The table was set, the food served, but now the dishes are all but done. The NHL’s July 1 free agent frenzy is over, and teams such as the Pittsburgh Penguins that would like to keep nibbling have very few options left.

The Penguins have just two lefty defensemen who were NHL regulars last season, if we include Declan Carlile, whom they signed to a two-year bargain-bing $3 million contract. The other is Sam Girard.

Of course, the Penguins also have Ryan Graves for three more seasons, but he spent a bulk of last season in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, and assistant general manager Jason Spezza’s response to Graves’s standing in the organization wasn’t overly optimistic.

“Yeah, I think we’ve been very clear with Ryan on where he stands. He knows that things have to change. He’s changing his approach this summer,” said Spezza on July 1. “He’s going to do everything possible to really get himself started on track. And with a veteran player, you always make sure there’s competition and give them the ability to earn that place back. But I think Ryan knows where he stands, (he’s) been disappointed with how it’s gone so far. It’s on him to kind of get away for the summer and put the work in and come back and make an impact.”

There is also a player that has been overlooked even by PHN in recent extrapolations: Caleb Jones. However, Jones has been an NHL regular for only one season in his eight-year NHL career, and that was with the LA Kings in 2022-23.

Jones suffered a fluky foot injury that kept him out for months, and then suffered a shoulder injury that required surgery in April, which carried a four-to-six-month recovery timeline.

While it may appear the Penguins need to go shopping to complete their roster and maintain the preferable left-right balance, their options are paltry, at best, as there are only four left-handed defensemen who were NHL regulars last season remaining on the market.

Logan Stanley. Ben Hutton. Carson Soucy. Matt Grzelczyk.

That’s it. Those are the regulars on the free agent market. The others don’t inspire hope that there’s a hidden gem, either. The Carolina Hurricanes have thus far declined to re-sign 28-year-old Mike Reilly, a softer, offensive defenseman who played 42 games last season. Nike Leddy, who will turn 36, is also still on the market but appears to be just about at the end. And there’s P.O Joseph, too.

Perhaps if Joseph’s career hadn’t been thwarted early on, at multiple levels, that might be a different sentence, but the time for that discussion is past.

So, do any of the free agents make sense within the context and needs of the Penguins’ roster? Sure. Kind of. Maybe.

Stanley, 28, is a hulking D-man who has a reputation for hits and clearing the crease, though statistically he delivered only 84 hits in 76 games last season. After acquiring him from the Winnipeg Jets, the Buffalo Sabres allowed the 6-foot-7 defenseman to walk into free agency, and as of July 10, he remains untethered.

The downsides are his agility, speed, and puck movement, which all seem important to the Penguins’ style of play.

Ben Hutton, 33, has been a depth piece in Vegas since arriving in 2021-22. He was their Chad Ruhwedel, their seventh defenseman who always seemed to be in the lineup, always prepared but never spectacular.

Former Vegas coach John Tortorella dressed him for only seven playoff games on the team’s run to the Stanley Cup Final, and at this point in his career, Hutton won’t be getting any better. And the Penguins filled his vacancy on Vegas’s blue line when they traded Parker Wotherspoon to Vegas for righty Kaedan Korczak.

Hutton would be a bargain value add, but not a long-term piece or one with much trade value at the NHL trade deadline.

Soucy, 31, is now a journeyman having played for five teams in the last six years. He’s big (6-foot-4, 211 pounds), a defensive defenseman, but he’s also inconsistent. Soucy is a better one-year option than the other free agents and better than what the Penguins have under contract, but not so much so that they must hurl a contract in his direction immediately.

Of the available options, Soucy might be the right defender to balance Harrison Brunicke or form a reliable third-pair with either Trevor van Riemsdyk or Korczak.

Penguins fans got a good look at Grzelcyk, 32, for one year, in 2024-25. He’s a placeholder defenseman who did little to impress in Chicago last season and might find himself on a PTO (professional tryout agreement) in training camp.

And that’s all that’s “left” for the Penguins to choose.

Internal Options

For those who want to see the young players earn spots in the lineup, the paper-thin options would seem to provide 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering a shorter path to the NHL lineup, perhaps by mid-season if he can maintain his elevated play from the second half of last season and in the playoffs, before he played on a broken foot.

And the overlooked Jones is only 29 years old, skates well, and can move the puck. His game has real warts, such as turnovers and a lack of physicality, but if he played with a TVR or Korczak, the pairing would make sense. Lest we forget, he beat Graves for a left-side spot last fall, and Brunicke played well beside him.

Or, perhaps the summer will be good to Graves, and he will rise to the challenge that has thus far beaten him since he signed the six-year free agent deal on July 1, 2023.

But Spezza’s comments on July 1, in which he tamped down the importance of the left-right balance, clearly indicated that one of the righties, likely van Riemsdyk, was the preferred choice.

Otherwise, the internal options are probably the right way to go … for a lefty.

Tags: ben hutton carson soucy Nhl free agents Penguins Free Agents ryan graves

Categorized:NHL Free Agency Pittsburgh Penguins