As the free agency dust settles and the future of the 2022-23 Penguins’ roster is practically in focus, the next shift is to look towards about 12 months from now for the next go-round in the contract cycle.
Summer 2022 was always such a major milestone to look forward to, with potentially franchise altering events ahead with the contract negotiations with Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang (and to a lesser but still important extent for Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell). With all of those players in the fold for the foreseeable future, next summer won’t have so much by the way of free agent drama and contractual drama, but still will be important.