Penguins 2024 free agency outlook
Taking a look at the Penguins’ internal free agents
The Penguins’ 2024 free agency cycle has already kicked off with the re-signing of Sam Poulin. The team has several other decisions to make in the next two months before the NHL’s FA period opens up on July 1.
Notable Unrestricted free agents
Jeff Carter — announced retirement
Alex Nedeljkovic
Valtteri Puustinen
Jansen Harkins
Ryan Shea
Radim Zohorna
Vinnie Hinostroza
Both Puustinen and Shea moved into the rare Group VI unrestricted free agents due to their age and not playing enough NHL games to qualify as restricted free agents. That pushes the clock up a little for the Penguins to decide if they want to keep either of them.
Nedeljkovic has grown into a surprising key, and his status in Pittsburgh could be tied to what the Pens can (or can’t) do about potentially moving Tristan Jarry over the next few weeks and months. Nedeljkovic played well and built a lot of trust and equity from his teammates and the organization by starting the last 13 games and going 8-2-3 in them to help the team’s ill-fated playoff push. The goalie market can be unpredictable for what the future holds, but this status and whether or not the Pens will allow Nedeljkovic to get to July 1 without a contract figures to be one of the team’s more interesting storylines in the immediate future.
Notable Restricted free agents
P.O. Joseph
Emil Bemstrom
Jack St. Ivany
Jonathan Gruden
The restricted market has opened up a lot more intrigue in recent years, it wasn’t too long ago when the industry norm was to qualify almost all NHL-caliber RFA’s and work out new contracts. In recent years from Ryan Poehling to Danton Heinen, the Pens have not always gone that route for reasons of financial flexibility and sometimes just moving in different directions.
Of all these players, Joseph and St. Ivany make the most sense to give qualifying offers to without much thought. Both finished the season in the NHL lineup and with strong impressions on a promising future. For Joseph, that could mean starting next season on a pair with Kris Letang depending on what happens with (waves hands) whatever is going on with Ryan Graves. St. Ivany was capable in his first taste at NHL action and ought to be a mainstay on the right side of the third pair to start next season.
The Bemstrom decision for the Pens will be one worth watching. They did invest a sixth round pick in him (with apparently enough belief from Columbus that Bemstrom might break out to saddle a conditional third round pick if he scored six goals in Pittsburgh last season). Bemstrom only scored five total points (3G+2A) in 24 games. Did he show enough to be brought back for another look? Or will the team want to go with different/other lower lineup options like Poulin, Jesse Puljujarvi, Matt Nieto or a new free agent? That would be the key question to answer for Bemstrom’s qualification decision.
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Overall, the Penguins don’t have too many internal free agents to worry about. Poulin is already in the fold, and it won’t be difficult to wrap up Joseph and St. Ivany on team-friendly short-term contracts. Puustinen and Shea should be amenable to coming back if given attention. The goalie situation is a fascinating one, with rookie Joel Blomqvist poking into the picture to crowd the field.
Pittsburgh’s 2025 free agent class is a lot more seismic with Sidney Crosby, Marcus Pettersson, Reilly Smith, Lars Eller, Drew O’Connor all having their contracts end after next season. The team ought to be looking to remove Crosby’s name from this list sometime soon after July 1 when they are able to formalize a contract extension.
For now, the best aspect of the Pens’ 2024 FA class might be the opening of $3.125 million on the salary cap and the opportunity to replace Jeff Carter with a younger player. It was a great run for Carter until the bitter end but getting that cap room back to be able to operate in upcoming trades or external free agent decisions will serve Pittsburgh well.