July 1st is still a while off, but it’s never too early to start looking at what the Pittsburgh Penguins should do with their list of free agents.

While the majority of the contract extension talk has surrounded 39-year-old Evgeni Malkin and whether the Penguins will retain the future Hall of Famer for another year, the Penguins have a number of players with contracts set to expire this summer.

So, I went down the list of pending free agents and discussed who I would for sure extend, who I would keep at the right price, and who I would let walk. Here’s what I’ve got:

Surefire Extensions

Egor Chinakhov: This is a slam dunk re-sign. Chinakhov, who the Penguins acquired midway through the season is exactly the kind of rebuild-on-the-fly move that Kyle Dubas has always wanted. The former first-round pick could never fully fit in Columbus, and had just six points in 29 games to start this past season.

In Pittsburgh, he found new life, scoring 18 goals and adding 18 assists (36 points) in 43 games, looking like the high-powered winger the Blue Jackets hoped they had drafted. The Russian forward had chemistry with his fellow countryman in Evgeni Malkin, and showed an ability to stick in the top-six moving forward.

As a restricted free agent and with nearly $50 million in cap space, the Penguins will have little problem keeping Chinakhov. But, with a rising salary cap and coming off a career-year and at only 25 years old, he can command a decent pay raise over the $2.1 million he was making this past year.

Connor Dewar: Though perhaps he doesn’t have as much flash as someone like Chinakhov, Dewar also had career-highs this past season with the Penguins. His 14 goals and 16 assists (30 points) provided some key depth scoring during the regular season, and he was one of just three players to score more than once in the postseason.

Part of the fourth line with Blake Lizotte and Noel Acciari who was very trusted by head coach Dan Muse, Dewar averaged just under 14 minutes a night, by far a career high. Turning only 27 next month, Dewar is exactly the kind of player you want in your bottom six.

Dewar is due for an increase in his $1.1 million cap hit, but that’s a price the Penguins should certainly be willing to pay.

Update: the Penguins signed Dewar to a two-year extension with a cap hit of $2.25 million per year.

Evgeni Malkin: To me, this is just as easy as the Chinakhov one, albeit for different reasons. I wrote about extending Malkin just a few days ago, and I’ll reiterate that belief now.

There’s no chance he’s asking for more than the current $6.1 million he was accounting for against the cap now, he’s not actively holding any prospect forward back in the lineup, and he wants to be here. He played well above what a lot of us thought he would do this season.

This is not a nostalgia-based signing, and I honestly do not see a downside in bringing him back for one more year.

Arturs Silovs: I was up and down on the idea of retaining Silovs moving forward, but ultimately the playoffs swayed me onto the side of keeping him.

In (technically) his rookie season in the NHL, Silovs didn’t have the most impressive numbers. In his 39 games, he recorded an .887 save percentage and a 3.07 goals against average. But he battled, and battled, and in the playoffs after relieving Stuart Skinner starting in Game 4, Silovs recorded a .939 save percentage and surrendered just five goals in three games.

The 25-year-old has 13 Stanley Cup Playoff games to his name, an Olympic appearance for Latvia, and a lot more hockey left in him. I want to see what he can do with another year in Pittsburgh.

Ilya Solovyov: Another midseason acquisition, the Penguins picked up Solovyov from Colorado in exchange for a seventh round pick in 2026 and former seventh round selection Valtteri Puustinen.

We didn’t get to see a lot of Solovyov this year; the Belarus native only appeared 17 total games between the regular season and playoffs. The Group 6 UFA will turn 26 years old in July, and given his lack of experience in the NHL, shouldn’t cost a lot to retain.

He’s worth penciling in as a depth defenseman for next season and seeing what happens.

Update: the Penguins signed Solovyov to a one-year extension worth $850K against the salary cap.

For The Right Price

Anthony Mantha: This might surprise some people, but I’m open to possibly retaining Mantha in the right scenario. Mantha had an incredible regular season. After signing a one-year, $2.5 million “prove it” deal at 30 years old, he revived his NHL career with a team-leading (and career-high) 33 goals, as well as 31 assists for 64 points, also career highs.

In the postseason, however, he had just one assist and was largely invisible. Put that playoff performance, plus his high likelihood for regression next season, and his popularity in a weak free agency class all in a blender, and there’s little reason to extend him.

However, we’ve seen highly-touted free agents not attract the types of deals we thought before. Remember Taylor Hall in Buffalo? Him and his agent overplayed their hand, and the former Hart Trophy winner had to settle for a one-year deal on the drought-era Sabres.

If, and only if, Mantha does not attract the massive deal we are expecting him to receive, I’d be open to bringing him back on a deal at or below, say, $4.5 million. Give or take. But only if the scenario I outlined above takes place.

Ryan Shea: It’s clear that the Penguins need a serious revamp on their blue line, but whether Shea is a part of that shift moving forward next season is yet to be seen.

He was a regular in an NHL lineup for the first time in his career, playing 80 games in the regular season and registering 35 points. He was also a +30, the team-leader by double digits and one of just two defenseman to have a +/- rating north of ten. In addition to that, Shea had an incredible offensive season, scoring six goals and adding 29 assists (35 points).

Keeping the 29-year-old has its merit, but I also wouldn’t blame him for cashing in on a career year and looking elsewhere to do that. Shea was making $900K this past season; he stands to make a substantial amount more this summer. If the Penguins can get him at a reasonable raise, they should do it. But just because they have a boatload of cap space doesn’t mean they should be in a hurry to spend it all.

Let Them Walk:

Noel Acciari: I debated as to whether to put Acciari in this category or the “right price” one. I do think Acciari, 34, could still support the bottom-six. His 25 points were his second best total in his NHL career, and best mark since the 2019-20 season. He also was part of that very effective aforementioned fourth line.

However, Pittsburgh does have a need to start infusing some youth into their roster, and with Acciari as a pending free agent, it seems like a natural time to flip that spot on the roster over to a younger forward trying to break their way into the NHL.

Acciari is still a decent checking forward, and if he can contribute like he did this past year, has a place as a depth piece on a contending team moving forward.

Connor Clifton: The Penguins acquired Clifton in a cap dump move with Buffalo, bringing in the final year of his three-year, $3.33 million cap hit. In addition to bringing a second-round pick in last summer’s draft, the trade brought in a physical defenseman who led the team with 182 hits.

Clifton registered six points from the blue line in 50 games and stuck up for his teammates on multiple occasions. Unfortunately for the 31-year-old, the Penguins do have a need to get younger on the blue line, and with Clifton approaching free agency, it seems rather easy for the Penguins to naturally let his contract expire.

Kevin Hayes: Based on everything we saw out of this team, Hayes was a vibes guy for the Penguins this year. He seems like a really fun person to have in the locker room, and a veteran leader to help some of the younger players come along.

Unfortunately for Hayes, like most people in this category, it seems like a natural time for the team to move on. Hayes appeared in just 28 games for the Penguins this season, registering four goals and four assists (eight points) and the 33-year-old looked a step behind at times.

Hayes was initially acquired in a cap dump deal with St. Louis, and although he had his moments in Pittsburgh, he didn’t make a huge impact on the ice in his two years here.

Stuart Skinner: The trade to acquire Stuart Skinner was a massive win for Dubas and Co. But the main goal of acquiring Skinner was to get out of Tristan Jarry’s contract. That goal was achieved, and now, the Penguins are off the hook for his $5.375 million cap hit for the next two years.

Skinner was a fine replacement for the rest of the season. In 27 games, he put up an .885 save percentage and 2.99 goals against average. His experience in back-to-back Stanley Cup Finals gave the Penguins a veteran, tested playoff goaltender when the first round started, and even though I don’t think he was a big reason why the Penguins fell down 3-0 early on, it’s an unfortunate note that he likely ends his time in Pittsburgh on.

He lived up to his Edmonton résumé, a goaltender who had some amazing games and some true nights to forget. Overall, though, I just don’t think he has much of a future here.

With 22-year-old Sergei Murashov waiting in the wings, the Penguins have to open up a spot to let the kid get a shot. You could make the argument that Murashov should have had an NHL spot this season, but it’s hard to make the case for holding him in the AHL for another year.