The Penguins recalled defenseman Jeff Taylor from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Tuesday morning.
Taylor, the Penguins' seventh round pick in 2014, has played in one game for Wilkes-Barre this season, and recorded one assist. He split time between Wheeling and Wilkes-Barre in his first pro season last year, scoring four goals and 15 assists in 28 ECHL games, and one assist in 14 AHL games.
If you're wondering why it was Taylor who was called up, don't fret. It's a paper move. As explained in this long-term injured reserve primer, the Penguins receive the most cap relief from placing Schultz on LTIR if they are as close to the cap as possible prior to making the move.
Yesterday, the Penguins had just over a projected $700,000 in cap space. Taylor and his $742,500 cap hit bring the Penguins as close to the cap as possible. Their projected cap space now is $42,970.
As mentioned in the primer, the Penguins' new salary cap if they place Schultz on LTIR would be calculated like this: The current league-wide salary cap, plus the player’s salary, minus current available cap space.
Schultz’s salary is $5,500,000. The 2018-19 league-wide salary cap is $79.5 million. The Penguins' projected cap space now is $42,970. That works out to be $84,957,030.
Taylor was not on the ice for the Penguins' morning skate Tuesday morning.
