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Penguins Sign Alex Nedeljkovic To Two-Year Extension

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The Pittsburgh Penguins have officially signed goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to a two-year, $5.0MM contract extension. The deal was first reported by Frank Seravalli of the Daily Faceoff (Twitter link). The deal carries an annual cap hit of $2.5MM, committing Pittsburgh to a total of $7.875MM between starter Tristan Jarry and backup Nedeljkovic.

Nedeljkovic was set to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1st, after playing through a one-year, $1.5MM contract signed last summer. He appeared in 38 NHL games this season – just the second-most he’s played in one season – and managed good results, posting 18 wins and a .902 save percentage. He stood as a reliable backup option for the Penguins, clawing his way back to an everyday role in the NHL after spending much of the 2022-23 season in the minor leagues. It was a hard fall for Nedeljkovic, who had a career year in 2021-22, serving as the Detroit Red Wings’ starter, managing 20 wins and a .901 save percentage across 59 appearances. That season remains the only year that Nedeljkovic has filled a starter role at the NHL level, though he’s made spot starts as far back as the 2016-17 season. Now 28, Nedeljkovic has totaled 141 games across seven years in the NHL, managing 60 wins and a .906 save percentage even amongst tough deployment.

The Penguins seem pleased with Nedeljkovic’s inaugural year with the club, and will now bring him back with a slight pay raise and a bit more term to once again fill the backup role behind Jarry, whose signed through the 2027-28 season. Strong performances could earn Nedeljkovic the role through the end of Jarry’s deal, though top goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist could soon pose tough competition.

Penguins Hire Kirk MacDonald As AHL Head Coach

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The Penguins have added Kirk MacDonald to the organization as the head coach of AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, the team announced. He replaces J.D. Forrest, who had been behind the WBS bench for the last four seasons but isn’t returning.

MacDonald joins an AHL staff for the first time as he moves up the coaching ladder. The 40-year-old previously spent five seasons with the ECHL’s Reading Royals as their head coach and director of hockey operations and had spent the last two years as the head coach of the USHL’s Dubuque Fighting Saints, whom he guided to a first-place 41-13-8 record this season before losing to the Fargo Force in the league final. It was the Fighting Saints’ first final appearance in eight years.

He was never drafted by an NHL team or signed to an NHL contract, but minor-league fans will remember MacDonald’s name from an AHL career that spanned from 2007 to 2013 with Albany, Houston, Iowa and Providence. A heavy-hitting winger during his playing days, MacDonald had 45 goals and 106 points in 272 games at the top minor-league level.

MacDonald takes over a Baby Pens roster that will likely include 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering on its blue line next season. 23-year-old Samuel Poulin, a 2019 first-rounder, is also a candidate to spend time in the minors again, but he’s a more likely name to make the NHL roster in the fall as he’s lost his waiver exemption.

Snapshots: Boucher, McDavid, Kraft Hockeyville

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Former Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Guy Boucher was hoping to be much more of a contender in the team’s head coaching search, shares Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts Podcast. Toronto parted ways with Boucher on Saturday, ending his tenure in Toronto after just one year with the team. Boucher mainly presided over Toronto’s power play, which posted a 23.95 percent success rate this season, down two percent from last year though still a top-10 unit in the league. They lost that special-teams spark in the playoffs, though, scoring on just one of the 21 power plays they received in their first-round loss to the Boston Bruins.

The Leafs were rumored to be interested in a long list of candidates for their head coaching vacancy – including Todd McLellan, Gerard Gallant, and even Rod Brind’Amour prior to his extension in Carolina. Toronto’s assistants were never among the rumored candidates, with the team even overturning Manny Malhotra, who left for an AHL head coaching role and was replaced by Lane Lambert. Boucher may need to follow in Malhotra’s path to the minor league if he’d like another head coaching role, with seemingly no vacancies in the NHL following Ryan Warsofsky’s hire in San Jose. There are currently three head coach vacancies in the AHL – with the Coachella Valley Firebirds, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, and Hartford Wolf Pack, though the latter could opt to promote interim head coach Steve Smtih

Other notes from around the league:

  • Edmonton Oilers superstar Connor McDavid has broken Wayne Gretzky’s record for assists in a single postseason, now at 32 after recording three assists in Game 4. McDavid and Gretzky are the only two players to record 30 assists in a single postseason, with Gretzky managing the feat in both 1985 and 1988. McDavid is now up to 38 points in 22 playoff games this year, more than any other player in NHL history save for Gretzky and Mario Lemieux – though 38 points still ranks McDavid as just the fifth-highest scoring postseason, with Gretzky breaking 40 points three separate times, including a record-holding 47 points, and Lemieux once scoring 44. Those will be the records that McDavid is chasing as he looks to will Edmonton to a Game 7 Stanley Cup.
  • The Ottawa Senators will host the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2024 Kraft Hockeyville Preseason Game, set to take place in Elliot Lake, Ontario. Elliot Lake will also receive $250K to support arena upgrades and $10K in hockey equipment from the NHLPA Goals and Dreams fund. The matchup will bring Canadian superstars Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang to Northern Ontario, and mark Pittsburgh’s first time playing guest to the Senators since a 2-1 overtime loss in March.

Penguins Name David Quinn Assistant Coach

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June 12: The Penguins officially added Quinn to Sullivan’s staff as an assistant Wednesday, the team announced. He’ll oversee the team’s defensemen, but the release did not say that he’d be running their power play. It’s still unclear whose responsibility that will be as the team tries to return to postseason play in 2024-25.

June 11: The Penguins are likely bringing in former Rangers and Sharks head coach David Quinn to join their staff, The Athletic’s Arthur Staple reports Tuesday.

Quinn, 57, will serve as an assistant or associate under head coach Mike Sullivan, who’s expected back next season for his 10th year with the club. He replaces outgoing associate coach Todd Reirden. The Penguins announced over a month ago that they were not renewing Reirden’s contract.

If Reirden’s duties are replaced directly, Quinn will work closely with Pittsburgh’s defense group and oversee their power play. That reunites him on both fronts with Erik Karlsson, who he coached to a Norris Trophy and 101-point season with the Sharks last year.

Overall, though, Quinn must get the power play back on track. The Pens’ man advantage finished third-worst in the league this season, clicking at just 15.3%. It’s an unacceptable number for any team, but even more so for a club with Karlsson, Kris Letang, Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Bryan Rust still around.

The Sharks fired Quinn shortly after the end of the regular season with one year left on his contract. While the roster wasn’t built to give him much support, he guided San Jose to a 19-54-9 record and 47 points, putting them squarely in the conversation for one of the worst teams of the salary cap era.

He’d held the post for two seasons, his second NHL head coaching job after leading the Rangers from 2018 to 2021. It’s been a long time since Quinn took a secondary role on a coaching staff, last serving as an assistant coach for the Avalanche in 2012-13.

He then returned to Boston University, where he had a brief playing career and an earlier run as an associate coach, to take over their program. Over five seasons with Quinn at the helm, the Terriers won three Hockey East titles, and he was named the conference’s Coach of the Year in 2014-15.

The remainder of Sullivan’s staff this season – assistants Ty Hennes, Mike Vellucci and goaltending coach Andy Chiodo – is expected to return.

Penguins GM Kyle Dubas Discusses Offseason Plans

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Last offseason was an eventful one for Penguins President and GM Kyle Dubas.  He wound up losing his job in Toronto only to be hired by Pittsburgh soon after.  Meanwhile, a search for a GM resulted in Dubas simply removing the interim tag from himself.

On the ice, the Penguins were active both on the trade front and free agency.  They added Erik Karlsson in a three-way deal with San Jose and Montreal and Reilly Smith from Vegas on the draft front while adding Ryan Graves, Alex Nedeljkovic, and Lars Eller (among others) on the open market.  But the end result wasn’t an improvement in the standings as they finished fifth in the Metropolitan Division for the second straight year and missed the playoffs.

This time around, it appears the Penguins will be taking a different approach to their summer activity.  Dubas told NHL.com’s Adam Kimelman that the priority will be replenishing their younger assets:

The major focus for us is on right now acquiring as many young players, as many prospects and as many draft picks as we can to try to infuse the team with really good young talent, young players and then have that stocked up for the future as well and attempt to get us back into contention as quickly as we can.

The stated goal of trying to get younger should come as no surprise.  After all, the Penguins had the highest average age of any NHL team in 2023-24.  But it also then stands to reason that Dubas might not be as aggressive when it comes to adding veteran win-now pieces.  Per CapFriendly, they have a little under $13MM in cap room and if prospect Joel Blomqvist ultimately replaces Nedeljkovic (a pending UFA), they won’t have any key free agents of note to contend with; there will be room to add pieces as a result.

In that scenario, it wouldn’t be surprising to see Dubas look to some of the younger options on the open market such as Jake DeBrusk or Anthony Duclair, players who can help the team but are still a few years younger than the average age of the team to help them get a little younger and quicker.

Meanwhile, one of the other items on their summer to-do list will be working on an extension for Sidney Crosby.  Dubas had this to say about getting his captain extended:

The key for us is, because of the importance of it and how much Sid means to the organization and the city, we want to keep that as quiet as possible and go through it.  And then hopefully as we get through this summer, get a sense where everybody’s at and then let everybody know at the right time.

The 36-year-old has been Pittsburgh’s franchise forward since he was selected first overall back in 2025.  He has averaged more than a point per game in all 19 NHL seasons, tying Wayne Gretzky’s NHL record while Crosby now sits tenth in all-time scoring.  He has carried a cap hit of $8.7MM since the 2008-09 season and with how he has played since then, there’s a case to be made that he could get that much or more on an extension.

The length of the deal will ultimately dictate what happens on that front as it’s quite possible that Pittsburgh could do what they did with mainstays Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang when their deals were up, giving them a longer term than expected in an effort to keep the cap hits down.  One way or the other, it seems quite likely that a new deal for Crosby will get done at some point this summer.

Snapshots: Conditional Picks, Tocchet, Thunderbirds

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The final series of the playoffs gets underway tonight with Edmonton taking on Florida.  The events and outcome of the Stanley Cup Final will also affect the draft order in the next three years.  As CapFriendly notes (Twitter link), the following four late-season trades will be finalized based on whoever wins this series:

Ducks/Oilers: The 2025 fifth-round pick that went to Anaheim in the Adam Henrique trade will upgrade to a 2025 4th round pick if Edmonton wins.

Sabres/Panthers: The 2024 seventh-rounder acquired by Buffalo for Kyle Okposo will upgrade to a 2024 fifth-round pick if Florida wins.  (Florida would also incur a $500K cap penalty next season in this scenario as that is payable to Okposo if they win.)

Senators/Panthers: The 2024 fourth-round pick that Ottawa received for Vladimir Tarasenko will become a 2026 third-rounder if Florida wins the series.

Penguins/Panthers: The 2025 seventh-round pick Pittsburgh acquired for Magnus Hellberg will convey if Hellberg plays in two games this round.  Hellberg is on Florida’s active roster as a Black Ace recall but has yet to play this postseason.

Elsewhere around the hockey world:

  • Canucks head coach Rick Tocchet is heading into the final guaranteed season of his contract next season though there is a team option for 2025-26 as well. The bench boss told reporters including Steve Ewen of the Vancouver Province that there have yet to be any discussions about a contract extension, nor is he concerned about that.  Tocchet led Vancouver to a surprising first-place finish in the Pacific Division with 109 points, helping him earn the Jack Adams Award last month.
  • The AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds (affiliate of the Blues) announced that they’ve hired long-time NHL blueliner Jaroslav Modry and AHL veteran Chad Wiseman as their new assistant coaches. Modry spent the last three seasons coaching in his native Czechia while Wiseman had been coaching with OHL Guelph since 2018-19.  They join NHL veteran Steve Konowalchuk on a new-look coaching staff.

Penguins Unlikely To Quality Emil Bemstrom

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Andrew Fantucchio of Boston Hockey Now writes that in his opinion the Boston Bruins have no reason to be in a hurry to trade goaltender Linus Ullmark as he has one year left on his deal and the Bruins could conceivably keep the netminder for the remainder of his deal. Ullmark has a lot of contractual control over where he is traded and could nix trades to nearly half of the league.

Goaltenders have been traded in recent years for a minimal return, including recent Vezina Trophy winners. However, as Fantucchio writes, the Ullmark situation is different than that of Marc-Andre Fleury who was dealt in July 2021 in what amounted to a salary cap dump. Fantucchio theorizes that if the Bruins are patient with the Ullmark trade it could drive up the asking price as teams might become desperate for goaltending as the market dries up.

In other morning notes:

  • It appears that Nashville Predators goaltender Juuse Saros is prepared to let the goaltender market develop before signing his next deal. Jonathan Bailey of Nashville Hockey Now writes that Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet made his weekly appearance on 102.5 The Game on the Caroline, Willy, and D-Mase show to discuss the future of the Predators netminder. On the show, Friedman said that Saros is willing to see what kind of a contract New York Rangers netminder Igor Shesterkin signs before he signs a new contract. Shesterkin figures to sign the richest goalie contract ever, and while Saros won’t reach the same kind of money, he can likely command a large percentage of that.
  • Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now writes that he doesn’t think the Pittsburgh Penguins will offer restricted free agent Emil Bemstrom a contract before the June 25th deadline to submit a qualifying offer. Bemstrom was acquired from the Columbus Blue Jackets and struggled to carve out a role in Pittsburgh despite the Penguins having a very poor bottom-six forward group. The 25-year-old is due a $945K qualifying offer and given the Penguins’ shortcomings it would be reckless to allocate that kind of cap space on a player that would be a 13th forward.

Free Agent Focus: Pittsburgh Penguins

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Free agency is now just a month away and teams are looking ahead to when it opens.  There will be several impact players set to hit the open market in July while many teams have key restricted free agents to re-sign as well.  We continue our look around the NHL with an overview of the free agent situation for the Penguins.

Key Restricted Free Agents

F Emil Bemstrom – Bemstrom had an up-and-down season last year splitting time between the Penguins and Columbus Blue Jackets. The 25-year-old was placed on waivers early in the season and went unclaimed before eventually getting dealt to the Penguins in February for Alexander Nylander and a conditional sixth-round pick. The trade was a gamble for the Penguins who were hoping for a bounce back in Pittsburgh but unfortunately for them and Bemstrom, he struggled and was a healthy scratch on multiple occasions. The Nykoping, Sweden native posted just three goals and two assists in 24 games, playing primarily on the team’s fourth line. Bemstrom has shown glimpses of being an effective passer with a good shot, however, they are overshadowed by long stretches where he doesn’t appear engaged and struggles in his own zone. Bemstrom might get a qualifying offer from the Penguins for $945K, but it also wouldn’t be surprising if the team cuts their losses and lets the forward become an unrestricted free agent.

D Pierre-Olivier Joseph – POJ looked like a non-tender candidate for much of last season until the last six weeks of the regular season. The former first-round pick was a healthy scratch for a big portion of the season and appeared to lose the trust of Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan. However, injuries and the poor play of fellow defenseman Ryan Graves forced Pittsburgh to reinsert Joseph into the lineup alongside Kris Letang and the results were quite impressive, albeit in a limited sample size. While he has not been able to put all his tools together at the NHL level, Joseph is very capable offensively and can lead the rush as well. He will likely have an opportunity on a low-risk bridge contract to show the Penguins that he belongs in the NHL and can play in their defensive unit.

Other RFAs:  F Corey Andonovski, F Maxim Cajkovic, F Dillon Hamaliuk

Key Unrestricted Free Agents

F Jansen Harkins – Harkins was a waiver wire pickup for the Penguins, coming over from the Winnipeg Jets. He quickly earned the trust of head coach Mike Sullivan who repeatedly plugged Harkins into the lineup despite his offensive shortcomings. Harkins would be demoted to the AHL at one point during the season before resurfacing on the team’s fourth line, as Sullivan liked his speed and physicality at the bottom of the lineup. The 27-year-old had just four assists in 45 games but started over 80% of his shifts in the defensive zone. Given his struggles offensively, Harkins is likely a 13th forward at best, but he can give a team minutes on the fourth line in a defensive role. He should be able to find a one-way contract for next season that will come in below $1MM.

G Alex Nedeljkovic – The Penguins gambled when they signed goaltender Nedeljkovic, hoping they were getting the player he was with the Carolina Hurricanes and not the version that struggled in Detroit the previous two seasons. He rewarded the Penguins with strong play down the stretch, nearly willing the team into the playoffs after wrestling the starters’ role from Tristan Jarry. The 28-year-old’s performance likely priced him out of Pittsburgh, but the Penguins have shown an interest in re-signing him. Teams could be scared off by Nedeljkovic’s wildly inconsistent play from year to year, but he should be able to find a short-term deal at nearly double the $1.5MM he made last season with Pittsburgh.

D Ryan Shea – Shea was finally able to crack an NHL lineup, dressing in 31 games last season for the Penguins. Injuries forced Pittsburgh to utilize Shea more frequently down the stretch and he rewarded the team as he formed a solid third pairing with Jack St. Ivany. Shea’s possession numbers weren’t great with a CF% of 49.2% at even strength, but he did start nearly 60% of his shifts in the defensive zone and was solid in his own end. Shea won’t find his way onto the scoresheet very often but will likely only command league minimum on a short-term deal. If the Penguins are looking to save cap room to address other needs, Shea is a good option for their sixth defenseman.

F Radim Zohorna – Zohorna had a terrific training camp with the Penguins and looked like a good bet to make the starting lineup. However, he was sent to the AHL to start the year and eventually earned a call-up. Once he was brought back to the NHL he made an impact in his first few games, forming a solid third line with Drew O’Connor and Lars Eller. However, after a few games, Zohorna disappeared for a long stretch and was eventually a healthy scratch before being demoted to the AHL once again. He finished the season with four goals and three assists in 33 games and is likely looking at another two-way contract with a league-minimum salary at the NHL level. Zohorna has good hands and passing, and stands 6’6”, however, he has never been a player who engages physically and doesn’t play like a power forward.

Other UFAs: D Taylor Fedun, F Vinnie Hinostroza, D Jack Rathbone, D Dmitri Samorukov

Projected Cap Space

The Penguins will enter the offseason with a shade under $13MM in available cap room which will limit their ability to make major roster improvements unless they can move out one of the many undesirable contracts on their books. The Penguins could move Reilly Smith which would open up an additional $5MM to pursue help in the top six or add some scoring to the bottom of their lineup. The Penguins could also try and move a player like Rickard Rakell for another underperforming player, but that would be a tough trade to make as he has four years remaining on his deal. Penguins’ fans would likely want to see defenseman Graves moved on, but with five years left on his deal at $4.5MM per year, it is highly unlikely that the contract can be traded without significant retention.

Photos courtesy of USA Today Sports Images.  Contract information courtesy of CapFriendly.

KHL’s Dinamo Minsk Signs Xavier Ouellet

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Dinamo Minsk, the lone Belarusian team in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League, announced the signing of defenseman Xavier Ouellet today. The French-born Canadian is a pending unrestricted free agent after completing a two-year, two-way deal with the Penguins.

Reports linked Ouellet to Minsk over the weekend. A second-round pick of the Red Wings back in 2011, the 30-year-old spent nearly a decade with them and the Canadiens before signing with Pittsburgh in free agency in 2022. He was placed on waivers to begin both seasons of his contract and spent the entirety of the deal on assignment to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, not even landing an NHL call-up for injury insurance purposes.

As such, while Ouellet has been signed to an NHL contract every season since 2012-13, he hasn’t played in a major-league game since a six-game run with Montreal in 2020-21. He last avoided AHL assignment in 2017-18 with Detroit, serving as a bottom-pair/seventh defenseman for the Wings for a pair of campaigns. He’s made 178 total NHL appearances in parts of eight seasons, totaling five goals and 28 points with a -3 rating while averaging 16:07 per game.

He’d still played an important depth role for the Pens while a part of the organization, serving as an alternate captain with WBS for the past two seasons. He was named to the AHL All-Star Game in 2023 after posting 17 points in 29 games, but an injury ended his season after New Year’s. This season, he compiled 25 points with a +9 rating in 63 showings, finishing second to Ty Smith on the team in points from defensemen.

Ouellet now takes his services to Europe for the first time, assumedly on a one-year deal. Dinamo didn’t disclose the length of his contract. He links up with a handful of former minor-league mainstays in Minsk, including one-time leading point-getter Sam Anas, ex-Islanders center Tanner Fritz, and Flames pending Group 6 UFA defenseman Brady Lyle.

Evening Notes: Myers, Graves, Alfredsson

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Ben Kuzma of The Vancouver Province writes that Vancouver Canucks defenseman Tyler Myers is hoping to re-sign with the Canucks and remain in Vancouver. The 34-year-old had his best season in Vancouver, playing in a reduced role that saw him average less than 20 minutes per game for the first time in his career. The reduced playing time benefitted Myers and he posted five goals and 24 assists in 77 games which were his best numbers since his last year in Winnipeg back in 2018-19.

Kuzma writes that Myers is projected for a $3MM AAV on a three-year deal which would be much more palatable than the $6MM that Myers made this past season. If the Canucks can lock Myers up around that number it will allow them to pivot to their remaining free-agent defenseman Ian Cole, Filip Hronek, and Nikita Zadorov.

In other evening notes:

  • After a poor first season with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Ryan Graves became a lightning rod for criticism from fans of the team. Dan Kingerski writes that the Pittsburgh Penguins would be best to avoid buying out the remaining five years of the contract which would lead to an annual cost of $750K for the next ten years. Penguins’ general manager Kyle Dubas has stated in the past that he prefers trades to buyouts and given the season that Graves just had it would be nearly impossible to find a trade partner unless the Penguins agree to take back a bad contract. The Penguins have a need for a top-6 forward as well as some depth scoring on their bottom two lines and have just under $13MM in available cap space. Moving Graves would go a long way to opening up the room to maneuver, but given the circumstances, it seems likely that he will be with the team next season.
  • Ottawa Senators great Daniel Alfredsson is leaning towards returning to his assistant coaching role next season under new head coach Travis Green (as per Bruce Garrioch). The franchise’s all-time leading scorer was brought back to the franchise in a player-development role, but that role was changed when the Senators relieved previous head coach D.J. Smith of his duties. The Senators will have to fill out their coaching staff and have been linked to former NHL head coach Mike Yeo as well as former NHLer and current Manitoba Moose assistant coach Nolan Baumgartner.

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