Heinen Is Back

Team: 2022-23 Pittsburgh Penguins

Initial Creation Date: Jul. 27, 2022

Published: Jul. 27, 2022

Salary Cap Mode: Basic

With Heinen re-signing for a bargain deal, the middle-six does looks a lot better off than it did yesterday. I believe this makes Zucker a little more expendable which leads to a trade with Anaheim. With the trade, Anaheim is able to reach the cap floor and acquire a solid forechecking veteran winger to play alongside a team of young up-and-coming players. Anaheim could also benefit from trading Zucker at the Trade Deadline to a contender for more draft picks. Joseph is also a part of the package and is a young left handed defensemen who serves as a need to compete for a second or third pairing spot. The draft picks in the trade can be adjusted as needed.

With more cap space, Hextall makes one more bargain signing and brings in Stastny on a 1 year deal. Stastny who comes off a solid year (even at age 36), can move up and down between 2 LW and 3 LW but could also go to 3C to move Carter to 3 RW if needed. This may cause a portion of the fan base to moan and groan about age but again, Stastny is coming off a solid year and one could make the argument that 5 of the forwards are over the age of 30 (one of those being a generational superstar) while 7 are under the age of 30 - so it is almost an even mix of age.

As for the defense core, I can see Smith starting in the AHL for maybe a month before taking the third pairing spot. Rutta who can play on his off side, starts with Ruhwedel before the transition.

Everyone can breathe a sigh of relief with the Penguins being able to have a 23 man roster and still $3M in cap space. This creates roster flexibility which they did not really have last season. I could still see Archibald, Friedman and or Poehling having to clear waivers at some point due to being sent down. Here's guessing it is most likely Archibald or Friedman.