The Pittsburgh Penguins did exactly what Kyle Dubas said they were going to do in free agency. Sit back and make some minor deals for some depth players. All in all it was a quiet day for the Penguins and that is perfectly fine for where they are and a lot of times it is perfectly fine even when contending. Lots of mistakes are made on July 1st but none for Dubas.
Dubas re-signed both Philip Tomasino and Connor Dewar. Tomasino received a one year show me deal where he is likely to get some middle six ice time. Tomasino finished the year with 11 goals and 23 points in his 50 games with the Penguins. He had a 1.52 points per 60 at 5v5. His cap hit is going to be a very manageable 1.75M. He’s a playable NHL player on a short term contract on a team not challenging for the Cup. This is harmless with some mild upside. If he plays well they can either trade him for more assets or they can keep him as he is still an RFA at 23 years of age.
Connor Dewar also returns on a one-year deal that will pay him 1.1M. Dewar is a defense first forward who had ten points in his 48 games between Toronto and Pittsburgh last year. With Matt Nieto on the way out and Noel Acciari likely following him via trade the Penguins are making sure they have some NHL depth signed to the roster.
The Penguins also have some new blood coming in to the roster. Parker Wotherspoon signed a two-year deal with a 1M AAV. This is the most interesting signing for the Penguins today even if Wotherspoon will likely be playing in a depth role. He has some really nice underlying numbers
He only has 103 NHL games to his name at 27 years of age, but if he is going to be a bottom pairing player and not be a liability for only a 1M cap hit, then I say it is a good piece of business.
Justin Brazeau signed his own two-year deal with the team which carries a 1.5M AAV. He is a former Bruin like Wotherspoon and he also has a limited NHL sample at age 26. Brazeau continues a trend from the draft and that would be, size. He is 6’6” and 227 pounds. He has 29 points in 95 career games
Caleb Jones rounds out the depth signings and like the other two new players he too has a two-year deal.with a 900k AAV. His brother is a recent Stanley Cup champion, Seth Jones. Caleb has 248 games of NHL experience with only 31 of those games coming in the last two seasons. This is clearly organizational depth, nothing more, nothing less.
As far as signings go the Penguins have five new contracts with a total AAV of 6.25M. None of this is problematic. The cap situation remains fluid and Dubas still has flexibility. They have about 17.5M remaining in cap space and that is even before any of Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell gets traded.
The Pens also made a trade. Kyle Dubas has cleared the way for Joel Blomqvist or Sergei Murashov to take over the backup goalie duties. Alex Nedeljkovic was traded to San Jose for a 2028 third round pick. Nedeljkovic had a poor season in 2024-25 and for the Penguins to land a third round pick for him is very good even if the pick isn’t until 2028.
While Nedeljkovic had his moments during his short tenure with the Penguins he just couldn’t handle the workload of a starting goalie and his play suffered as a result. There’s no sense in blocking either of the Penguins younger goalies at this point in time for a veteran backup who is not playing well.
Lastly, we have an official retirement today. It wasn’t a former player. It was one of the best reporters to ever do it, the Bobfather himself, Bob McKenzie.
The caliber of people that usually are in an insider role at a major network are suspect to say the least. Bob was an exception. He was so human and authentic while also being the best at his job. He was a true pro and a real one. Cheers to the Bobfather, you’re the best. Enjoy your well earned retirement.
Here’s one of my favorite posts of his ten years to the day
Thanks for reading!
Looks like we got Mantha for one year. That’s the perfect kind of gamble for this team. If he performs well, we can flip him at the deadline. More size too.