LATEST PENGUINS RUMORS

Penguins winger Chris Kunitz name has come up as a buy-out candidate by the media but word is being sent out immediately from those in the organization that Kunitz won’t be under any consideration for a buy-out this summer.

Kunitz has two years left on his deal and a cap hit of $3.85 million.

One source on buying Kunitz out:

“Absolutely not. Are you kidding me?”

As Jim Rutherford mentioned yesterday, the Penguins believe Kunitz can still contribute.

“We have guys that are capable of scoring that can probably score more,” Rutherford said. “I mean, in Chris Kunitz alone, his goal production dropped off dramatically. I don’t think his play dropped off as much as his production. I just went through that with him. He can still contribute to this team.”

Specific advance stats the Penguins track internally make them believe Kunitz was hit with just some bad luck in the second half and project him being a player who can still net 20 goals.

The plan with Kunitz this summer will be to explore his trade value but the team is comfortable bringing him back in a top-9 role.