Penguins Free Agency: 3 Non-Tendered RFAs to Watch

As the trade winds swirl around the NHL, the Pittsburgh Penguins are riding out the storm, waiting to reap the benefits of those who didn’t get what they wanted from the NHL free agent frenzy. Those general managers will eventually turn to the few teams who are selling, and chief among the sellers are the Penguins.

With each trade, the Penguins figure to open more space for players hoping to take the next step in their careers or who need a second chance. It is GM Kyle Dubas’s strategy to hasten the rebuild by finding the players who get the runway to show their skills. Philip Tomasino and Cody Glass were prime examples of the strategy; Glass netted the Penguins a third-round pick from the New Jersey Devils, while Tomasino simply did not work out.

For players like Tomasino who do not stick, it is no harm, no foul. He got a chance, and the Penguins got to move on without consequence.

One interesting note arose from GM Kyle Dubas’s press conference Monday, and it is nothing that made news, but it speaks to the program and process the Penguins are putting in place. Dubas cited Joona Koppanen’s skating improvements, but did so with specifics. According to Dubas, the Penguins’ development program and work helped Koppanen improve his skating by 12% over his time with the Boston Bruins.

Read More: Penguins Free Agent Primer: Cap Space, Needs & Projections

What exactly that means is a little bit nebulous, but it was significant, and the results showed as Koppanen held his own in a late-season call-up. So, as Dubas and assistant GM Jason Spezza look across the league for borderline NHL players, perhaps who need some work, the infrastructure is in place.

Dubas also referenced having an idea of a few RFAs who would not be tendered a qualifying offer, and inferred that those players would be on the Penguins’ radar.

Could the Penguins look for some large-bodied RFAs who haven’t yet found success and were summarily discarded by their current team, allowed to seek employment elsewhere for the betterment of both sides? Will Dubas beat the bushes for offensively talented players who haven’t found the opportunity or success at the NHL that they did in lower levels?

Both types of RFAs (now UFAs) are on the market. However, with the rising salary cap, there are fewer opportunities. After an erroneous report, even cap-strapped Florida qualified Mackie Samoskevich. The bigger-name RFAs got their QO, but there might be a few who interest Dubas and company as borderline players who fight for spots in training camp and work their way up from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.

No-QO’d RFAs to Watch

Jacob Pelletier: Formerly of the Philadelphia Flyers

A small left winger with a big skill set but subpar production. Pelletier is 5-foot-9, 181 pounds. He skates well and is a creative player in the offensive zone, but after parts of three seasons in the NHL, mostly with Calgary before being traded to Philadelphia, Pelletier had just seven goals and 19 points in 48 games last season.

Speaking to his struggles to find his offensive game at the highest level, the winger had a 55% expected goals-for and a 53% high-danger scoring chance ratio. Those are solid numbers, but he was on the ice for more goals against (7) than for (6).

Pelletier, 24, is probably the most talented of the crop of unexpected free agents.

Zac Jones: Formerly New York Rangers

A zippy 24-year-old left-handed defenseman who likes to join the rush but can play both sides. He played a career high 46 games this season with 11 points (1-10-11). His advanced metrics fit with the disappointing Rangers season, but he was squeezed out in New York, and did not appear to be new head coach Mike Sullivan’s cup of tea (perhaps that adds to his attractiveness for some Penguins fans?).

Jones would also be able to pick up the power-play slack from letting Matt Grzelcyk walk via free agency. Of course, new Penguins coach Dan Muse would be quite familiar with Jones, having coached him for the last few seasons in New York.

Arthur Kaliyev: LA Kings/New York Rangers

Kaliyev never satisfied the structured LA Kings. The offensively talented player spent three seasons in bottom-line duty for LA, averaging more than 12 minutes just one season.

The Rangers claimed Kaliyev off waivers in January, but he needed shoulder surgery in March. He finished the season in the Rangers lineup but didn’t make much of an impact on the sulking team.

His offensive talents are not in question, but he has yet to put rubber to the road at 24 years old. There isn’t a team in the NHL with more opportunity to let loose the 6-foot-2, 210-pound left-handed sniper. Kaliyev prefers the right wing, but if he’s able to take passes from Evgeni Malkin or Sidney Crosby, one imagines he wouldn’t care which side he was on.

The negatives that kept him buried in LA were a spotty defensive game and a lack of a complete game. Those drawbacks didn’t stop Dubas from giving Tomasino a shot, and Kaliyev probably has more offensive upside.