Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford has accepted a three-year contract extension.
The deal replaces his current one and runs through the 2018-19 season.
Rutherford has been GM for the past two years and made several personnel moves -- most notably, the acquisitions of Phil Kessel, Carl Hagelin and Trevor Daley -- during the past 12 months that made the franchise's fourth Stanley Cup possible.
Salary-cap constraints prevented Rutherford from keeping free-agent defenseman Ben Lovejoy, who received a three-year deal with a salary-cap hit of $2.66 million from New Jersey.
The Penguins also lost goalie Jeff Zatkoff, who accepted a two-year deal reportedly worth $900,000 per season from Los Angeles, his original NHL employer.
Still, Rutherford found a contract template he likes, because he signed six players to identical deals today.
Two -- defenseman Steve Oleksy and winger Tom Sestito -- already were in the organization, while the other four were free-agent defensemen from other teams.
Stuart Percy came from Toronto, David Warsofsky had been with the Penguins before they lost him to New Jersey on waivers last season, Cameron Gaunce spent last season with Portland in the American Hockey League and Chad Ruhwedel was brought in from Buffalo.
All received one-year, two-way contracts worth $575,000 if they play in the NHL.
Ruhewedel is 5 feet 11, 191 pounds and had 10 goals and 16 assists in 59 games with the Sabres' AHL affiliate in Rochester. He had two assists in 33 appearances with Buffalo over the past four seasons.
Warsofsky, 26, had one goal in 12 games with the Penguins, then one assist in 10 appearances with New Jersey after the Devils claimed him off waivers Feb. 29. He is 5 feet 9, 170 pounds and skates and moves the puck well, but can be overmatched against larger opponents.
Percy, 23, was a first-round draft choice for the Maple Leafs in 2011, and appeared in three games with them this season. He spent most of it with their top farm team, the Toronto Marlies, putting up four goals and 20 assists in 58 regular-season games, then adding four assists in 14 playoff games.
Percy is 6 feet 1, 187 pounds and is considered a good puck-mover.
Gaunce is 26 and had two goals and 35 assists in 75 games with the AHL Pirates, for whom he was an alternate captain.
Oleksy, 30, was recalled from the Penguins' farm team in Wilkes-Barre several times during the 2015-16 season, but did not get into an NHL game. He had two goals, 19 assists and 123 penalty minutes in 63 games with the Baby Penguins.
Sestito, 28, appeared in four games with the Penguins in 2015-16, recording one assist. He had five goals, nine assists and 104 penalty minutes in 41 games with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.
The Penguins today also agreed to a two-year contract extension with assistant coach Jacques Martin, according to a team source. Martin has been a member of the Penguins in various capacities the past three seasons. Last season, he took over as an assistant coach when Mike Sullivan assumed head coaching duties in mid-December.
Martin, 63, oversees the team's defensemen and penalty kill. He previously served as head coach of the Blues, Senators, Panthers and Canadiens as well as general manager of the Panthers.
Seth Rorabaugh contributed. Dave Molinari: Dmolinari@Post-Gazette.com and Twitter @MolinariPG.
First Published: July 1, 2016, 3:42 p.m.
Updated: July 1, 2016, 5:41 p.m.
