Joseph Accepts Two-Year, One-Way Contract

It certainly looks as if the Pittsburgh Penguins plan to have a spot for P.O Joseph on their defense this fall.

He signed a two-year, one-way deal Tuesday with a salary-cap hit of $825,000.

Having Joseph under contract — he had been scheduled to enter restricted free agency at noon Wednesday — gives GM Ron Hextall the latitude to trade a defenseman to open some cap space that might make other moves possible.

Per CapFriendly.com’s calculations, the Penguins should have just under $9.5 million in cap space available for the coming season.

Joseph is a left-handed shot; the three lefties on the Penguins’ blue line for most of last season were Brian Dumoulin, Mike Matheson and Marcus Pettersson.

Joseph, 23, has appeared in 20 games with the Penguins over the past two seasons, putting up one goal and four assists.

He had 10 goals and 23 assists, both career highs, in 61 games with their farm team in Wilkes-Barre in 2021-22.

P.O Joseph was a first-round draft choice by Arizona in 2017, and came to the Pittsburgh Penguins two years later in the Phil Kessel trade.