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Pittsburgh Penguins GM Kyle Dubas made his intentions clear after Friday night’s trade with the Vancouver Canucks.
The significant move sent veteran defenseman Marcus Pettersson and left winger Drew O’Connor to the Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Vincent Desharnais, left winger Danton Heinen, prospect Melvin Fernstrom and a first-round draft pick.
“Tonight’s trade continues to move us in the direction set one year ago, which is to continue to add young prospects, young players and draft capital to the Penguins as we chart our course to return the club back into contention as urgently as possible,” Dubas said in a statement.
The trade and the statement make it sound like Pittsburgh knows its playoff hopes are a bridge too far this season. Considering they’re closer to last in the Eastern Conference than they are to the second wild-card spot, it was time for Dubas to forget about the post-season and start setting his sights on the future.
But even though the Pens are focusing on turning it around as quickly as possible, specifically during the next two seasons that franchise icon Sidney Crosby is under contract, that will be quite a challenge. More struggles could well be ahead for them in the next two years.
Defense is the biggest area Pens brass must address. They’re currently the second-worst team in the NHL for goals against per game, allowing 3.50. Crosby and the rest of Pittsburgh’s offense cannot make up for that.
While Pittsburgh’s goalies – Tristan Jarry, Alex Nedeljkovic and Joel Blomqvist – have some unappealing stats, no netminder can thrive when their defense corps is as porous as it is. Trading Pettersson will not help in the short term, nor will acquiring Desharnais.
The next question is how Dubas will turn his group of blueliners into a decent bunch in the next two seasons.
Pittsburgh’s prospect pool doesn’t include Grade-A prospects on the back end. Harrison Brunicke, Owen Pickering and Emil Pieniniemi are more B-list prospects.
Things can change, of course, and prospects can make a jump no one projected they’d make. Dubas can also use his increased draft capital to select, sign or trade for a young, effective NHL blueliner.
Dubas could also try to move one of his stars, but good luck. Trading Crosby is clearly a non-starter, and fellow star center Evgeni Malkin is not interested in waiving his no-trade clause.
That still leaves star blueliners Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang – but if you do trade them, you’re taking a step backward in the hope of eventually taking forward steps. So, there must be even more patience with Pittsburgh’s prospects. That doesn’t bode well for their hopes for an urgent turnaround.
The Penguins have about $25.28 million in cap space for 2025-26 to re-sign pending free agents and try to sign others in the open market. But if there is a difference-maker who’s a UFA next summer, why would they choose to be part of the Penguins? Sure, the chance to play with Crosby and Malkin would appeal to anyone, but if a veteran blueliner wants to win a Cup, Pittsburgh doesn’t look like a contender anytime soon. They had about as good a competitive cycle as anyone could hope for, but they’re following the course of the Chicago Blackhawks and Detroit Red Wings.
For as great as he still is, Crosby can’t carry this team to greatness. If the Penguins want to head back into the playoffs and Stanley Cup contention urgently, they’ll need to surprise a lot of people.
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