The NHL’s deadline of 5 p.m. Sunday for issuing qualifying offers has come and passed, meaning a handful of Pittsburgh Penguins players are set to become unrestricted free agents when the league’s free agent signing period begins at noon Monday.
Most prominent among that group of players is 24-year-old defenseman P.O Joseph.
On Friday, before the first day of the NHL Draft in Las Vegas, Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas suggested the team might not qualify Joseph due to the potential of an arbitration award that would create issues for the team’s salary cap figures.
“A lot of the players are not getting qualified,” Dubas said. “There’s an arbitration element to it that is important to us and cap space. So we’re trying to measure the players that aren’t going to be qualified, the players that are going to get to free agency. If you go down that path, what is that cap space? What type of player do we have? Is it better or equal? Can we get the same for less money? There’s all those types of things. So we’ll work through that.”
Unlike in years past, the team did not issue a statement on what players received qualifying offers.
On Friday, Dubas indicated negotiations were continuing with forward Emil Bemstrom and the team would qualify minor league forward Corey Andonovski.
It is presumed forwards Maxim Cajkovic and Dillon Hamaliuk did not receive offers and will be allowed to become unrestricted free agents.
Joseph finished the 2023-24 season on the team’s top defensive pairing with Kris Letang. In 52 games last season, the left-handed Joseph had 11 points (two goals, nine assists) while averaging 15 minutes, 5 seconds of ice time per contest.
He is in the final year of a two-year contract that carries a salary cap hit of $825,000.
The lack of a qualifying offer doesn’t necessarily mean Joseph’s time with the team will be coming to an end. On Friday, Dubas indicated director of hockey operations and legal affairs Vukie Mpofu was still negotiating with Joseph’s agent Olivier Fortier.
Bemstrom joined the Penguins via a trade with the Columbus Blue Jackets on Feb. 22. Appearing in 24 games with the Penguins, Bemstrom totaled five points (three goals, two assists) while averaging 8:46 of ice time.
The 25-year-old Bemstrom is completing the final year of a two-year contract with a salary cap hit of $900,000.
Andonovski spent all of last season with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the AHL. In 63 games, he scored 30 points (seven goals, 23 assists).
An undrafted free agent signing in 2022, Andonovski is completing the second year of a two-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $925,000.
Cajkovic was acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Wild in January and split time between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Wheeling of the ECHL.
Primarily assigned to Wheeling, Cajkovic appeared in 13 games for that team. On April 10, Cajkovic was loaned to the Slovakian national team.
The 23-year-old is in the final year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $850,833.
Hamaliuk was part of the blockbuster trade in August with the San Jose Sharks that brought All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson to Pittsburgh.
The 23-year-old split the 2023-24 season between Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Wheeling. In 36 games with Wheeling, Hamaliuk posted 39 points (15 goals, 24 assists) and was selected to the ECHL’s All-Star Classic.
Hamaliuk is completing the final year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $789,167.
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Staff writer Justin Guerriero contributed to this story.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.