Tick tock. The March 6, 2026, NHL trade deadline seemingly jumped at warp speed from weeks away to just one day away. While the Pittsburgh Penguins have already made a few trades this season, general manager Kyle Dubas has one more chance to fortify his roster, or more importantly, fortify his rebuild plan for the second-place team.
In addition to discussing his position on Evgeni Malkin’s future, Dubas also used his team-hosted bi-weekly radio show Wednesday night to specifically detail the type of players the Penguins are looking for before the clock strikes 3 p.m. on Friday.
While Dubas’s answer covered all bases except goaltending, he began with what we already knew to be true. The Penguins are looking for more players in the Egor Chinakhov mold–young and talented, and available for a price matching or below their potential.
“I think where we look is both up front and on defense. I think the ideal acquisition for us will be a player that’s in their 20s, closer to their mid-20s, that has some team control,” said Dubas. “Either they’re signed, or they are a pending restricted free agent, where they’re not a rental. That said, if we get closer to Friday and there’s a chance to add to the team with someone who is a rental, we could look at that, too.”
To recap, Dubas said they will look at forward and defense, for a young player or even a rental. That is called covering your bases.
However, one type of acquisition that Dubas specifically omitted was a veteran with term, which should put out the last embers of the Vincent Trocheck talk. The last player Dubas acquired who was over 30 with multiple years remaining on his contract was defenseman Erik Karlsson on Aug. 6, 2023.
Dubas also acquired 35-year-old defenseman Luke Schenn with Tommy Novak from the Nashville Predators at the 2025 NHL deadline, but Schenn respectfully asked to be traded to a playoff team, and the Penguins quickly complied. Schenn had only one more year remaining on his contract as the Penguins flipped him to the Winnipeg Jets for another second-round pick.
The Penguins have nine second-rounders over the next four drafts.
Dubas has been busy this season, trading away goalie Tristan Jarry and former first-round pick Sam Poulin to the Edmonton Oilers in exchange for defenseman Brett Kulak and goalie Stuart Skinner (and a 2029 second-round pick). Following the Olympics, Dubas traded Kulak to the Colorado Avalanche for Sam Girard and a 2028 second-round pick.
“I think everyone looks at the deadline as that’s a time that you have to act, and I think it is a great opportunity to add talent to your roster and to your team. What I would say to that is that this year, we have already added a lot of talent to the team,” Dubas said. “So, we’ve made a lot of moves throughout the year to add Stu Skinner to the team, Sam Girard to the group, Egor Chinakhov to the group, and Ilya Solovyev to the group. So, we’ve already done that throughout the year.”
Dubas acquired Chinakhov from the Columbus Blue Jackets for a pair of draft picks and Danton Heinen. The team acquired defenseman Ilya Solovyov for minor-league forward Valterri Puustinen.
The deadline is March 6 at 3 p.m. ET.
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