The Penguins’ season opener against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden is still 71 days away.

That’s a long time — still too far away to have any hope of accurately projecting what the lineup will look like on opening night. For one, the Penguins still just have too many players. Even assuming a decent chunk of the depth signings end up in the AHL, it’s still difficult to narrow the roster down to 23 players. For that reason, trades can definitely still be expected.

Who could be traded? Kyle Dubas, asked specifically about Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson last month, said “We’re going to evaluate everything, we’re going to do what’s best for the Penguins,” which tells us … absolutely nothing. He did mention getting “lots of calls” on Rust specifically, but seemed averse to actually following through on any of them unless the offer was extremely high.

All that’s to say that it’s extremely difficult to even guess who will be on the roster still at the end of training camp, let alone how they’ll line up. Still, in this dead time of summer, it’s fun to speculate. So, here’s my stab at projecting the Penguins’ opening roster.

First line: Rutger McGroarty – Sidney Crosby – Rickard Rakell

Who will be Crosby’s wings to open the season? Ideally, one of the young forwards who came up at the end of last season will be up there. McGroarty was on Crosby’s wing until he got hurt, and fared well in that limited sample size. Rakell would seem to be toward the top of the list of the veterans likely to be moved, given his great value for only a $5 million cap hit for three more years. But if the Penguins plan on returning to contention in those next three years (and that does seem to be the plan) then hanging onto Rakell could prove to be a wise move. For that reason, I’d be hanging onto Rakell.

Second line: Ville Koivunen – Evgeni Malkin – Bryan Rust

The rationale here is a lot like that of the first line — stick Malkin with one young, up-and-coming winger and an older established winger to help ease the rookie’s transition to the NHL. If Koivunen and McGroarty establish themselves midseason and seem ready for full-time top-six roles, then it would make trading one of the veteran wingers easier. But right now? It might benefit Koivunen and McGroarty to have Rust and Rakell alongside them.

Third line: Filip Hallander – Tommy Novak – Anthony Mantha

The Penguins only had Novak for all of two games last season before he had a season-ending injury, and the first of those two games was as third-line center. Is the 30-year-old Mantha part of any long-term plans after being signed this summer? Probably not. What’s realistic, though, is Mantha bouncing back after last year’s ACL surgery, and then he gets flipped at the deadline for futures. In order to do that, you want him in the lineup and in a somewhat-prominent role. 

As for Hallander? When I spoke one-on-one with Dubas while in Buffalo for the combine, I asked about Hallander’s role and he told me, “we have high hopes for him and hope he can work his way up the lineup. He’s very responsible defensively, can play all three positions, and our hope is that he can certainly be a mainstay in the lineup coming out of camp and then move his way up.” That would seem to suggest that he’ll get every opportunity to be in the opening night lineup. And given that his successful year in Sweden came while almost exclusively playing left wing, he should probably start there.

Fourth line: Connor Dewar – Blake Lizotte – Phil Tomasino (Justin Brazeau)

Dewar (26), Lizotte (27) and Tomasino (24) are all still relatively young and could conceivably be part of a future, so they should be somewhere in the lineup. Ideally, are Dewar and Tomasino fourth-line guys? Probably not, but it’s also hard to find a place elsewhere for them, and so maybe they just end up part of a fourth line that can chip in offensively. As for the newly-signed Brazeau, his versatility in being able to play both wings makes him a nice guy to have around as an extra. 

First defense pairing: Owen Pickering – Kris Letang

Letang’s not going anywhere. And if one of the focuses this year is to give the younger players big opportunities, it’d be a good idea to put their top left-handed defense prospect in Pickering up on the top pairing as Letang’s partner. Pickering and Letang briefly played together as a pairing last season too, so there’s a level of familiarity.

Second defense pairing: Ryan Graves – Erik Karlsson

Would the Penguins move on from Karlsson if a good deal presented itself? Probably. Would Karlsson waive his no-movement clause for a contender? Absolutely. Is there a contender out there with a lineup spot, need, and cap space for Karlsson right now? Probably not. But could a new head coach, new defense coach provide some kind of a boost to Karlsson, and either shape him into someone the Penguins want to keep or at least improve the trade market for him mid-season? Perhaps, so it’s conceivable that he’s still on the second pairing to start the season.

Why Graves? The options for left-handed defensemen are bleak, and he too could benefit from a new coach, a new system. Might as well give him a chance to rebound, given that he’s signed for four more years.

Third defense pairing: Alex Alexeyev/Ryan Shea – Matt Dumba/Connor Clifton

Yeah, this might be a pairing that sees a lot of rotating throughout the year, and the Penguins carry one or two extras around with them. On the left side, Alexeyev is a former first-round pick who just needs to play, and Shea showed flashes of potential last season. On the right, Dumba and Clifton are 31 and 30 years old respectively, and the reasons for trading for both were that they were cap dumps who brought in future assets along with them. Both are only signed through next season. They aren’t playing ahead of Letang or Karlsson, so put one on the third pairing and keep another as an extra.

Goaltenders: Tristan Jarry, Arturs Silovs

Pretty straightforward here. Silovs is a young goaltender who was traded in part because of his new waivers-eligible status. If the Canucks kept him, they didn’t have room for him on the NHL roster, and didn’t want to lose him for nothing on the waiver wire. With Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashov both still exempt from waivers (and really, probably behind Silovs anyway in terms of readiness) then they go to the AHL for now and perhaps come up midseason when there’s an inevitable injury.

Traded: Danton Heinen, Noel Acciari, Kevin Hayes

To be clear: This isn’t a “rumor” for any of the above, it’s not reporting, it’s just speculating on what could make sense. Heinen (30), Acciari (33) and Hayes (33) aren’t young, and it’s hard to find a spot for them in the lineup. Heinen is versatile and can play all three forward positions and affordable at $2.25 million for one more season, so the Penguins could even retain some salary there and make him an appealing depth option for a better team. Acciari, too, is affordable at $2 million for one more season, and does have value in his role as a shot-blocking, penalty-killing fourth-liner … but his abilities are wasted on a retooling team like the Penguins. Hayes, with a $3.57 million cap hit for one more year and the ability to play center and wing, could be another option as a depth add for another team if the Penguins retain salary. His ability to be a “glue guy” and what he brings to a locker room could help his case.

In the minors: Forwards Boko Imama, Tristan Broz, Avery Hayes, Joona Koppanen, Valtteri Puustinen, Sam Poulin, Rafael Harvey-Pinard, Tanner Howe, defensemen Parker Wotherspoon, Phil Kemp, Jack St. Ivany, Sebastian Aho, Daniel Laatsch, Chase Pietila, Finn Harding, Emil Pieniniemi, goaltenders Joel Blomqvist, Sergei Murashov, Filip Larsson

It’s just not easy to fit any of these guys in based on the current roster, though a number could be mid-season call-ups when spots open due to injury or trades, especially Broz and Hayes as far as young guys go.