Report: Penguins, Dumoulin over $2M apart in contract talks

Pittsburgh Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin is seeking a reported $4.35 million in annual salary via his upcoming arbitration hearing. The Penguins are countering with a much smaller cap hit of $1.95 million, according to Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman.

Dumoulin saw his average time on ice rise by nearly two minutes from the 2016-17 regular season to the playoffs. He was instrumental in anchoring the eventual Stanley Cup champions' defense corps while Kris Letang missed the entire postseason and Justin Schultz missed a portion of the Eastern Conference Final.

He finished the playoffs with six points through 25 games, after scoring a lone goal but contributing 14 assists in 70 regular-season games. He finished the season with an even plus-minus rating but a positive Corsi For rating of 50.7 percent.

Dumoulin will be expected to play a larger role in 2017-18 with defenseman Trevor Daley joining the Detroit Red Wings in free agency.