Penguins trade defenseman John Marino to Devils

On Wednesday, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ron Hextall acknowledged he would have to jettison one of the nine NHL-caliber defensemen he had under contract.

On Saturday, he did so.

Right-handed John Marino, who never quite lived up to the promise he showed as a rookie in 2019-20, was traded to the New Jersey Devils in exchange for left-handed defenseman Ty Smith and a third-round draft pick in 2023.

This transaction provides some much-needed relief against the salary cap for the Penguins. Marino is entering the second year of a six-year contract that carries a salary cap hit of $4.4 million.

Meanwhile, Smith is in the final year of a three-year entry-level contract with a salary cap hit of $833,333. He is scheduled to become a restricted free agent in the 2023 offseason.

According to Cap Friendly, the Penguins now have $3,344,825 of projected salary cap space.

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Marino, 25, appeared in 81 games this past season and scored 25 points (one goal, 24 assists) while averaging 20 minutes, 38 seconds of ice time, including 2:21 on the penalty kill.

The Penguins acquired Marino from the Edmonton Oilers in a 2019 trade after Marino, a 2015 sixth-round pick (No. 154 overall) of the Oilers, opted not to sign with that team.

Making his NHL debut during the 2019-20 season, Marino showed considerable promise. Appearing in 56 games as a rookie, Marino posted 26 points (six goals, 26 assists) while averaging 20:15 of ice time. Following Marino’s impressive freshman campaign, then-general manager Jim Rutherford suggested Marino could wind up being the franchise’s top defenseman for a decade.

But after signing a six-year contract extension in January of 2021, Marino’s play largely plateaued. On Wednesday, the Penguins signed veteran right-handed defenseman Jan Rutta to a three-year contract with a salary cap hit of $2.75 million. That addition signaled the Penguins likely would deal away a defenseman.

Smith, a first-round pick (No. 17 overall) in 2018, appeared in 66 games last season and scored 20 points (five goals, 15 assists) while averaging 17:30 of ice time.

He was a healthy scratch for nine games and missed seven games for various medical-related ailments in 2021-22.

The 22-year-old Smith (5-foot-11, 180 pounds) was more productive as a rookie in 2020-21, when he appeared in 48 games and scored 23 points (two goals, 21 assists) while clocking an average of 20:07 of ice time per contest. He was named to the NHL’s All-Rookie Team that season.

In addition to flexibility with the salary cap, the addition of Smith provides some roster flexibility. Smith is still exempt from having to be exposed to waivers for any transactions that involve assigning or recalling him from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

While Smith is capable of playing either side of the blue line, the Penguins have a considerable surplus of left-handed defensemen including Brian Dumoulin, P.O Joseph, Mike Matheson and Marcus Pettersson.

Overall, the Penguins still have nine NHL caliber-defensemen under contract, and it’s unlikely all of them will still be with the organization by the time the regular season begins.

On Wednesday, Hextall indicated having a nonet of NHL-caliber blueliners was not practical.

“We’re certainly not going to have nine on the opening roster,” Hextall said. “I don’t know where that’s all going. Sometimes, you sit around and wait until something moves before you sign a guy.

“I’m not exactly sure where they’ll end up.”

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