Kyle Dubas has had one busy day today. After swinging a pick swap deal with the St. Louis Blues, he has also brought a new face to town by the name of Cody Glass.
The Penguins acquired the forward, along with two draft picks, from the Nashville Predators in exchange for a minor league forward.
Glass comes with a $2.5 million cap hit for the 2024-25 season, after which he becomes a restricted free agent. Nashville was looking for some cap relief after having a spending frenzy in free agency.
In giving Glass’ cap hit to Dubas and the Penguins, Pittsburgh also acquires two draft picks, a 2025 third rounder and a 2026 sixth rounder.
The Penguins now have a trio of third round selections (Nashville’s, their own, and the one they acquired in the St. Louis deal) in 2025.
Goimg back to the Predators is Jordan Frasca, who spent the majority of his season in the East Coast Hockey League with Pittsburgh’s affiliate in Wheeling. In 40 games with the Nailers, he had 11 goals and 22 assists. He played in 3 American Hockey League last year, but with no points.
Glass, meanwhile, is looking for a bounce back season. He is the first ever draft pick of the Vegas Golden Knights, taken sixth overall by the expansion club in 2017. However, he never truly found his footing with that team.
He only played 66 total games with the Golden Knights, making his NHL debut during the 2019-20 season. Between two years with Vegas, he scored 9 goals and 13 assists.
In the summer of 2021, he was traded to Nashville in a deal that sent Nolan Patrick back to the Golden Knights. Patrick, the second overall selection by Philadelphia in Glass’ draft year, but sadly has had his career riddled with injuries and is no longer playing hockey.
After the trade, Glass spent his first year in the Predators organization in the AHL, playing 66 games for Milwaukee. With the Admirals, he scored 14 goals and added 48 assists in 66 games.
That got him an NHL gig the next year, 2022-23, where he had his breakout year with the Preds. He scored 14 goals and 21 assists in 72 games (all career highs) with Nashville.
That progress earned him an extension with the team worth $2.5 million against the salary cap. It didn’t really work out for Nashville, and this is the contract that the Penguins are acquiring.
Last season, Glass only appeared in 41 games, with 6 goals and 7 assists. He failed to follow up his first year with the Predators, and now a bounce back year will have to happen in a different shade of yellow.
Glass has largely been thought of as a center during his career, but the Penguins would be wise to try him out as a winger full-time instead. Glass’ style is better suited to be a winger, and with the plethora of centers the Penguins currently have, there’s really no room for Glass to make the Penguins as a center, barring some other move.
If Glass can find the magic that he did with Nashville two years ago, he would be a valuable addition for the Penguins. He is also still plenty young, and while the time for him to become a superstar is likely over, he still has a lot of time to become a solid NHLer.
Given the position the Penguins are currently in, and the offseason they have been having, I like this move. He’s a much better guy to bet on than Kevin Hayes, who was acquired in a very similar trade (taking on a contract and getting a pick to do so).
It’s also a less risky bet. Hayes, for example, has two years left on his deal. Glass has only one year left; if he doesn’t work out, the Penguins can simply not bother qualifying him next year and move on next summer.
But if he does work out, the Penguins acquired a middle six forward for essentially free. I’m not saying that it absolutely will, but he’s a decent player to bet on becoming something.
Pittsburgh now has just a hair over $1 million in salary cap space left after this deal.
(Featured photo by John Russell/National Hockey League/Getty)
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