All four deals contain an average annual value of $650,000 at the NHL level.
Hayes and Muse won the 2010 NCAA national championship at Boston College, where they were teammates that season with Penguins' blueliner Brian Dumoulin.
Hayes, 28, spent last season with the New Jersey Devils, tallying nine points (3G-6A) in 33 games. The 6-foot-5, 215-pound Hayes has 334 games of NHL experience with the Chicago Blackhawks, Florida Panthers, Boston Bruins and Devils, producing 54 goals, 55 assists and 109 points. His best season came in 2014-15 with the Panthers, when he established personal highs with 19 goals and 35 points.
Hayes was originally chosen by the Toronto Maple Leafs in the second round (60th overall) in the 2008 NHL Draft.
Trotman, 27, spent the majority of the '17-18 campaign with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He saw action in 49 games, leading the team with a plus-24 while totaling 17 points (7G-10A). A 6-foot-3, 217-pound blueliner, Trotman has 70 games of NHL action with the Penguins and Boston Bruins on his resume (3G-9A-12PTS).
Elliott, 27, has played the past two seasons in Europe, skating for HV71 of the Swedish Hockey League in '17-18 and Ak Bars Kazan from Russia's KHL the year prior. He won a gold medal with Team Canada at the 2018 Olympic Games.
Elliott, who stands 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, has 84 games of NHL experience with the Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes and Nashville Predators, netting eight goals, 16 assists and 24 points. He was an AHL All-Star with the Lake Erie Monsters in 2014-15 when he led all league blueliners with 19 goals. Colorado chose Elliott in the second round (49th overall) in 2009.
Muse, 27, split last season between the AHL's Lehigh Valley Phantoms and the Reading Royals of the ECHL. He posted a .919 save percentage in 15 games with the Phantoms, and a .931 mark in 26 games with Reading. Muse won a pair of national championships with Boston College in 2008 and '10, then led the Florida Everblades of the ECHL to the 2012 Kelley Cup championship. He was the ECHL's playoff MVP in '12.
Muse was originally signed by Rutherford and the Carolina Hurricanes organization as an undrafted free agent in 2011.
For more on all four players, here are links to their NHL.com bios:
Hayes:
https://www.nhl.com/player/jimmy-hayes-8474625
Trotman:
https://www.nhl.com/player/zach-trotman-8475902
Elliott:
https://www.nhl.com/player/stefan-elliott-8475206
Muse:
https://www.nhl.com/player/john-muse-8476228
And their Elite Prospects bios:
Hayes:
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/11463/jimmy-hayes
Trotman:
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/49303/zach-trotma
Elliott:
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/15735/stefan-elliott
Muse:
https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/14872/john-muse
