A sustainable step forward led by a player good enough to be considered a difference maker aged somewhere between 25 and 29.
Such is Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas’s stated intent for the Penguins’ offseason, though even he admitted it might not be possible, but “We’re sure going to find out.”
Indeed, it seems you, me, Dubas, and the hockey world will find out of if the still bushy haired young GM can pull off his quantum leap forward, speeding past the empty barns and merely semi-curious fans during the losing phase of a rebuild.
Dubas recognizes that the two phases of the Penguins organization have no bridge between them. There are the core players approaching 40, a time long past when most players retire, and a growing gaggle of sub-25s still pushing to enter training camp without feeling uneasiness over the fight to simply make the team.
The closest players to being a bridge are Tommy Novak and Justin Brazeau, not exactly franchise pillars, and neither made an impact late in the season nor in the playoffs.
And so that great chasm between Ben Kindel, Egor Chinakhov and whichever prospect hits next season and the core squeezing the last from historic careers, Dubas is looking for that sturdy bridge.
As an academic exercise, what if Dubas succeeds? What would the Penguins’ lineup look like if he hauled someone such as Jason Robertson or Jordan Kyrou? Or even established players on rebuilding teams, such as Brock Boeser of the Vancouver Canucks.
As a note, there are few, if any, centers available to the Penguins, and the most likely acquisition–because of availability–would be on the wings.
Obviously, the better the trade get, and the better the selling team, the more likely that Dubas must part with a helpful veteran to replace their loss. Does anyone think a Robertson trade would be possible without Rickard Rakell involved?
To even lay out the Penguins’ top-six with a top-shelf LW, one wonders how the Penguins would consider themselves Stanley Cup contenders.
IMPACT PLAYER – Crosby – Rust
Chinakhov-Novak-Malkin
Of course, one could easily flip Ben Kindel and Novak, one of the Penguins prospects or a free agent for Malkin, but the baseline remains the same.
Examining that top six, it would not get the Penguins over any meaningful obstacle ahead of them. In fact, it would make them better while depleting their reserves, yet still leave them reliant upon a 39-year-old Sidney Crosby and a 40-year-old Evgeni Malkin.
The plan forward would be built around whomever that impact player turns out to be, but to steal the headline’s idiom, pulling on that thread, how much better would the team be with the “difference maker” over Rakell?
No, such a move would be a much about longevity as it would be about the upgrade.
In the best-case scenario, if Dubas is able to pull off the big trade without losing Rakell or Bryan Rust, the top-nine would be deep.
Rakell – Crosby – Rust
IMPACT – Novak – Chinakhov
? – Kindel -Malkin
As Dubas shops around trying to land that difference maker, the possibility seems to be decreasing as more teams let the emotions of a disappointing 2025-26 season subside and again become optimistic about righting their course for 2026-27.
Among those teams who had tumultuous exit interviews following haunting regular seasons, but have since settled into rosier outlooks, are the New Jersey Devils, Winnipeg Jets, Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Vegas Golden Knights, who have washed the taste of a poor regular season with a surprising, albeit befitting of their roster, playoff run to the very end.
So, are we making too much of Dubas’s statement, looking too much at the big-game-hunting aspect and skipping past the far more plausible path of finding those unhappy restricted free agents who have not reached stardom?
After all, those RFAs are the players who would not require Dubas to forfeit his growing bounty of young players and draft capital, or a crippling amount, anyway. Of course, Dubas has defied all expectations over the last year-plus, which makes his effort now all the more interesting.
Tags: jason robertson nhl trade Penguins Trade Pittsburgh Penguins
Categorized:Penguins Trade Talk