With exactly two weeks remaining until the July 13 opening of the NHL's free agency period, time is running out for the Penguins to re-sign pending unrestricted free agents Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang to new contracts.
Penguins president of hockey operations Brian Burke said this week that he expects negotiations to come to a head soon.
Burke spoke with his former Sportsnet colleague Jeff Marek on Marek's podcast this week and made it clear that the Penguins' front office still wants both Letang and Malkin back next season ... at the right price.
"Nothing's changed with regard to our personnel. We want to sign both players," Burke said. "Everyone should be emphatically clear on that. We would like to bring both players back. But they've got to come back at term and contract dollars that make sense. ... And if not, they're not coming back. That's what people should be very clear on. It's not that we're not interested in having them back. We want them back. But they've got to come back at numbers that make sense and don't leave us cap-handcuffed. If that doesn't happen they're not coming back. It's very simple for us. We want them back, they've got to come back at terms that make sense or they won't be back."
The Penguins currently have $23,208,158 in projected cap space, with nine forwards, six defensemen, and one goaltender under contract for the NHL roster next season. The Penguins have been looking into potential trades to free up cap space, with Marcus Pettersson's name being a big one that I've been told has been discussed by the front office as a potential trade piece. Shedding Pettersson's $4,025,175 cap hit and replacing him with someone like P.O Joseph, who is a restricted free agent, is one step that the Penguins could take to the necessary salary in order to re-sign Malkin and Letang and fill out the rest of the roster.
With such little cap space with which to work, it's challenging for the Penguins to have concerted negotiations with both Letang and Malkin. One has to sign first in order to know how much cap space is available to put toward the other. Burke made it clear that while the Penguins are in talks with both players, they are prioritizing Letang in the order.
"We should know I'm guessing in the next little bit with both players," Burke said. "We've made determined efforts to meet with and to sign Kris Letang. Less determined with Malkin only because we have to know how much money we have to work with and we have to put this jigsaw puzzle together. So very direct discussions with the agent for Evgeni Malkin but less intense. There's got to be some sequence here. One has to sign and then the other or maybe neither of them. But it's coming to a head soon."
Malkin said on the Penguins' cleanout day that he hopes to play another "three or four" years. Letang said that he sees himself playing "another four or five years, easily."
Ron Hextall said in his season-ending availability that "in a perfect world, Geno retires a Penguin and I think Tanger is the same."
"These two are generational players, they don’t come along very often," Hextall said. "We’d like to keep them here through the end of their careers. Obviously we have some issues and areas we have to work through in terms of the salary cap. It’s a puzzle right now and I wish we had more pieces in place to make it a little more clear, but it’s hard to even venture to guess where we’ll end up."
The clock is ticking on the timeline to put those pieces together.
