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There's been chatter about the Pittsburgh Penguins getting rid of Ryan Graves.
In fact, some have suggested that Graves should be bought out -- not even exploring a trade, simply getting his salary off the books.
Graves is owed $4.5 million per year for each of the next three seasons, so he's not super cheap. Still, though, it may not actually be the logical move for Pittsburgh to make.
The defenseman still can have at least a bit of usefulness to the Penguins -- more than he'd have if he's not on the team.
Given that the Penguins have a lot of cap space, there may be no rush.
Daily Faceoff's Matt Larkin did include Graves on a list of buyout candidates that he published on Friday, but it's as if he put him there simply to point out that it probably isn't going to happen.
"I’m a bit skeptical on this one," Larkin writes. "I’m including Graves because I’ve seen his name out there as a candidate, but the annual savings are pretty modest if the Pens buy him out at just above, then just below $1 million over those first few years. Will you adequately replace him with a $1-million player? The Pens also have truckloads of cap space already this summer, sitting on $37.86 million at the moment, so a Graves buyout doesn’t seem all that necessary. He’s the least likely of the five names on this list."
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If the Penguins all of a sudden were bringing in a lot of players who were particularly expensive, maybe they would then go down the trail of buying out Graves.
In the immediate term, though, it doesn't seem necessary. They don't really save themselves enough to justify losing an experienced player.
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