Should Penguins Look To Flip A Veteran Ahead Of NHL Draft?

It’s been covered many times over at this point that Kyle Dubas and the Pittsburgh Penguins seem prepared to mobilize in the trade market this summer.

Between comments about finding more players akin to Egor Chinakhov, saying he wants the Penguins to “take a big step” toward sustainable contention next season, and his sales-like pitch to prospective 20-something difference-makers, it’s clear that they’re prepared to pull the trigger on some bigger moves. And, yes, much is made about the Penguins’ large cupboard of draft capital, their plethora of cap space, and wide pool of near-NHL-ready prospects all around the same age and projected to be, at least, NHL regulars.

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However, the fact of the matter is that in order for the Penguins to acquire a game-changer in the trade market this summer t will require them surrendering a lot — including, likely, their 2026 first-round pick.

Even if the Penguins have a lot of capital for the next three drafts – including 15 picks in the first three rounds – they still only have three total first-round picks. And for a team that hopes to simultaneously build for the long-term and take big steps toward legitimate contention next season, there is a fine line to walk in terms of acquisition cost.

At the end of the day, better picks equal better players, and vice versa. And with a lot of talent, potentially, on the trade and the offer sheet market this summer, it may very well be the time for Dubas and the Penguins to consider going bigger in the trade market for a game-breaker.

But that probably also means the Penguins will be forced to give up at least one of their veterans, and, potentially, more than that in the process.

4 Prime Offer Sheet Candidates For Penguins To Consider Although Pittsburgh Penguins’ GM and POHO Kyle Dubas isn’t known to dabble in the RFA offer sheet market, there may be a few situations for him to consider this offseason.

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The Penguins’ 2025-26 season was impressive across the board and defied expectations, as they made the playoffs for the first time since 2022. Despite losing in the first round to the Philadelphia Flyers, they made tangible progress in comparison to last season, but Dubas knows they still have a long way to go before reaching the contention level of a team like the Carolina Hurricanes, who just made the Stanley Cup Final for the first time since 2006.

And a large part of that process, at some point, has to involve the Penguins’ best talent skewing younger. The reality about last season’s magical run to the playoffs was that their best players were still the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, and Anthony Mantha. The common denominator is that they’re all above the age of 30. Again, the Penguins need those 20-something impact players who are going to make a difference in the short- and long-term.

Offloading someone like Rakell or Rust should net the Penguins some pretty handsome compensation. If the trade deadline was any indicator of what returns might look like, they should return a first-round pick, which would give the Penguins flexbility to leverage one of their firsts and use the other one to draft. And this aligns with the short game and the long game for Kyle Dubas.

What Would It Take For Penguins To Land 3 ‘Big Fish’ In Trade Market? Pittsburgh Penguins’ general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas made it clear that he is ready to activate in the trade market this summer. So, what would it cost for him to go after names like Auston Matthews, Robert Thomas, and Jason Robertson?

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It’s particularly beneficial to try and execute a deal before the draft, too, because having two first-round picks in any of the three upcoming drafts will both give them leverage they can use currently and give them more flexiblity in terms of moving significant draft capital. Should an impact name become available this summer, Dubas would surely be a lot more comfortable surrendering a first-plus if he already knows he has more picks to offset the loss of drafting a potential future impact piece.

Simply put, offloading a veteran ahead of the draft will give them more margin for error and more flexibility that they wouldn’t have otherwise. And that’s no small deal when trying to build out a contender through both the trade and free agent market and the draft.

Of course – depending on the situation – it’s very much possible that reliable top-six wingers Rakell or Rust get dealt as part of one of those bigger packages, involving that first-round pick. But the same applies to that line of thinking, too, as the Penguins would be subtracting in order to add sustainable talent to their roster.

So, if the opportunity is there to dangle guys like Rakell or Rust prior to the NHL Draft at the end of June in order to provide a youthful boost to the short- and long-term of this franchise, Dubas should absolutely be all over it.

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