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July 1st is here, one of the busiest and most surprising days of the summer in the NHL, as teams eagerly snatch up free agents, often at head-scratchingly high prices.
What will the day have in store for the Pittsburgh Penguins?
The team has the stated desire to add a top 6 forward. There are a few options on the open market with Michael Frolik leading the pack (and the interest of the league).
The Pens are also expected to sign 25 year old Russian forward Sergei Plotnikov to an entry level max contract of $925,000. You can read more about Plotnikov here. The Pens are also supposedly in the running to sign Viktor Tikhonov, but at last check he still had 5 teams in the running.
Other than that, Pittsburgh still has Beau Bennett and Brian Dumoulin as key restricted free agents to sign. Negotiations were said to be on-going recently, but neither is probably a huge priority on this day.
For now, all eyes will be at noon when the market opens and the big free agents sign. And, on the heels of the big Brandon Saad trade yesterday, who knows what rumors or actual trades could be completed too.
Either way, the shape of the 2015-16 season and beyond could be formed in a big way today. Let's hope it works out in a good fashion for the Pens.