Penguins buying out Jack Johnson

The Pittsburgh Penguins placed defenseman Jack Johnson on unconditional waivers for the purpose of buying out his contract, the team announced Monday.

The Penguins inked Johnson to a five-year, $16.25-million deal in 2018. He has three years left on the contract with an average annual value of $3.25 million.

With the buyout, Johnson's cap hit will be $1.67 million for 2020-21 and 2021-22, $1.9 million for 2022-23, and then $917,000 for the following three seasons through the conclusion of the 2025-26 campaign, according to CapFriendly.

The 33-year-old had three goals and eight assists in 67 games during the 2019-20 season. At five-on-five, Johnson had a 46.97 Corsi For rating and a 47.34 expected goals for percentage.