CALGARY \u2014 Things are looking up for the Pittsburgh Penguins these days.<\/p>\n
While in a playoff spot and enjoying a feel-good season, team president\/general manager Kyle Dubas has stocked the cupboards with real talent for the first time in two decades.<\/p>\n
The Penguins are especially pleased with their situation at forward, largely thanks to their three first-round picks in last June\u2019s draft: all forwards whom the Penguins believe will become impactful players.<\/p>\n
They are also smitten with their goaltending prospects, believing their organizational depth to be some of hockey\u2019s best at that position. They aren\u2019t as strong on the blue line, but starting with 19-year-old Harrison Brunicke, there is enough to like about their situation there, too.<\/p>\n
Dubas and the Penguins do have a problem, though: Where will their star power come from in the future?<\/p>\n
Sidney Crosby is 38. Evgeni Malkin is 39. Erik Karlsson is 35. Kris Letang is 38.<\/p>\n
Those are the Penguins\u2019 biggest names, and you don\u2019t win championships without star power. Dubas has repeatedly stated that he has \u201curgency\u201d to turn the Penguins into a championship contender year in and year out.<\/p>\n
Even if Crosby continues his pursuit of ageless brilliance for a few more years, that won\u2019t be enough. He\u2019s been great in the past three seasons, none of which have resulted in a playoff berth. Malkin and Karlsson have turned back the clock this season \u2014 Letang has been noticeably better in recent weeks, too \u2014 but they\u2019ll fade in coming seasons.<\/p>\n
So, the Penguins look like they\u2019ll have plenty of depth. They have wonderful middle-six candidates on the way. They\u2019re still flush with draft picks. They have enough cap space to turn free agency into a bonanza. But the star-power problem is real.<\/p>\n
Superstars very seldom become available on July 1. And when they do, bidding wars tend to cause overpays. Teams rarely let their best players get to unrestricted free agency, anyway.<\/p>\n
There is one more problem: Crosby. Really. He\u2019s so good that the Penguins are unlikely to get a top-five pick with him around. The Penguins are actually on an upswing. They aren\u2019t great, but they\u2019re in playoff position and, given their more than $50 million of projected cap space and young players ready to join the NHL, they might not be headed backwards for a while. The goal, of course, is to do more than hover in the middle of the pack.<\/p>\n
So, if free agency and the draft are less impactful, the Penguins\u2019 route to land a star is through trading.<\/p>\n
The Penguins absolutely love Jason Robertson. They aren\u2019t alone, of course. The 26-year-old Dallas Stars forward has 56 points in 49 games. He\u2019ll be in extreme demand if the Stars make him available.<\/p>\n
He is scheduled to be a restricted free agent this summer and an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2027. Dallas has already locked up stars Mikko Rantanen, Roope Hintz, Wyatt Johnston, Miro Heiskanen, Thomas Harley and Jake Oettinger. Those six players will cost Dallas over $56 million annually through 2029.<\/p>\n
Keeping Robertson, who is one of the NHL\u2019s best wingers despite being kept off Team USA\u2019s Olympic roster, is going to be an extremely difficult chore. The Penguins will be in a prime position behind an\u00a0enticing mix of NHL veterans, draft picks and more than enough cap space to satisfy Robertson\u2019s financial requests.<\/p>\n
Robertson is a young star, and the Penguins badly covet one of those. They could spend whatever it takes to get him without badly disrupting their rebuild.<\/p>\n