Penguins qualify Kasperi Kapanen but not Danton Heinen
While the fate of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ most prominent unrestricted free agent, forward Evgeni Malkin, is still unfolding, the futures of his two most regular linemates last season took divergent paths Monday.
Kasperi Kapanen and Danton Heinen entered the offseason as pending restricted free agents, and only one of them received a qualifying offer from the team.
Heinen will become an unrestricted free agent Wednesday when the NHL opens the doors on the free agent signing period.
Heinen, who logged a team-leading 242 minutes of common five-on-five ice time with Evgeni Malkin in 2021-22, joined the Penguins under similar circumstances during the 2021 offseason.
His previous team, the Anaheim Ducks, did not qualify him as a restricted free agent last summer and allowed him to become an unrestricted free agent. The Penguins took a chance on Heinen and signed him to a one-year contract for a frugal $1.1 million.
Heinen rewarded that faith by posting a career-best 18 goals as well as 33 points in 76 games last season while logging 12:43 of ice time per contest.
Yet, he will become an unrestricted free agent for the second consecutive offseason.
As for Kapanen, he logged 201:06 of common five-on-five ice time with Malkin last season and largely struggled. Appearing in 79 games, Kapanen scored 32 points (11 goals, 21 assists) while clocking 14:32 of ice time per contest. He is in the final days of a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $3.2 million and is eligible for arbitration in August.
During his season-ending media availability May 23, general manager Ron Hextall provided answers that suggested different outcomes for Heinen and Kapanen.
“We like both players,” Hextall said. “Danton came in, did a real good job for us. … It was kind of a ‘prove-it’ contract for him, and he did a real good job for us. So we’ll evaluate that one as we move forward here.
“(Kapanen, in the 2020-21 season) scored 30 points in 40 games. He kind of proved the type of numbers that he can put up. This year, he had similar numbers in twice the games. There’s more there for (Kapanen). He had an off year. We certainly expect more from him next year.”
In total, the Penguins extended qualifying offers to only three of their pending restricted free agents. Forward Kasper Bjorkqvist and defenseman P.O Joseph received offers along with Kapanen.
Last month, Bjorkqvist, a second-round pick (No. 61 overall) in 2016, signed with Karpat of the Liiga in his native Finland. The Penguins’ decision to qualify the 25-year-old simply ensures they formally retain his NHL rights.
As for Joseph, the 23-year-old left-hander remains one of the Penguins’ top prospects. Acquired in 2019 through a trade that sent popular forward Phil Kessel to the Arizona Coyotes, Joseph, a first-round pick (No. 23 overall) in 2017, has spent the past three seasons with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins of the American Hockey League.
He broke through with a career season at the AHL level in 2021-22. Appearing in 61 games last season, Joseph was one of the team’s top scorers with 33 points (10 goals, 23 assists). Joseph also appeared in four NHL games and did not record a point.
In addition to Heinen, forwards Justin Almeida, Jordy Bellerive and Jan Drozg, defensemen Niclas Almari, Cam Lee and Will Reilly and goaltender Alex D’Orio, all minor leaguers, did not receive qualifying offers.
Forward Alex Nylander was scheduled to become a restricted free agent Wednesday but signed a one-year, two-way contract for the league minimum ($750,000).
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.
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