Friday was full of surprises for both the Edmonton Oilers and Pittsburgh Penguins. Both teams made moves that shook up both teams lineups in an attempt to guide both trajectories.
Pittsburgh announced on Friday, they traded goaltender Tristan Jarry (No Retention) and forward Samuel Poulin to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for goaltender Stuart Skinner, defenseman Brett Kulak and a 2029 second round pick.
Skinner, 27, acquired by Pittsburgh today is in the last year of his three year deal at a cap hit of $2,600,000 AAV. He currently has posted a 2.83 GAA and a .891 save percentage in 23 GP with 11 wins and in the previous two seasons has led Edmonton to back to back Stanley Cup Finals appearances.
Kulak, 31, also acquired by Pittsburgh today is also in the last year of a four year deal at a cap hit of $2,750,000 AAV. Fun fact, Kulak has never played for an American team in the NHL, he also logged heavy minutes in Edmonton's two straight Stanley Cup Final runs that just fell short with 23 minutes of TOI average. Kulak this season has 31 games under his belt with two assists and averages around 16:00 minutes of TOI at 5v5.
Kyle Dubas did some fine work with this trade as he was able to jettison Tristan Jarry and his contract with no salary retention at all. Just last season, Jarry was put on waivers by the penguins and was at his lowest point during his tenure with the Penguins. No team would touch Jarry's contract due to his high salary and term, Tristan went from undesired to heavily sought-out as the Oilers paid a premium price to acquire the goaltender.
Dubas took advantage of Tristan's current value and made the move before he went into a flunk or skid that would have destroyed what value he had in the eyes of the Oilers and other teams.
After the trade, the Penguins will now have over $50.43 million to work with in the upcoming off-season, with the looming decision of Evgeni Malkin and the goaltender situation.
Pittsburgh now has two NHL rostered goalies who are both in the last year of their deals in Stuart Skinner and Arturs Silovs. Kyle Dubas after today's trade sent a clear message to any signed goaltender in the team's system.
"“The door is open for anyone that wants to grab it”"Kyle Dubas on the goaltending battle.
Other Housekeeping transactions today
Today the Penguins placed defenseman Matthew Dumba on waivers for the purpose of assignement to the AHL team in Wilkes Barre.
Also today the Penguins activated forward Rickard Rakell of IR and is a game time decision for Saturday's game against the San Jose Sharks.
Dubas can use both Skinner and Kulak's pending free agent contracts as a way to flip both players at the trade deadline for more assets if the Penguins are not in contention for the playoffs.
Both Kulak and Skinner's availability for Saturday's matchup against the Sharks is "immigration dependent," according to Kyle Dubas.