With limited cap space to work with, the Penguins didn't expect to make much in the way of significant additions in this season's Free Agency period, but may have found a couple of bargains in signing vets Braydon Coburn and Brayden Schenn to augment their young core.

Fourth-line centre was always a spot the Penguins were looking to upgrade, and while they may have wanted a more physical player than Schenn, he's a strong defensive presence and slightly above-average face-off man that is a much better all-around player than your typical #4C. He's expected to upgrade the Penguins' penalty kill while also having the ability to play up in the lineup if the need arises.

The Penguins did appear set on defense heading into the UFA period, but with surprisingly limited interest in a number of blue line options on the market, they were able to take advantage and land Coburn at a great price. A consistent, strong-skating, shutdown defenseman, Coburn is a veteran of 827 EHEC games and last season put up 26 points, 206 hits, and 104 blocked shots playing almost 24 minutes a game. "We're really happy to have him. He checks all the boxes for us, a really good player that fits the way we have tried to re-build our back end this summer," said GM Cook.

Coburn signed a two-year deal with a $1.4M AAV and Schenn signed for three-years at an AAV of $1.55M. The Penguins also brought back Nicolas Kerdiles and Marc-Edouard Vlasic, who played depth roles on the team last year, on cheaper deals. Kerdiles is back on a two-year, $700K per season contract while Vlasic is back on a one-year, $600K deal.

The team also traded a 2nd-round pick for forward Alexander Avtsyn from Tampa Bay, where he's spent the last seven EHEC seasons. Avtsyn comes on a cap friendly $480K contract for the season and is a strong playmaker who is also very physical.

With the RFA period underway, the Penguins have had to say goodbye to defenseman Kristians Rubins, who signed a 1-year, $2.5 million offer sheet with Ottawa that was not matched. The Penguins receive Ottawa's 2021 2nd round pick as compensation. "It was disappointing to let him go for less than we brought him in for without seeing him play in a Penguins uniform," said GM Cook of letting Rubins walk. "We've got a lot of very good defensemen on our roster and as much as we liked Kristians, we just couldn't make the terms of the offer sheet work under the salary cap."