Penguins go big in signing defenseman Ryan Graves

Kyle Dubas did not offer many particulars when asked how he might approach free agency while speaking with media June 24 in Cranberry.

But he didn’t deceive anyone.

In fact, he largely stayed true Saturday to what he suggested.

“I don’t think they’re going to be the big splashy type of (unrestricted free agents),” Dubas said. “They’ll probably be more subtle bets. And we’ll need to hit on them in order to have success.”

Saturday, he mostly avoided any of the prominent names available on the first day of the NHL’s free agent signing period and filled in holes on the bottom rungs of the roster with smaller contracts.

The lone exception to that approach of avoiding big contracts came in the form of a rather big player.

Defenseman Ryan Graves (6-foot-5, 220 pounds), formerly of the New Jersey Devils, signed a six-year contract carrying a salary cap hit of $4.5 million.

The left-handed Graves, primarily playing on New Jersey’s second pairing with former Penguins defenseman John Marino, appeared in 78 games last season and scored 26 points (eight goals, 18 assists) while averaging 19 minutes, 57 seconds of ice time.

He also saw significant duties on the penalty kill, averaging 2:24 of short-handed time.

Saturday, Dubas suggested Graves, 28, could be a partner on either of the team’s top two pairings with right-handers Kris Letang or Jeff Petry.

“He brings a lot of size to the group,” Dubas said.” But more importantly, he’s been very effective at playing against very tough competition in New Jersey and going back (to his time with the Colorado Avalanche). We feel that will help. He can complement and play with either Kris or Jeff.”

Also added to the mix were forwards Noel Acciari (three years, $2 million salary cap hit), Lars Eller (two years, $2.45 million) and Matt Nieto (two years, $900,000).

It is hoped the trio will boost a group of bottom-six forwards that was anemic last season.

“They’re competitive, they’ve got good speed, they’re defensively reliable and have defensive utility,” Dubas said. “And they’re able to chip in and think the game offensively and give us a little bit of offensive push in the bottom-six (forwards).”

Those arrivals were possible because of several departures.

Most notably, Brian Dumoulin, a member of the organization since 2012 and a vital component of the franchise’s Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and 2017, signed a two-year contract with the Seattle Kraken that carries a salary cap hit of $3.15 million.

Meanwhile, top-six left winger Jason Zucker, coming off a 27-goal season, signed a one-year contract with the Arizona Coyotes worth $5.3 million.

Also changing ZIP codes were:

Forwards — Josh Archibald (two-year contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning, $800,000 salary cap hit), Nick Bonino (one year with the New York Rangers, $800,000), Drake Caggiula (two-year, two-way contract with the Edmonton Oilers, $775,000), Ryan Poehling (one year with the Philadelphia Flyers, $1.4 million)

Defenseman — Dmitry Kulikov (one year with the Florida Panthers, $1 million)

Goaltender — Dustin Tokarski (one year, two-way with the Buffalo Sabres, $775,000)

While Cap Friendly, the leading outlet in monitoring salary cap figures around the NHL, indicates the Penguins are $1,516,842 over the limit of $83.5 million, Dubas indicated the team will be compliant by the start of the regular season based on internal plans he declined to share.

Note: The Penguins also signed minor-league forward Joona Koppanen (two years) and defenseman Ryan Shea (one year) to two-way contracts that each carry a salary cap hit of $775,000.