Hainsey carries a salary cap hit of $2.833 million and he will be an unrestricted free agent at the end of the season. Carolina will be retaining 50 percent of Hainsey's remaining salary.
Hainsey, 35, was in his fourth season with the Hurricanes. This season, he has suited up for all 56 games played, producing 14 points (4G-10A), including his 200th NHL assist against the Penguins back on Jan. 20.
The 6-foot-3, 210-pound lefthanded-shooting blueliner sat third on the Hurricanes in time on ice (22:20 minutes) and second overall in shorthanded minutes (3:03 minutes). His 79 hits led club defenders, and his 92 blocked shots placed third.
A native of Bolton, Connecticut, Hainsey served as an alternate captain for Carolina during the previous two seasons. The dependable blueliner joins the Penguins having skated in 347 of a possible 350 games since 2012-13.
Originally drafted by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round (13th overall) in 2000, Hainsey has 250 points (49G-201A) in 891 career games played with Carolina, Winnipeg/Atlanta, Columbus and Montreal. Since playing his first full-time NHL season with Columbus in 2006-07, Hainsey has played in 804 of a possible 842 games (95%).
Hainsey, who played two years at the University of Massechusetts-Lowell, becomes the 16th current Penguin with college hockey experience. Only Matt Cullen (1,347 games) and Trevor Daley (892 games) have more NHL regular-season playing experience.
Hainsey, an alumnus of the United States National Team Development Program, represented the United States at the 2009 World Championship, where he was an alternate captain, and named one of the 'Top Three' players on the team by the media. He also skated in the 2000 and '01 World Junior Championship, leading all defenders with five assists in '01.
