Penguins waive Brock McGinn and Mark Friedman

As teams continue to prepare and make arrangements for Friday’s NHL trade deadline, the Penguins next move includes a familiar one. They put struggling forward Brock McGinn on waivers, as well as their extra defenseman Mark Friedman.

With eight now healthy defenders, the team doesn’t require the services of Friedman, and clearing him early can allow them to save some cap space if he clears and is sent to the AHL.

The addition of McGinn is the more interesting one. Much like last week’s move to waive Kasperi Kapanen (subsequently claimed by St. Louis), McGinn has struggled this season and is in the midst of a 26-game stretch without a single point. McGinn has a contract that runs for two more seasons at a $2.75 million cap hit. Much like Kapanen, seemingly no NHL general manager was interested in trading for the forward. But will there be any takers to acquire him for only the price of his contract?

We’ll find out at 2:00pm tomorrow. If no claims McGinn, the Pens will have several options. They can send him to the AHL team and recoup $1.125 million of cap space by doing so. They can also hold onto him and wait to see what other moves might be made to see if that will be necessary.

Either way, these steps will point in a direction as the team looks to continue to clear some salary cap space to bring in new player(s) to help due what McGinn and Kapanen couldn’t this season in a successful supporting role.