Penguins Trade Talk: Swapping Bad Contracts & Salary Dumps to Watch

Bad contracts are part of the business. The NHL buyout window is open through June 30, but the Pittsburgh Penguins are not thought to be considering any buyouts despite a couple of salary cap hits that general manager Kyle Dubas might very well regret. No, this summer it is other teams and their bad contracts that might be the right fodder to facilitate a needed Penguins trade.

Hockey’s version of the salary cap penalty box is both a salary relief for teams and a long-term penalty, as the NHL uses a formula that basically spreads the salary owed over double the years remaining. So, there is both opportunity and danger in trading for a player who is otherwise a buyout candidate.

The risk of trading for a player who is not working out with another team is then getting saddled with the years and cap hit of a player who isn’t worth the price. Conversely, the reward can be a player who discovers his best in a new situation, much like the Washington Capitals snaring Pierre-Luc Dubois from the LA Kings last summer.

Dubois was just one year into an eight-year deal with LA before Washington and LA swapped bad contracts, and Washington absorbed the enormous risk. The trade worked out quite well for Washington as Dubois set a career high with 66 points, including 20 goals, and Washington had a resurgent season.

In return, Washington zipped struggling goalie Darcy Kuemper to LA, and he, too, had a solid year, posting a .922 save percentage. It was a win-win trade.

Penguins Trade Possibilities?

The Penguins have one particularly bad contract on which Dubas would like a do-over. He signed defenseman Ryan Graves to a six-year deal. Two years later, Graves has spent time in the press box, the dog house, but not nearly enough time fulfilling the top pairing role for which the Penguins acquired him.

Four more years at $4.5 million a year.

Perhaps there is an opportunity for Dubas to unload Graves onto a team with a defined system, and a new team could revive the large defenseman, who was perfectly solid, if unspectacular, with the Colorado Avalanche and New Jersey Devils.

Graves was once a competent NHL defenseman whose roster spot was not in doubt. That was not the case with the Penguins, and Dubas could avoid the entirely unenviable position of relying on mere hope that new coach Dan Muse will be able to revive his 6-foot-4, 220-pound defenseman.

Perhaps there are bad contracts to be swapped to the Penguins’ benefit, including one young center who once helped defeat the Penguins in a playoff series. To balance monetary ends, Graves carries a $4.5 million salary cap hit, but is owed only $15.75 million, including an annual $2 million signing bonus.

1. Jesper Kotkaniemi

The former object of the RFA tug-of-war between the Montreal Canadiens and Carolina Hurricanes is overpaid for the long term and not working nearly as well with the distinctive Carolina system as he did with Montreal.

Kotkaniemi, 24, was seen as growing into a No. 2 center with shutdown defensive abilities. However, Carolina has snookered him at the bottom of the lineup, and Kotkaniemi has not been nearly the impact player that everyone thought he would be when Carolina signed him to the lucrative offer sheet after his second NHL season.

Kotkaniemi was the third overall pick in 2018 because of his potential and size. He’s 6-foot-3, 202 pounds and has far more potential than he has displayed in the system-heavy storm surge.

There’s more smoke around Carolina than the average BBQ joint, indicating that Carolina will consider a buyout of Kotkaniemi, who carries a $4.8 million cap hit for five more seasons. Perhaps Dubas can swing a very similar deal to that of Washington getting Dubois, and snagging for themselves a young center who could use another chance.

Since Kotkaniemi is under 26 years old, the buyout would be more friendly, at just one-third the salary payout. Kotkaniemi qualifies for the reduced buyout for two more years, which would give any team time to evaluate.

2. Tyler Bertuzzi

The winger hasn’t been entirely unproductive, but the big contract that the Chicago Blackhawks dished to the formerly agitating winger who has softened. Bertuzzi has three years with a $5.5 million cap hit, so the cash balances, but the Penguins would take on an extra million in exchange for one less year.

Bertuzzi can play the right or left wing, and the Penguins will need more wingers capable of finishing, especially if Dubas does trade Rickard Rakell or Bryan Rust.

No, bad contract for bad contract trades aren’t very attractive, but perhaps Bertuzzi could be a useful winger through the next couple of seasons in the organization’s transition.

3. Matt Dumba

Dallas cannot accept a salary in return as GM Jim Nill is still trying to maneuver his way to bringing back several more key veterans, but the Penguins’ large salary cap space (nearly $23 million) could allow them to be the receptacle for a Dallas salary dump.

Dumba has one more year at $3.5 million. He’s a right-handed defenseman, which means if the Penguins were able to find value in him, he would then have real trade value toward the NHL trade deadline, as righty D-men have become as valuable and rare as left-handed relievers in baseball. There’s always a little bit of a market for them.

However, Dallas is up against the clock and the cap ceiling. A Penguins trade here would especially make sense if Dubas believes he can move Erik Karlsson this summer.