The Pittsburgh Penguins sent defenseman Jack St. Ivany to Winnipeg in exchange for forward David Gustafsson Monday.
The Pens immediately gave Gustafsson a qualifying offer as a restricted free agent. He was one of seven players the Pens extended qualifying offers to Monday. That list includes forward Egor Chinakhov, goaltender Arturs Silovs and newly-acquired forward Hendrix Lapierre. The deadline to give qualifying offers was last night at 5pm. Yesterday’s move provides the Pens more depth at center. Gustafsson spent last year with the Jets top minor league team, and St. Ivany was likely being pushed out of a roster spot by the Penguins young defensemen.
Free agency in the NHL officially begins tomorrow. The Penguins have eight unrestricted free agents as of Wednesday. They include Anthony Mantha, Stuart Skinner, Ryan Shea and Kevin Hayes.
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