It ended up being a mostly uneventful draft weekend for the Pittsburgh Penguins as far as major short-term changes went. They acquired Hendrix Lapierre for draft picks, used some of their stockpile future of picks to get extra 2026 mid-round selections and went about their business of drafting players without many fireworks going down with massive moves.
The big landmark for the NHL offseason is coming up on Wednesday for the July 1st free agency market that officially opens up at noon. Heading into that event, here’s where the Pens stand.
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First line forwards: Sidney Crosby, Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust
There’s always at least moderate smoke in the national media picture regarding the potential availability of Rakell and Rust to be traded, yet no trade has happened or seemingly been close. If you look at the ice time splits under Dan Muse last season, there’s these three forwards (who all averaged between 18-20 minutes per game) and then everyone else. The team could always opt tactically to nudge Egor Chinakhov to play with Crosby-Rust again and place Rakell on the second line, but these three right now are the central figures on the team as far as forwards go.
Other key NHL forwards: Evgeni Malkin, Egor Chinakhov, Ben Kindel, Tommy Novak
As of now, these four forwards look to be the base of the ‘second’ and ‘third’ lines, though nomenclature is about the only differential given how Muse has split ice time and assignments. Malkin averaged 14:26 of ES ice time last year, compared to Kindel’s 12:36 – based on the ages of both those numbers will likely be evening out a bit next season. These names can bounce around the lineup, including between center and wing in some cases, but all are in place to take important roles for the team for the players that will probably be in the 13-14 minute of ES ice time per game next year. As mentioned above, there’s the possibility that Chinakhov will grow further into the higher classification of player as the year goes along, but starting him out in this pile feels right for this moment.
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‘Fourth’ liners: Connor Dewar, Blake Lizotte
Most fourth liners across the league aren’t pushing 14 minutes per game like these two who tend to take regular shifts throughout the game and are relied on for a ton of defensive zone starts while matching up against scoring line opponents. Dewar and Lizotte will be the backbone of an important line next season that will be listed as a ‘fourth’ line it will still carry a very important part of the action.
Fill out forwards (3 lineup spots): Elmer Soderblom, Justin Brazeau, Hendrix Lapierre, Rutger McGroarty, Avery Hayes, Ville Koivunen, Filip Hallander, Tristan Broz
This group of players will likely float between different roles as the season goes along. Brazeau has played a limited amount but in key places in the lineup, he could yet reprise his role with Kindel and still end up seeing 11-12 ES minutes per game. Soderblom performed well down the stretch. Wingers like Brazeau and Soderblom could see time on lines with good players and yet still end up as the third and seldom-used part of the puzzle.
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Lapierre was acquired for two draft picks, including a third rounder, so one would presume he will factor into the lineup at the start of the season in some form. What line that would be, and even whether that is at center or on the wing still could be considered up in the air right now.
Younger forwards who finished the season in the AHL will be knocking on the door but will need strong preseasons to find a role and/or trades sending out vets who currently occupy spots above them. Lapierre’s acquisition without any forwards under contract departing serve to make the math that much worse for players in the grouping of forwards attempting to graduate into the NHL full-time, at this moment anyways.
Left Defense: Parker Wotherspoon, Sam Girard
There’s not a lot currently in the rumor mill tying the Pens to Darnell Nurse, despite Pittsburgh being on a list of three places Nurse would accept a trade. If that avenue isn’t one Pittsburgh is interested in travelling, left defense could be an area to watch for offseason moves since it’s arguably the weakest spot on the roster. Ryan Shea’s camp has to be encouraged that Brett Kulak signed a $4.5 million contract for five years as an indicator the free agent market will be very rewarding for Shea. The Pens will have to find a Shea replacement or risk going into camp depending on a young player like Owen Pickering or Jake Livanavage to step into the playing lineup or have Ilya Solovyov go from a depth option to regular. What the Pens would truly need and want is to find the 2026 version of Wotherspoon as a free agent that wouldn’t cost an arm and leg on his contract and still be able to fill an important role. Finding and securing such a target is usually a very tall task.
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Right Defense: Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang
It might already be time to put Harrison Brunicke’s name in pencil (or a sharper writing implement) to round out the lineup after a strong showing in the AHL playoffs. Regardless, at the very least the need is obvious that Pens could use more depth, a swing player like Connor Clifton would be a small but important piece of insurance. That might not be Clifton himself as he heads to free agency but given the ages of Karlsson and Letang plus the inexperience of Brunicke, another NHL caliber right shot defender wouldn’t be an unnecessary add even with the suspected elevation of Brunicke.
Goaltender: Arturs Silovs, Sergei Murashov/Joel Blomqvist
All indications are that the Pens are comfortable with going very young in net next year by having one of Murashov or Blomqvist in their goalie tandem. Murashov has clearly edged ahead of Blomqvist on the organizational depth chart, though Blomqvist being an older and more experienced player makes it easy to project NHL action next season at some point. Neither goalie will require waivers in 2026-27, so the possibility is open to rotate these goalies on/off the NHL roster depending on how circumstances dictate. That wouldn’t happen as a yo-yo after one bad performance, it’s just good news for the Pens that they don’t have to place all their hopes in one singular AHL goalie moving up next year when they have two decent options. That depth makes the situation encouraging after Murashov’s great year in Wilkes, if he stumbles or shows a need for more development time the team looks fairly content with having Blomqvist there to pick up any slack or in the event of an injury.
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Overall, the Penguins don’t look like they have a splashy move up their sleeves for this summer. The thought of giving 30-year old players like Alex Tuch or Darren Raddysh eight years on a contract likely never entered their minds, just as they have shown no signs of wanting to keep Anthony Mantha. The free agent class isn’t terribly impressive and in a climate where players have more say in trades than ever, Pittsburgh doesn’t look like it’s the destination of preference for players like Dylan Larkin – and there’d be no reason to suspect Zach Werenski or any other high-profile players that get to pick their spots either. The draft going by without dealing a veteran like Rakell or Rust might be an indicator that both players will return for another season with the Pens now that the event is over and 2026 picks have been made.
After the draft in 2025, the Pens made three summer trades. Most were fairly minor in the big scheme of things that saw backup goalie Alex Nedeljkovic and Vlad Kolaychonok traded out with the Silovs and Matt Dumba as a cap casualty joining the team. Summer 2024 was similar, there was a prospect swap (McGroarty for Brayden Yage), a couple of cap-related moves that saw Cody Glass and Kevin Hayes added while the ill-fit of Reilly Smith was sent away but little else in terms of truly impactful movement.
This summer could still see a name from the NHL roster above traded out before the league settles into ‘cottage season’ and activity dies down later in the summer, but at this point of the calendar in the usual flow of player movement most of the activity could be limited to whatever free agency deals end up getting struck. An outlook on the Pens shows they have some veteran players that could still be trade targets and a need to address defensive depth either in a trade or by signing a free agent or two.
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