Over the past couple of weeks, it was reported by Josh Yohe of The Athletic that the Pittsburgh Penguins had interest in one of the Utah Mammoth's young RFA forwards.
And it appears he is now off the board.
On Monday, the Mammoth signed big forward Jack McBain to a five-year, $21.25 million contract extension to avoid arbitration. The contract's average annual value sits at $4.25 million and will run through the end of the 2029-30 season.
McBain, 25, registered 13 goals and 27 points for Utah last season. The 6-foot-4, 219-pound center also registered 78 penalty minutes and is known for his hard-hitting style and tendency to drop the gloves.
Yohe reported that the Penguins were interested in McBain last week, and this tracks with GM and POHO Kyle Dubas's stated desire to potentially target young RFA forwards. With McBain out of the picture, the Penguins may very well look to other pending-RFAs on cap-strapped teams to consider trading for rights, as Dubas said they are unlikely to engage in offer sheets.
"I think the areas that you probably would see us spend more would be acquisition by trade, and then signing players that other teams might not be able to fit," Dubas said in his post-season presser. "I think the effect in free agency is probably going to be somewhat of a spike in salary, and so it’ll dry up the cap space rather quickly for us, and those players are mostly into that late 20-early 30 category.
"It could do two things. Number one, I think it's going to allow us to maybe trade for players that other teams can't afford that are restricted free agents, and then sign them longer range ourselves, using that cap space that way."
Some other notable RFAs are Gabriel Vilardi (Winnipeg Jets), Marco Rossi (Minnesota Wild), Mason McTavish (Anaheim Ducks), Bowen Byram (Buffalo Sabres), and Mackie Samoskevich (Florida Panthers).
