Pittsburgh Penguins sign crucial forward to a three-year contract

Novak spent this week being described around the league as a potential trade-deadline rental on an expiring deal. Kyle Dubas took him off that board instead.

The extension does not begin until his current three-year, $10.5 million contract runs out after 2026-27.

That is the detail that changes the story.

He arrived in the March 2025 Michael Bunting trade with Nashville and then lost the rest of that season to a leg fracture.

Pittsburgh entered this offseason with the second-most cap space in the NHL, roughly $58.8 million committed against a $76.9 million floor for 2026-27. The 2027-28 picture is emptier still.

Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, Andrei Kuzmenko and Justin Brazeau are all scheduled to reach unrestricted free agency after next season. Strip those out and the Penguins have a handful of real NHL salaries left.

Teams in that position do not have a spending problem, they have a floor problem. Signing a proven 40-point forward now is cheaper than buying one in July 2027 when Pittsburgh has to reach the minimum.

Novak was the most obvious mid-tier chip Pittsburgh could have moved in March. That option is gone, and rival managers hunting affordable secondary scoring lose a name.

It also tells you Dubas does not view 2026-27 as a teardown. He kept the only player who dressed for all 82 games last season, a forward who moved between center and wing under Dan Muse and produced 16 goals and 42 points.

That is not a sentimental contract.

It is a hedge against a cap floor that is coming for every retooling team in the league.

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