The Pittsburgh Penguins didn’t cause any earthquakes, but they were perhaps a little more busy than expected Tuesday on the opening day of free agency. They dipped their toes into a few signings, brought back a couple familiar faces and said goodbye to someone who at times was a key player the past couple seasons.
We had you covered all day on the moves, but they warrant a one-stop wrap-up as an overview that also includes links so you can circle back and further explore each move.
None of the moves was a blockbuster, and none added a contract longer than two years — and that fit with what president of hockey operations/general manager Kyle Dubas had predicted.
However, there was one announcement that seemed to stand above the others. The Penguins traded goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to the San Jose Sharks. That’s not a shock considering the depth at that position in the organization.
Still, Nedeljkovic was not only a capable backup the past couple seasons, but he also surpassed Tristan Jarry as the No. 1 at times. His trade — which brought back a third-round draft pick in 2028, continuing the stockpiling of draft assets by Dubas — reshapes the goalie competition that will take place during training camp and perhaps into the season.
There has been some speculation that the Penguins might explore trading Jarry, who now stands as the only established NHL goalie in the organization. Young goalies Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov surely took note of the Nedeljkovic trade.
As far as other positions, the Penguins maneuvered to bring back forwards Philip Tomasino and Connor Dewar. Both had been restricted free agents before the team declined to extend qualifying offers to them this week. They became unrestricted free agents Tuesday, but the Penguins were able to quickly re-sign them independent of the qualifying-offer process.
In terms of new blood, the Penguins’ first move of the day was signing left-handed defenseman Parker Wotherspoon, who in addition to having an awesome name could provide at least some depth on the blueline.
For those wanting to see the Penguins get bigger, they signed hulking forward Justin Brazeau.
Finally, the team added another defenseman, signing journeyman Caleb Jones.
So no long-term deals such as the ones defenseman Ryan Graves and Jarry are on. No big names stepping into the black and gold. No core players moved out. But enough moves to scoot the needle some on the Penguins’ refresh, retool, rebuild or whatever anyone wants to label it after three straight seasons of missing the playoffs.
There will likely be some other movement by the Penguins this offseason, but it’s unlikely there will be a day with as much roster traffic as there was Tuesday.