{"id":427853,"date":"2026-01-24T22:31:11","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:31:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/427853\/"},"modified":"2026-01-24T22:31:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T22:31:11","slug":"the-kyle-dubas-effect-how-penguins-boss-has-fueled-a-turnaround-player-by-player","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/427853\/","title":{"rendered":"The Kyle Dubas effect: How Penguins boss has fueled a turnaround, player-by-player"},"content":{"rendered":"

EDMONTON \u2014 It\u2019s perfectly fitting that the Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 next game is in Vancouver \u2014 because Kyle Dubas is on a Jim Rutherford-esque heater.<\/p>\n

Seemingly, everything Dubas has done over the past year has been on the money.<\/p>\n

Dubas has been in Pittsburgh for just two and a half years, but his fingerprints are all over the team that is suddenly chugging toward the Stanley Cup playoffs.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s look at the roster as it currently stands, man by man, and Dubas\u2019 impact on each player.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Kyle Dubas has given Sidney Crosby a legitimate shot to make the playoffs this season. (Leila Devlin \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Sidney Crosby<\/p>\n

Dubas signed him to a two-year contract extension in September 2024, his $8.7 million annual cap hit remaining. How has that worked out? Dubas knows a Crosby trade could have expedited a traditional rebuild, but he also understands the captain\u2019s value and bet on him to maintain his greatness well into the future.<\/p>\n

Rickard Rakell<\/p>\n

Remember when everyone wanted to trade Rakell at this time last season? Dubas took a beating for not trading him. In retrospect, keeping Rakell has helped this team. He hasn\u2019t played as well as he did last season, and he missed a good chunk of time with a broken finger, but Rakell has started to play his best hockey now. And the Penguins are better with him still on the roster.<\/p>\n

Bryan Rust<\/p>\n

Dubas\u2019 phone rings daily as opposing general managers inquire about Rust\u2019s services. Dubas could surely receive a significant return and has in fact received healthy offers, but hasn\u2019t pulled the trigger. The Penguins would not be the Penguins without Rust, who remains one of their most important players.<\/p>\n

Evgeni Malkin<\/p>\n

This one is tricky, and it\u2019s to be determined, but Dubas hasn\u2019t done anything wrong here. The same people who say Dubas has to bring back Geno are the same who call it a masterclass after every trade he makes. Maybe Dubas knows what he\u2019s doing. Should he bring back Malkin for another year? Yeah, probably. Will he? The plan wasn\u2019t to bring him back last summer. Malkin\u2019s performance may well be changing things. Either way, Malkin is playing high-level hockey, and he\u2019s doing it for the Penguins. Dubas never entertained moving him, and he was right for that.<\/p>\n

Tommy Novak<\/p>\n

His season didn\u2019t start splendidly, but it\u2019s coming along now. Novak is a crafty, interesting player who is really clicking on the second line. Dubas traded for him last winter in the days leading up to the NHL trade deadline, with Michael Bunting going to Nashville. Novak is better than Bunting, and that trade was a win for the Penguins.<\/p>\n

Egor Chinakhov<\/p>\n

Have you been watching for the past couple of weeks? Chinakhov is a talented player. I don\u2019t know what was going on in Columbus, but it couldn\u2019t have been good. Dubas identified that Chinakhov could help this team now and into the future. He has legitimate star potential.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Ben Kindel is making the Penguins look extremely smart. (Brett Holmes \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Ben Kindel<\/p>\n

The experts said the Penguins reached for Kindel with the 11th pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. I\u2019m not hearing any of that commentary now. Kindel was one of the steals of the draft. He\u2019s already an important member of the Penguins at 18 and is only going to get better. What a player, and what a draft pick.<\/p>\n

Anthony Mantha<\/p>\n

He\u2019s on pace for 26 goals this season. Dubas signed him for $2.5 million last July. I believe we refer to that as being a tidy bit of business.<\/p>\n

Justin Brazeau<\/p>\n

Brazeau is also on pace to score 26 goals this season \u2014 in only 68 games. The Penguins were not the same team when he was out with an injury. Dubas signed him at $1.5 million annually. For two years. It may go down as one of the best free agent signings in Penguins history. He\u2019s only 27 and appears to have found a home.<\/p>\n

Blake Lizotte<\/p>\n

Dubas signed him two years ago at $1.85 million annually. Lizotte has since been rewarded with a three-year extension, which carries an AAV of $2.25 million. The Penguins are 24-9-8 when he\u2019s in the lineup this season, and that isn\u2019t a coincidence.<\/p>\n

Connor Dewar<\/p>\n

Dubas traded for him at the last minute \u2014 almost literally \u2014 before the NHL trade deadline last season. It was under the radar. No one talked about it at the time, but Dubas knew his former team, the Maple Leafs, was having cap issues, and he pounced on Dewar, who has 11 goals and is one of the NHL\u2019s best fourth-liners right now. His cap hit is a mere $1.1 million. What an exceptional acquisition.<\/p>\n

Noel Acciari<\/p>\n

This would probably qualify as a rare mistake from Dubas, though it took place during the summer of 2023, when Dubas made a few errors. The three-year contract worth $6 million for Acciari was not a great deal. Still, you can\u2019t deny that Acciari has played a crucial role in this season\u2019s success. All\u2019s well that ends well with this deal.<\/p>\n

Kevin Hayes<\/p>\n

He is past his prime and making too much money, yes. Still, the primary reason Dubas acquired him was that the Penguins received a second-round pick to get him. Those second-round picks turn into players like Chinakhov when you have a really good general manager running the show. Therefore, it was a smart trade.<\/p>\n

Erik Karlsson<\/p>\n

Ah, speaking of the summer of 2023 \u2026 Karlsson\u2019s first two years in Pittsburgh were a disaster. Dubas could have moved him last summer. While I have no doubt he considered it, Dubas opted to keep Karlsson, who has been magnificent this season. The decision to trade for Karlsson is finally paying off.<\/p>\n

Parker Wotherspoon<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been one of the NHL\u2019s steadiest defensemen all season \u2014 a real revelation. Dubas signed him at $1 million annually for two years, making it another candidate for one of the best free agent signings in Penguins history. Wotherspoon has legitimately played at a $5 million level this season. That\u2019s how good he\u2019s been.<\/p>\n

Kris Letang<\/p>\n

He was signed before Dubas arrived, and he remains. He\u2019s one of the rare players on this roster whose presence hasn\u2019t really depended on Dubas one way or the other.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

\n Brett Kulak was a nice pickup in the Tristan Jarry trade. (Steph Chambers \/ Getty Images)<\/p>\n

Brett Kulak<\/p>\n

More on this trade later, but the long and the short of it is that Dubas traded an overpaid, underachieving goaltender to Edmonton, and one of the players he received in return is a solid defenseman. There is no question that Kulak\u2019s presence has made Letang a better player.<\/p>\n

Ryan Shea<\/p>\n

Dubas signed him to a one-year, $900,000 extension last season. How has that worked out? As with Wotherspoon, Shea isn\u2019t going to blow you away with his physical gifts, but he\u2019s emerged as a very reliable NHL defenseman who plays on a very team-friendly contract.<\/p>\n

Connor Clifton<\/p>\n

Perhaps he\u2019s a bit overpaid at $3.3 million annually, but in recent weeks, we\u2019ve seen what he can bring to the lineup. He\u2019s a hitter. He brings energy. He brings depth. He\u2019s right-handed. He\u2019s a great presence in the locker room. Not a bad guy to have around.<\/p>\n

Ryan Graves<\/p>\n

Graves is the poster child for all that went wrong in the summer of 2023. He remains overpaid ($4.5 million AAV). However, even Graves has been considerably better this season. You don\u2019t cringe when he\u2019s on the ice anymore. He gives the Penguins depth, at least.<\/p>\n

Jack St. Ivany<\/p>\n

He\u2019s signed for another season at $775,000 annually. That\u2019s what we call good value.<\/p>\n

Stuart Skinner<\/p>\n

He\u2019s allowed 11 goals in his past seven starts. What else needs to be said? Dubas successfully ridded himself of a previous mistake in Tristan Jarry\u2019s contract, added Kulak and a second-round pick. Adding Skinner to that is highway robbery.<\/p>\n

Art\u016brs \u0160ilovs<\/p>\n

He\u2019s been terrible in shootouts, sure. The rest of his body of work has not been bad. A worthy trade, without question.<\/p>\n

Others<\/p>\n

We haven\u2019t even mentioned players such as Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Harrison Brunicke, Bill Zonnon, Will Horcoff and many other young players who appear on the verge of helping the Penguins in varying capacities.<\/p>\n

Times are good for the Penguins. If they do indeed reach the playoffs and Crosby gets to 100 points, he\u2019ll receive deserved MVP buzz.<\/p>\n

First-year coach Dan Muse will rightfully receive Jack Adams Award consideration. The Penguins were supposed to be a bottom-five team in the NHL, and they\u2019ve looked well-coached almost all season.<\/p>\n

Of course, let\u2019s not forget that Dubas hired Muse. Dubas constructed this team. And Dubas is doing what Ron Hextall couldn\u2019t do \u2014 which is to say, he is successfully rebuilding on the fly while still seeing his Penguins push for a playoff spot. It\u2019s not supposed to work this way \u2014 but it is.<\/p>\n

Dubas is on his way toward winning general manager of the year. Everything he touches is turning to gold.<\/p>\n

The trade deadline is less than two months away. If I were another NHL general manager, I\u2019d be afraid to trade with him. If I were Dubas, I\u2019d be tempted to stand pat and ride the stellar work already done over the past year to bolster the Penguins\u2019 present and future.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"EDMONTON \u2014 It\u2019s perfectly fitting that the Pittsburgh Penguins\u2019 next game is in Vancouver \u2014 because Kyle Dubas…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":427854,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[66],"tags":[385,1790,99],"class_list":["post-427853","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nhl","tag-nhl","tag-pittsburgh-penguins","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427853","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=427853"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/427853\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/427854"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=427853"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=427853"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=427853"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}