Breaking: Penguins GM told 4 core players to explore free agency.

Major change expected in Pittsburgh

As reported by NBC Sports’ Joey Alfieri, Pittsburgh Penguins GM Jim Rutherford told 4 core players to explore free agency.

The Pens are tight for cap space for the 2017–2018 season and they will need to make crucial moves this summer.

“If you want to come back to Pittsburgh, we’re going to keep the door open for everybody,” Rutherford told the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. “At that point in time, I’ll have a better understanding as to how we can fit certain guys in. We won’t be able to fit everybody in, but how can we fit certain guys in? Can we get to the market value of what these players can get to go somewhere else, or get close enough to it that they’re going to still come back to Pittsburgh?”

Basically, Jim Rutherford told free agents like Nick Bonino, Trevor Daley, Chris Kunitz and possibly Ron Hainsey to explore free agency on July 1st.

According to Alfieri, the strategy behind it is “once they see what their market value is, they can come back and negotiate with the Pens.”