Rutherford: Penguins to 'move on' from Schultz
It appears Justin Schultz's days with the Pittsburgh Penguins have come to an end.
The 30-year-old rearguard is set to become an unrestricted free agent this offseason, and Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford said he won't be a part of the club's future.
"We’ll move on from Justin," Rutherford said Monday, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette's Mike Defabo. "He’s going to do better in the marketplace than what he can do here, based on our cap situation."
Schultz was the second-highest paid blue-liner on the Penguins last season with a cap hit of $5.5 million. Pittsburgh has $9.17 million in projected cap space next season, but has several restricted free agents in need of a new deal, including netminders Matt Murray and Tristan Jarry. However, Rutherford said in August there's a "very, very good chance" one of the goaltenders will be traded.
Schultz captured back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins (2016, 2017) and notched a career-best 12 goals and 51 points during the latter campaign.
The British Columbia native tallied three goals and 12 points while logging 19:53 of average ice time over 46 games this season.