With the official start of free agency in the National Hockey League just a day away, a fresh new wave of players just hit the market to try and find a buyer for their services.

Yesterday was the deadline for teams to tender qualifying offers for their pending restricted free agents. While most pending RFAs were given offers, and the Pittsburgh Penguins tendered deals to all of their upcoming RFAs, over 100 players weren’t extended offers, allowing them to walk to the free-agent market.

Despite the Penguins carrying nearly $40 million in cap space into the summer, the team seems content to stay out of the big bidding come Wednesday.

“We can be as aggressive as we want on July 1,” general manager Kyle Dubas said last week of the pending free agency class. “But if you look at what’s available, it could be an expensive mistake,” Dubas said. “And I try to learn from the past. We’ll try to steer clear of that.”

But, that philosophy does leave the possibility for Dubas and the front office to find untapped value in some of the smaller-name free agents who are now reaching the market.

Here are three recently un-tendered RFAs who could be in play for the Penguins.

Matias Maccelli

I first wrote about Maccelli last month, when the idea of the Toronto Maple Leafs letting him walk first came about in May.

Coming off a down year in Utah last season, the Maple Leafs acquired him for a third-round pick in the 2027 draft. In Toronto, then-general manager Brad Treliving foresaw Maccelli as a formidable middle-six contributor to their offense.

He quickly fell out of favor in Toronto, however. Then-head coach Craig Berube scratched him eight times in the team’s first 30 games as his production stalled out. To Maccelli’s credit, he was able to rebound later in the year. He scored at a 0.60 point-per-game pace as the calendar turned over, and finished the season with 14 goals and 25 assists (39 points) in 71 games.

Despite that rally, the new regime of the Maple Leafs isn’t interested in keeping him around. General manager John Chayka, who drafted Maccelli in Arizona, opted not to extend him a qualifying offer, allowing him to hit the market. While that is not a glowing endorsement of his time in Toronto, teams will certainly pursue him as a free agent.

After all, Maccelli is a 25-year-old forward who is coming out of a bad situation, and could benefit from a change of scenery and new organization. He has a previous track record of producing in some capacity, and still has plenty of time to further develop.

Doesn’t that sound exactly like the type of player, especially forward wise, that Dubas targets?

The best part about acquiring Maccelli as the next player of that elk is the cost. Unlike someone like Egor Chinakhov, Maccelli won’t cost the Penguins any draft capital to bring in.

Michael Benning

After the trade of Jack St. Ivany up north to Winnipeg in exchange for depth forward David Gustafsson, Pittsburgh’s organizational depth on the blue line got even thinner.

While the depth chart is top heavy, the Penguins certainly need some more bodies who can fill out that depth NHL, upper-tier AHL role. Someone who might help fit that is Benning.

The 24-year-old defenseman got his chance in the NHL late last year, playing for an extremely injured Panthers team who limped their way to the end of the year and threw anyone they could into the lineup. Benning figured into 18 games for the Panthers last season, where he chipped in two goals and four assists (six points). Despite Florida’s defensive struggles, Benning was only a -4 while averaging 16:54 a night.

In the American Hockey League, Benning played in 57 games for Florida’s affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers. He potted eight goals and added 23 assists (31 points), and was a +9.

He could be an example of the next Ryan Shea, a young-ish defenseman who had limited opportunity to make a name for himself in the NHL but is capable of taking the next step.

Maxim Shabanov

The former KHL star is equally intriguing and puzzling. Last summer, Shabanov came over to North America and signed a one-year deal in New York with the Islanders.

He didn’t quite live up to his KHL standards while on Long Island, scoring five goals and 13 assists (18 points) in 44 games. That low scoring rate took him in and out of the lineup under then-head coach Patrick Roy, leading to some frustration from the Shabanov side over his lack of deployment.

New York has since hired Pete DeBoer behind the bench and is looking to revamp after barely missing out on the postseason last year. Shabanov was not given a qualified offer by the Islanders, allowing him to test his NHL market.

Though the Islanders are reportedly leaving the door open for a return, another team has the chance to swoop in and bring him in. If the Penguins are interested in taking a chance on someone with a strong KHL record, Shabanov is someone they could swing for.

One thing you don’t have to worry about with Shabanov is penalties. Only once in his last five professional seasons has he recorded more than four penalty minutes in a season. Three times, including his rookie season in the NHL, only took one penalty.

Perhaps the Russian presence among the team’s forward corps could convince him to come to town as well. Potentially playing alongside fellow countrymen in Evgeni Malkin and Egor Chinakhov could interest Shabanov in coming to Pittsburgh.