The Penguins always sign a player or two when the free agency period begins on July 1, and they probably will again.



Tradewinds are blowing around the NHL, however, and Jim Rutherford wants in on the action.



Rutherford has a long history of making deals at or around the time of the NHL Draft — think Patric Hornqvist, Phil Kessel and Ryan Reaves during his time in Pittsburgh — and, with the draft taking place this weekend in Dallas, don’t be surprised if he strikes again.



“I’m not even really thinking about free agency right now,” Rutherford told The Athletic on Monday. “As it stands now, we won’t really have the cap space to do anything anyway. We’re going to re-sign some of our restricted free agents. And at that point, we’re around the cap. A lot of teams are in a similar position to us. You’re going to see a bunch of trades around the league coming up.”



Will the Penguins be...