Trade or re-sign: How should the Penguins handle players entering final year of contracts?

They have a couple of interesting players to make decisions on.

Unless they make some sort of trade (still very possible) or make some additional smaller free agent signings (also maybe possible), it seems likely that the Pittsburgh Penguins have already made most of their additions for the offseason. They have not made any major splashes, and seem to be taking a more long-term approach with their direction.

So the next order of business might be what they intend to do with the small handful of players on the roster that are entering the final year of their contracts and are now eligible for new contract extensions.

Let’s take a look at them and try to figure out what the Penguins could — and perhaps should — do with those players.

We are excluding any of the players signed to one-year contracts this offseason and are looking strictly at the players that played for the Penguins this past season.

Sidney Crosby: Re-sign

The most significant of the pending free agents is, of course, the captain.

I am a little surprised that the Penguins and Crosby did not have a new contract signed on July 1 as soon as they were eligible, and I do find that interesting to say the least.

Is Crosby waiting to see what happens this season?

Is he waiting to see what direction the team really takes before making a decision on his future?

Will his competitiveness win out over wanting to finish his career with aPenguins team that is trending in the wrong direction?

I still think it is a matter of when, and not if, he ends up re-signing, and that should still be the Penguins’ goal. Not only for sentimental reasons and for everything he has done for the Penguins, but also because he is still a great, elite player that has shown few signs of slowing down. He should still have a few really good years left.

Marcus Pettersson: Shop

Now we get into an interesting discussion.

Pettersson is one of the Penguins’ best defensemen, and if we are being honest at this point he is also probably one of their best remaining players. He may not be a big presence offensively, but he can be an outstanding defensive player when he is at his best and he is still on the right side of 30. That makes him a rarity on this roster.

It also makes him one of the most marketable players they have in terms of trade chips.

If the Penguins really are thinking more long-term and toward the future, Pettersson could bring them back a very solid return.

It is also worth pointing out that, given the market for similarly skilled defenders, his next contract is probably not going to be cheap, and I just don’t know if A) he will be worth it, and B) you want to be the team to pay that price.

His contract does contain an eight-team no-trade list.

Lars Eller: Shop

This is a very easy decision, and quite honestly I am a little surprised he has not been traded by now.

He is still a very good defensive center and was one of the few offseason additions from a year ago that actually worked out. But he is going to be 35 years old this season, has no real long-term outlook here and is still good enough (and cheap enough) that plenty of teams should have interest in him.

He should be able to land them another second-round pick (at least).

Plus, they now have Kevin Hayes on the roster for two more years and you figure he is going to play some sort of bottom-six role in that time.

Drew O’Connor: Re-sign

Even though O’Connor isn’t really a core player, or somebody that you should be looking to build around, I like him as a player and think he is worth keeping. He is still fairly young, he took a nice step forward in 2023-24, and even though his production can be a little inconsistent he still showed that he might have 15-20 goal ability over a full season.

You still need to fill out a roster with competent players, and O’Connor can certainly be that at what shouldn’t be an outrageous price.

Given his age I feel like he probably has more value to them as a middle-six player than a trade chip.

Re-sign him.

Jesse Puljujarvi: Wait and see

Puljujarvi should get a real look this season to see what he can do. Make it an audition year for him and see if he fits as a potential medium-term answer. At this point he is never going to be a star, but I think he has enough positive qualities defensively and with his ability to drive possession that you should be able to find a role for him. No need to rush to re-sign him. No need to give him away. See what he can do and make your decision after the season.

Matt Nieto: Shop (or let him walk)

Nieto has one year remaining at a $900,000 salary cap number, which is pretty much nothing. There is little to no reason to re-sign him because he doesn’t really add much that you can’t replace next offseason with any number of potential available free agents. Shop him, and if you can not find any sort of a deal, you just simply let him walk as a free agent after the season.