR once it was apparent he would miss at least 10 games and 24 days. That was, of course, before Leon Draisaitl‘s injury likely ended his regular season and gave Edmonton plenty of cap relief by virtue of his LTIR placement.
Ice time was limited for the 23-year-old Dach through his first few games in Alberta. The injury abbreviated his third performance, but he still didn’t see over 10 minutes in any of his three outings, averaging 5:24 per game with an assist and a -2 rating.
A 2021 second-round pick by the Blackhawks, he has some offensive upside but his impact for the Oilers, at least at present, will be most felt in his physicality. He’s totaled 10 points and 195 hits in 56 games on the year, a figure that would rank second on the Oilers behind Vasily Podkolzin had he spent the whole season in Edmonton.
Dach will be getting a look as Edmonton’s third-line left wing tonight alongside Dickinson and Trent Frederic. That line has combined for just 10 points in Oilers colors this season, with Frederic’s six points and -17 rating in 69 outings being especially woeful. The Oilers’ lack of production from their bottom six hasn’t stopped them from putting together a 7-3-0 run in their last 10, usurping the Ducks for first place in the Pacific if they can keep pace.
Oilers Considered Frontrunners For Veit Oswald
The Edmonton Oilers are again looking overseas to bolster their forward core. According to Frank Seravalli of Victory+, the Oilers are the betting favorites to land forward Veit Oswald this summer, despite other teams having interest.
Oilers’ Zach Hyman Out With Lingering Injury
The Edmonton Oilers are opting for the careful approach as another successful season nears its end. Top winger Zach Hyman will be held out of Saturday’s matchup against the Vegas Golden Knights, head coach Kris Knoblauch told Robert Tychkowski of the Edmonton Sun.
Hyman also sat out of Thursday’s game against the Chicago Blackhawks. The details of his injury have not been disclosed. Hyman may have played through the injury if Saturday were a playoff game, but he could instead wind up shelved for the rest of the regular season as Edmonton errs on the side of resting players, Knoblauch added. Instead, the Oilers will let him focus on recovery for as long as it takes, with a few weeks left before the start of the playoffs.
Hyman has scored nine goals and 15 points in 18 games since the Olympic break, the fourth-most on the Oilers. He is up to 31 goals and 51 points in 57 games this season, a nice bump up from his 44-point campaign last year, but still well below the 83-point career-high he set in the 2022-23 season.
A return to near-point-per-game scoring is nonetheless encouraging after Hyman missed the first 19 games of the season with a dislocated wrist sustained in Game 4 of the 2025 Western Conference Finals. Hyman told reporters that his current injury is unrelated to the wrist injury that kept him out for nearly five months.
The Oilers are sitting in a comfortable playoff position, tied with the Anaheim Ducks for first in the Pacific Division. At the same time, they are facing a long list of injuries, including superstar forward Leon Draisaitl and depth center Mattias Janmark. Draisaitl returned to practice but won’t join Edmonton on their upcoming three-game road trip, per Sportsnet’s Gene Principe. That only emphasizes Edmonton’s focus on healing up before the postseason. They will move forward without two of their top forwards with six games remaining on the schedule – all against Western Conference competition.
Edmonton has faced the Florida Panthers in each of the last two Stanley Cup Finals. Draisaitl played a crucial role in the 2025 Final, leading the Oilers with 8 points in 6 games before their eventual defeat. Hyman filled the bigger shoes in 2024, netting four points in seven games to Draisaitl’s three. Either way, the duo has been heavily utilized through the last two postseasons, with Draisaitl averaging 22 minutes of ice time through 47 games and Hyman averaging 20 minutes through 40 games. Their health will be of the utmost importance as the Oilers hope to right their wrongs and seal a Cup win this season.
Latest On Nashville’s GM Search
The Predators are no longer the only team currently in the market for a new general manager after Toronto fired Brad Treliving earlier this week. That said, given that current GM Barry Trotz gave notice of his intention to step down just over two months ago, Nashville is much farther along in their search for a replacement.
To that end, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman reported in the latest 32 Thoughts podcast (audio link) that the Preds are believed to be nearing the in-person stage of their interviewing process, if they’re not there already. He added that he believes Bill Scott (Oilers), Scott White (Stars), Brett Peterson (Panthers), and former Arizona GM John Chayka will be part of that process. Additionally, the team reached out to Win Hockey Agency’s Matt Keator to assess his possible interest but it doesn’t appear he is in the next round of interviews. Meanwhile, Friedman added that Predators assistant GM Jeff Kealty could still be in the mix as well.
Scott has held various roles in Edmonton dating back to 2010 when he first joined the team as GM of their AHL affiliate in Oklahoma City. Since then, he has also held the title of Director of Hockey Operations (including Director of Salary Cap Management) and has been an assistant GM for the Oilers since the 2022-23 campaign.
As for White, he has been with Dallas even longer, dating back to the 2005-06 season when he joined AHL Iowa as their Director of Hockey Operations. Before that, he had spent the past ten years coaching in either college of the ECHL. Since then, White worked his way up to being assistant GM of their AHL squad (now in Texas) and has been an assistant GM with the Stars since 2016.
Peterson, meanwhile, has held an AGM title with Florida since 2020. He also has some international experience, having worked with USA Hockey for the last two World Championships and will serve as the GM for their entry into next month’s tournament as well.
Chayka is the one candidate on this list who is well-known going back to his time with the Coyotes. After just one season as an assistant GM, he was promoted to the top job for the 2016-17 campaign and executed a data-driven approach. Along the way, he brought in several players of consequence (including Derek Stepan, Taylor Hall, and Nick Schmaltz, among others) while utilizing his cap space to add assets for taking on burdensome LTIR-bound contracts. He abruptly resigned from the team in July 2020, just before the ‘bubble playoffs’ started, and hasn’t worked in the NHL since then.
Kealty is certainly the longest-tenured person in this group; he has worked with the Predators since 2001. He started off as a scout, working his way up to Director of Amateur Scouting, then Director of Scouting (professional and amateur). Kealty added the assistant GM title back in 2018 and has held the dual role ever since.
With Trotz staying in his role until a successor is found and the draft still a little more than two months away, there is still plenty of time for the Predators to pick their next general manager. But it appears they’re a step closer to doing so now that they’ve entered the next phase of their search.
Oilers Sign Owen Michaels To Entry-Level Deal
April 3: Michaels’ deal is for this season, PuckPedia confirms. As such, it carries a prorated cap hit of $1.484MM. That includes a signing bonus of $40K with an NHL salary of $935K and a minors salary of $85K. He will immediately become a 10.2(c) player in July, meaning he’ll essentially be a restricted free agent who can’t sign an offer sheet.
April 2: The Oilers announced Thursday that they’ve signed Western Michigan University captain Owen Michaels to a one-year, entry-level deal. There’s conflicting information on when the contract takes effect; the team press release stated the deal will run for the last few weeks of this season, while the team tweet announcing the signing indicated the deal was for 2026-27.
In any event, the 23-year-old Michaels turns pro after a highly successful three-year run with the Broncos. The 6’0″ right-shot forward broke out as a top-of-the-lineup threat as a sophomore after being buried in the lineup as a freshman, erupting for 18 goals and 36 points in 42 games in 2024-25 en route to Western Michigan’s first-ever national championship. While the Broncos were knocked off by Denver in a regional final upset in the national tournament last week, Michaels was still relatively productive this year with a 13-13–26 line in 39 games.
At his age, the usual curve for an undrafted talent suggests he’ll top out as a high-end AHL contributor with some call-up potential, particularly since he never sniffed the point-per-game threshold in college. As Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff relays, it’s his skating that will likely hold him back from becoming an everyday NHL piece. Still, he should be a good play-driver in AHL Bakersfield as a strong support piece for the Oilers’ higher-ceiling forward talent.
If Michaels’ contract is for next year (or if it takes effect immediately and he re-ups as a restricted free agent this offseason), Edmonton will have 33 deals on the books. If Michaels signed for 2025-26, he will be eligible to make his NHL debut in the regular season but won’t be eligible to play in any playoff games for the Oilers, much like they did with Quinn Hutson last year.
Assessing The Best Free Agent Signings From Summer 2025
As we move into the final month of the season, it has become quite clear which moves from last summer paid off and which ones did not. While long-term effects of summer trades and signings are always part of the picture, it’s interesting to look back and assess the best free-agent signings to see which teams got value for their money and which did not.
Players don’t always succeed immediately with their new teams; sometimes there’s a settling-in period. However, many moves made last summer in free agency have significantly impacted playoff races this year.
For this exercise, we will focus specifically on players who were unrestricted free agents and moved to new teams. This excludes players like Brad Marchand or John Tavares, who re-signed with their respective teams before July 1.
The first player that comes to mind is the Penguins’ top goal scorer, Anthony Mantha, who signed a one-year, $2.5MM contract (plus $2MM in performance bonuses) with the Penguins after missing most of last season with the Flames due to an ACL tear. Many believed that Mantha would have a chance to improve his free-agent stock in Pittsburgh by playing top-six minutes before cashing in during the summer of 2026.
Last summer, the Penguins seemed like a team that would be selling at the trade deadline, so it made sense that they would give Mantha a one-year deal and then trade him for future assets in February or March. However, that outlook couldn’t have been further from the truth, as Mantha has become a key part of a Pittsburgh team that has surprised the NHL this season and remains competitive in the Eastern Conference. With 30 goals and 28 assists in 75 games, Mantha has provided considerable surplus value to the Penguins and is likely to secure a major contract this summer, particularly among one of the thinnest free-agent fields in the salary cap era.
Last year, much of the talk during free agency was that the goaltending market was incredibly thin, and on paper, it certainly looked that way. But that didn’t stop the Buffalo Sabres from exploring the free agency waters, signing Alex Lyon to a two-year, $3MM contract that has proven to be an absolute steal.
Lyon has split duties with his goalie partner, Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen and has appeared in 35 games this season, posting a record of 20-9-4 with a 2.69 GAA and a .909 SV%. While those stats are solid, the standout figure in Lyon’s line is his goals saved above expected, which currently sits at 14.8 (according to MoneyPuck). Lyon won’t be winning any awards this year, but considering how much money teams are spending on ineffective goaltending, Lyon has been a real boon for Buffalo.
Sticking with the goalies, another underrated signing that has paid off is Daniel Vladař of the Philadelphia Flyers. The 28-year-old was mainly a backup before this season but has become the Flyers’ starting goaltender, dressing in 45 games while posting a 24-13-7 record, a 2.50 GAA, and a .904 SV%.
Vladař has been excellent value on a two-year deal with a $3.35MM AAV. Not only is Vladař’s save percentage above average, but his goals saved above expected is up to 9.6, suggesting that his underlying numbers indicate a goaltender who has stolen some games for Philadelphia.
A signing that didn’t happen until the fall was forward Jack Roslovic, who again had to accept an under-market one-year deal. Roslovic signed a one-year, $1.5MM contract with the Oilers on Oct. 8 after his second straight unsuccessful free agency run, where he failed to secure a multi-year deal that suited him.
In Edmonton, the 29-year-old has already achieved his second straight 20-goal season and has been a reliable playmaker for the Oilers. Given his consistent production over the past two seasons, it’s unlikely he’s willing to settle for another one-year deal, especially in a tight free agent market.
Moving to the backend, veteran Brent Burns was a free agent for the first time in his career at age 40. Burns signed a one-year deal with the Avalanche that included a potential $4MM in bonuses, of which he will likely earn $3MM this season.
Burns is no longer an elite offensive defenseman, but he has still scored 10 goals and 19 assists in 73 games this year while playing in every game and averaging almost 19 minutes per game. Burns has benefited from playing on a top team and from a high PDO, but for a veteran right-shot defenseman or a bargain one-year deal, he’s worked out as well as the Avs could have hoped for.
Finally, we return to the Penguins and the skillful work of general manager Kyle Dubas accomplished in the early days of free agency last year. Not only did Dubas sign 30-goal scorer Mantha, but he also secured Justin Brazeau with a two-year deal worth just $3MM, as well as defenseman Parker Wotherspoon on a two-year, $2MM deal. The contracts gave Dubas a top-nine forward in Brazeau and a top-pairing defenseman to play alongside Erik Karlsson, all at a total cost of $2.5MM per season for this year and the next.
Dubas and Penguins Director of Player Personnel Wes Clark did excellent work last summer, finding players with lots of potential who hadn’t been given the chance to succeed. By betting on low-risk, high-upside free agents, Dubas effectively accelerated the Penguins’ retooling plans, which seemed unlikely just a year ago, when the team had missed the playoffs for a third consecutive year.
Earlier this season, there was talk that Penguins captain Sidney Crosby should request a trade because he might not make the playoffs again. However, thanks to Dubas’s bargain shopping, the Penguins now seem to be on track for the playoffs and have plenty of cap space this summer to strengthen their already impressive lineup.