The Penguins “Big Three” are staying together. Late last night, the team announced that Evgeni Malkin had agreed to a four-year, $24.4 million contract extension. The deal includes a full no-trade clause for the soon-to-be 36-year-old center.
CapFriendly.com says the Malkin contract leaves the Penguins with just over $4.2 million in salary cap headroom, so they might be very active in the trade market after yesterday signing Malkin and defenseman P.O. Joseph to a one-way, two-year contract carrying a cap hit of $825,000. Defenseman Marcus Petterson will very likely be traded and the team will also lose free agents such as Evan Rodrigues, Danton Heinen, and Brian Boyle. Since May, GM Ron Hextall has signed forward Bryan Rust, goalie Casey DeSmith, defenseman Kris Letang, and forward Rickard Rakell, and made qualifying offers to Kasperi Kapanen and Kasper Bjorkvist.
NHL free agency begins at noon today.
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