The Pittsburgh Penguins have agreed to terms with defenseman Ryan Graves on a six-year, $27 million contract, per the team's Twitter page. Graves joins the Penguins after he spent the last two seasons with the New Jersey Devils.
Pittsburgh missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for the first time since the 2005-06 season. They hired general manager Kyle Dubas in June and are looking to get the franchise back in a positive track.
Here are more details on Graves' contract:
The Penguins saw a few transactions Saturday. Pittsburgh signed goaltender Tristan Jarry to a five-year deal, forward Noel Acciari to a three-year contract, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic to a one-year deal, forward Matt Nieto to a two-year deal and forward Lars Ellar on a two-year deal.
Here is where Dubas said the team could go moving forward.
“We are open to anything that could continue to improve the team,” Dubas said, via the team's Twitter. “Anyone we add from this point on should be here for the long term… Right now it's fairly unpredictable.”
For more on Dubas' comments surrounding the Penguins' free agency, check out this thread on the team's social media page.
The Penguins finished with the fifth-best record in the Metropolitan division (40-31-11). Pittsburgh had been one of the NHL's best teams in the past decade, winning the Stanley Cup Final in 2015-16 and 2016-17. The team advanced to the NHL second round in 2017-18 and has not advanced past the first round since.
Pittsburgh will look to improve its roster. Dubas last was the general manager for the Toronto Maple Leafs, who finished second in the Atlantic division and advanced to the second round of the playoffs.