And then there were six.
With Jamie Oleksiak re-signed, the Penguins now have their presumptive top six defensemen under contract for 2018-19 and beyond.
The Penguins avoided salary arbitration with Oleksiak on Thursday by re-signing the 6-foot-7, 255-pound defenseman to a three-year contract that will carry an average annual value of $2,137,500. That is a significant increase over the $964,688 that he made last season on a one-year deal originally signed with the Dallas Stars.
The 25-year-old warranted the extension by setting career highs in games played (68), assists (12) and points (17) while matching his career-best goal total (5) and averaging 17:24 in ice time. He played 47 of those games with the Penguins after coming over from Dallas on Dec. 19 in exchange for a conditional fourth-round pick in 2019. In 12 playoff games, Oleksiak scored one goal — in the Game 5 loss at Washington — while going minus-2.
The best news for the Penguins, according to GM Jim Rutherford, is that there's still some room for improvement. But knowing the team, the system and having the peace of mind in knowing that he's going to be in Pittsburgh for the next three seasons is going to help in Oleksiak's development.
“I don’t think there’s any big shortcoming,” Rutherford told DKPittsburghSports.com on Thursday night. “I think it’s more getting to play on a regular basis and getting the confidence and knowing the team has confidence in him and knowing what his role is. And he can fit in. He can play in a physical game. He can protect his teammates. He’s got a really good shot. I’m sure given the opportunity, he’ll put up some goals. We just like the way he fits in.”
It was announced earlier Thursday that the restricted free agent had his arbitration hearing scheduled for July 20, the first day of hearings, in his hometown of Toronto. Instead, the Penguins will happily move forward with Oleksiak, who was one of Rutherford's best acquisitions last season.
In addition to his offensive production, he ranked fourth on the Penguins with 138 hits while providing a physical presence. He had seven fights last season, five of them with Pittsburgh, including a March 1 bout with Zdeno Chara, the only player in the NHL taller than him. And, perhaps most importantly in Mike Sullivan's system, he skates extremely well for a big man.
With Oleksiak in the fold, the Penguins' top six defensemen are all under contract for at least the next two seasons.
Kris Letang and Olli Maatta are signed through 2021-22, while Brian Dumoulin and Jack Johnson are under contract through 2022-23. Justin Schultz is the closest to unrestricted free agency and that won't be until after the 2019-20 season.
Chad Ruhwedel, likely the seventh blueliner, will be an unrestricted free agent after the 2018-19 season.
Oleksiak figures to skate with Johnson, the Penguins' biggest free agent signing, on a third defense pair, though he saw some time this spring with both Schultz and Letang.
With some continuity, the Penguins' defense corps could be even better in the seasons to come.
“I think it’s good.," Rutherford was saying. "They’re slotted in the right place from a compensation point of view."
However, the signing of Oleksiak leaves the Penguins, as expected, with very little remaining in cap space. According to capfriendly.com, they are now just $745,000 under the cap with two notable restricted free agents left to sign in Tristan Jarry and Teddy Blueger.
Rutherford didn't sound overly concerned though. He did not rule out making further moves but didn't sound eager to do so at this point.
"What we’ve accomplished is what we’ve wanted to do," he told me. "We wanted to get more balance and depth at forward and defense, and we’ve done it."
The Kings are second tightest under the cap and they have $2.145 million left.
