TAMPA, Fla. -- Brock McGinn and Mark Friedman both cleared waivers when the NHL's waiver period ended at 2 p.m. on Wednesday.
Both players are now eligible to be re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, though they don't have to be. Players can play up to 10 NHL games or spend up to 30 days on the active roster after clearing waivers before they would need to clear again to be sent down.
Friedman's entire $775,000 cap hit comes off the books once he is assigned to the minors. Because McGinn's cap hit is higher at $2.75 million, only the first $1.125 million comes off the books and the rest remains as dead cap for as long as he is in the AHL.
The Penguins already had $2 million in cap space after losing Kasperi Kapanen to waivers to the Blues earlier in the week. Sending McGinn and Friedman down would give the Penguins $4 million in cap space entering the March 3 trade deadline, per Puckpedia. Had McGinn been claimed, the Penguins would have had $5.7 million in space.
Friedman, 27, is in the first year of his two-year contract extension that carries a $775,000 cap hit. He has one goal in his 11 NHL games this season, and one goal and four assists in 19 games in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He had been sidelined with an upper-body injury since Feb. 11, but was cleared for contact and was a full participant in Tuesday's morning skate in Nashville. Injured players aren't eligible to be re-assigned to the minors, but Friedman has been cleared.
McGinn, 29, has two full years remaining on his contract that carries a $2.75 million cap hit. He has 10 goals and six assists in 60 games this year. He ended a 26-game point drought Tuesday night in Nashville with the primary assist to set up Sidney Crosby's tying goal, and had an effort on both sides of the puck in the win that earned him the team's MVP helmet, and the admiration of his teammate and coaches,
