Penguins, Schultz pick up talks on contract extension
the regular season. In 21 postseason contests, Schultz recorded four goals and 13 points. Schultz quarterbacked the No. 1 power play and ranked among the league leaders among defensemen in pretty much every significant category.
Those numbers would give Schultz a raise in arbitration, but going to arbitration likely would be an unsuitable outcome for both sides; a more peaceful and logical resolution would be figuring out some middle ground.
“There’s no hidden fact he’d like to be in Pittsburgh,” Arnott said. “He’s a restricted free agent, so it’s not like he has a choice. Come July 1, all unsigned players are free to listen to other teams, too.”
As a restricted free agent, the qualifying offer Schultz received was for $1.4 million, the same as his salary cap hit in 2016-17. Arnott described the possibility of Schultz signing it a “non-issue.”
“We will not be signing the qualifying offer,” Arnott said. “You saw what he did this year. The practical answer is it’s a non-issue.”
So that means Arnott and the Penguins will talk about dollars and term, although Arnott declined to get into specifics on what Schultz is looking for.
But after taking a $2.5 million pay cut from 2015-16 and 2016-17 and essentially betting on himself, it’s fairly easy to see that Schultz has won.
The only thing left is to figure out by how much.
“We took a one-year, discounted deal to come back from last year and build upon what he did,” Arnott said.
“The player took a lot of the risk. The player performed. Now the player should be rewarded.”
Rutherford should have no problem rewarding Schultz. He has admitted on several occasions that the Penguins would like retain Schultz and that they’re well aware he’s going to command more than $1.4 million or even likely north of $3.9 million, his old cap number.
Reality and comparable contracts put a possible Schultz deal in the $4 million-$5 million range.
Defenseman Seth Jones signed for six years and $32.4 million with Columbus last year for a cap hit of $5.4 million, but Jones is a 21-yearold, top-pairing defenseman. Schultz will turn 27 July 6 and spent the majority of his minutes on the second or third pairing.
Anaheim’s Hampus Lindholm got six years and $31.5 million ($5.25 million AAV) coming off a 10-goal, 28-point season, although he, too, is probably a tick above Schultz’s profile.
Getting beyond $5 million per season would be tough in Pittsburgh, but there’s a good chance both sides can get close enough to make it work.
Schultz loves it here for a multitude of reasons, which Arnott outlined.
“It starts with winning,” Arnott said. “Any player wired the right way should be about winning at that level. I think he really enjoys the players, the corps group on the team, and he really enjoys the coaching staff and the development model.”
Signing Schultz would protect the Penguins should anything happen with Kris Letang.
It would also reward a player who, after arriving in tatters from Edmonton, was able to resurrect his game and develop enough defensively that he had a career year, one on par with the best at his position.
“We’ll probably have some more direction here this week with where we’re going with [a possible extension],” Arnott said.
“But we’ve had some good discussions.”