Penguins General Manager Ron Hextall said yesterday that Evgeni Malkin’s unavailability at the start of the season due to knee surgery played a role in the team’s approach to the expansion draft, in which they lost valuable winger Brandon Tanev to the Seattle Kraken.
Hextall says the Penguins protected centers Jeff Carter and Teddy Blueger instead of wingers Tanev and Jared McCann, whom they traded, in part due to Malkin’s injury.
Hextall says another major factor in the decision to trade McCann and leave Tanev unprotected was the team’s tight salary cap.
This week’s moves leave the Penguins almost $7.5 million under the salary cap, and while Hextall says the roster could be shaped from within the organization, he will be looking at free agents in the coming weeks.
Hextall said he expects Filip Hallander to compete for a roster spot. Hallander was a 2018 second-round draft choice whom the Penguins traded to Toronto last season and re-acquired in the McCann trade last weekend. He played last season in Sweden. The GM also said Malkin’s recovery from knee surgery is going well, and that contract extensions for Malkin and defenseman Kris Letang have been put on the “backburner” for now.
The first round of the NHL Draft is tonight. The Penguins traded their first-round pick to Minnesota two years ago in the Jason Zucker deal. The first pick for the Pens will be in tomororw’s second round, 58th overall.
The NHL announced its schedule for the upcoming season yesterday, and the Penguins will open on the road October 12th at Tampa Bay, which will raise its second straight Stanley Cup banner. Eight of the Pens’ first 10 games will be at home. After following up the opener with a stop at Florida on October 14th, the Penguins will play their next eight games at PPG Paints Arena, starting with a game against the Chicago Blackhawks on October 16th.
Tanev and McCann are scheduled to first play the Penguins in Seattle on December 6th, and will return to play in Pittsburgh on January 27th.
