The noise you hear is the squeaky buyout window cracking slightly open again for the Penguins
22 RFAs Have Filed for Arbitration:
— CapFriendly (@CapFriendly) July 5, 2023
Barron (WPG)
Borgen (SEA)
Cates (PHI)
Colton (COL)
Duhaime (MIN)
Dunn (SEA)
Fleury (SEA)
Frederic (BOS)
Gustavsson (MIN)
Howden (VGK)
Jeannot (TBL)
Kurashev (CHI)
McBain (ARI)
McLeod (EDM)
Mitchell (BOS)
O'Connor (PIT)
Samsonov (TOR)
1/2
You'll see Drew O'Connor is listed here. By filing it gives the Penguins a crack at a second buyout window. The rules
I don't know if this is something Drew O'Connor did on his own merit. I don't even know if it is legal for Dubas to ask a player to file in order to get a 2nd buyout window. Regardless, he filed.
This could play a big role in a Karlsson deal. What if the difference between getting Karlsson or not depends on shedding Granlund (it likely does) What if the Penguins couldn't find a reasonable deal to unload Granlund? Well, a buyout would solve that issue. The team can go 10% above the cap in the off-season so they could swing a deal for Karlsson amd then wait for tye buyout window to become compliant.
Don't bury this Karlsson deal yet.
Thanks for reading!