Ron Hextall's main objective during the past week, it seems, has been to clear salary-cap space.
It's part of the reason he was willing to trade Jared McCann to Toronto, and part of why he opted to expose Brandon Tanev in the expansion draft.
That's perfectly logical, since the Penguins barely had enough cap space to add a guy making the league minimum to their payroll -- and that was without re-signing some players Hextall would like to keep.
But the chance to acquire a prospect the caliber of Filip Hallander, who had been the Penguins' second-round draft choice in 2018, from the Maple Leafs factored into his thinking, too.
And while he stopped well short of suggesting that Hallander should be penciled into the Penguins' Opening Night lineup, Hextall made it clear that he believes Hallander, 21, has a place in the team's future.
"He's somewhat of a seasoned player, so I would hope that he comes into camp and pushes for a spot," he told an online press conference Thursday. "But in the end, that's going to be up to Filip.
"You come from Europe to the smaller ice (in North America), to a new culture ... there's a lot going on for young players. Sometimes, they're not ready.
"I would hope that at some point this year -- or, certainly, at training camp a year from now -- I certainly hope he's ready. But if Filip comes in in September and knocks us out, we'll make decisions from there."
While the Penguins can't be certain of where Hallander will fit in their short-term plans, it's clear that the cap space created by the departure of McCann and Tanev will go a long way toward making it possible to retain at least some of their free agents.
That list includes Zach Aston-Reese and Radim Zohorna, who are restricted, and Cody Ceci, Frederick Gaudreau and Evan Rodrigues, who are unrestricted.
At the moment, the Penguins have a bit more than $7.4 million in cap space.
Shedding the cap hits of McCann ($2.94 million) and Tanev ($3.5 million) "give us an opportunity to become cap-compliant when we need to, at the start of the season," Hextall said.
Of course, losing those two also created voids that the Penguins will have to fill at left wing on the third line and right wing on the fourth.
Hextall did not rule out seeking replacements in free agency, which begins next Wednesday, or trades, but added that "we feel like we have enough candidates from in-house" who might be able to fill those holes. Some of those players are discussed here.
• Hextall said Malkin "is doing well" in his recovery from right knee surgery, but did not offer an updated prognosis on when he might return. He is expected to be out at least through training camp, and the uncertainty about his availability had an impact on the decision to include centers Jeff Carter and Teddy Blueger on the protected list. "When we looked at our center position, it's a position where we lacked the most depth up front," he said. "We felt it was important to protect that position."
• Although the Penguins don't expect to land any of the big-name free agents on the market, Hextall floated the idea that there might be some useful players still around after the first wave or two of signings. "I suspect there will probably be players in August who aren't signed," he said. "We'll just evaluate things on a day-to-day basis as we move along, and if a free agent makes sense, we'll move (on him)."
• Talks about new contracts for Malkin and Kris Letang have been put "a little bit on the back burner" for now because of the expansion draft, NHL draft and free agency, Hextall said.