January 22, 2025 | 11:56am ET
TheFourthPeriod.com

PENGUINS REMAIN ENGAGED IN TRADE MARKET

Bryan Rust, forward

The Pittsburgh Penguins told teams earlier in the season they are open for business. That mindset has not changed, as the club remains near the bottom of the Eastern Conference despite a stretch of solid hockey that has since fizzled in the last two weeks.

Penguins GM Kyle Dubas let the rest of the league know in November that he is willing to listen on almost any of his club’s players, including players with term, such as Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson and Michael Bunting.

Rust and Karlsson each own a no-movement clause as part of their respective contracts and would need to sign off on any move Dubas attempts to complete.

While the Penguins have not formally approached Rust or Karlsson about waiving their NMCs just yet, there may be a willingness from either player to consider a move to a contender.

During Tuesday’s “Insider Trading” segment on TSN, Chris Johnston reported the Penguins outside of the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, everyone else is fair game.

“Beyond that, there really aren’t any untouchables on that Penguins roster,” Johnston said. “What Pittsburgh’s looking to do is get younger. They’d like to trade some of their older players for younger NHL players, as opposed to prospects and draft picks, perhaps.”

Rust, 32, comes with a $5.125 million salary cap hit and has three more years remaining on his contract. His no-movement clause expires June 30.

Karlsson, 34, has a $10 million cap hit, as the San Jose Sharks retained the other $1.5 million cap portion of his deal, and has two more years left on his contract after this season.

Johnston also indicated that despite some reports suggesting otherwise, the Penguins are in fact not interested in retaining salary on any “any of their players with multiple years left on their deal.”

The Penguins have just one salary retention slot available to them this season, as they are currently eating on the contracts of Jeff Petry, who is in Detroit, and Reilly Smith, who is with the New York Rangers.

Defenceman Marcus Pettersson, who currently ranks No.10 on the TFP Trade Watch List and is expected to be moved by the March 7 trade deadline, comes with a cap hit of $4,025,175 and is a prime candidate for the Penguins to retain part of that contract.

The Dallas Stars, Vancouver Canucks, Winnipeg Jets and Ottawa Senators are some of the teams believed to have interest in Pettersson.