NHL GM Sends Note to All 31 teams That Defenseman is Available

The Pens have an excess of blueline players, making Joseph expendable. It seems with Jan Rutta and Jeff Petry recently added that there isn't a spot for Joseph.

He's quite familiar with lack of playing time, as he has only appeared in 20 NHL games since being acquired in June of 2019 in the Phil Kessel trade with the Arizona Coyotes.

Joseph was the Coyotes' 23rd overall pick in the 2017 draft. He played 75 games in the AHL with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins gathering four goals, 26 assists.

The Pittsburgh club is $730,175 over the cap limit of $82.5 million. Others to be considered could be Chad Ruhwedel or Mark Friedman. Ty Smith is a lock to get a spot, so Joseph could even be waived.

For a player who had over 18 minutes of ice time when he did get an opportunity , it's a numbers games at this point.

It also could be Hextall bluffing that he will put him on waivers. Why trade him when other teams could pick him up without losing any assets?

In any case, Joseph must be wishing for some clarity concerning his future. Being dangled out there as trade bait is not exactly a good feeling. He has some skill, and can play a ton of minutes, so we shall see how this turns out.

For now, POJ is just playing the waiting game.