Kyle Dubas makes such frequent transactions around the Penguins that plotting a long-term path can be difficult. It only takes one call to dramatically alter the future in ways that can’t be imagined these days.
With that in mind that this exercise is likely to have more hits than misses, what could the Penguins look like for the 2027-28 season? Let’s take a shot.
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Top-6 forwards: Sidney Crosby, Egor Chinakhov, Ben Kindel, Bryan Rust, ?, ?
Bottom-6 forwards: Rutger McGroarty, Blake Lizotte, Connor Dewar, ?, ?
The forward group is going to need a lot of work. We’ll project that Crosby signs an extension and plays as a 40-year old in 2027-28 and Evgeni Malkin heads on to a happy retirement. Rickard Rakell is still under contract for this season, but we’ll put an outlook that he’s traded, which isn’t the case for Bryan Rust.
By this point, McGroarty ought to be in the NHL lineup, though it’s not a certainty. Similarly, is a then 21-year old Bill Zonnon ready for prime time after one year in the AHL coming up in 2026-27? It’s a possibility but also a big leap to even pencil him in as a full-time NHLer by then, as can be said for all the other players a rung below the NHL.
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Right shot defense: Harrison Brunicke, ?, Kris Letang
Kris Letang is under contract, he’ll also be 40 this year and his decline could push him elsewhere by the start of 2027-28. He might well have a spot here. There could be an outside chance that Erik Karlsson sticks around, but it seems better odds than not by 2027 that he will be gone. Beyond Brunicke, there isn’t a lot in the even intermediate picture here, though that could be solved in the coming days or weeks if the Pens are able to acquire the services of a defender on a multi-year contract.
Left shot defense: ?
On this, we’re drawing a complete blank. Maybe one can hope Owen Pickering and/or Jake Livinavage will be in the picture by this point. It’s certainly possible, though nothing to bank on with confidence. The Pens have a lot of work to do, whether that means re-signing Parker Wotherspoon or bringing in more NHL bodies soon, the canvas is pretty blank and needs a lot of painting to be done. This could be one reason why those Darnell Nurse rumors are lingering, Nurse might not be the most optimal potential option out there, but the Pens do need some material here.
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Goalie: Sergei Murashov, ?
It’s possible Arturs Silovs could grow into some staying power and come back for a third season as a Penguin in 2027-28. The pliable nature of goalies makes us think this could be something at least TBD more than baking in an expectation at this point.
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There’s not much material above, which is kinda the point to emphasize how open-ended the situation is for Pittsburgh moving forward. They only currently have seven players who finished the season in the NHL (Kindel, Rust, Rakell, Lizotte, Dewar, Letang, Graves) even under contract in 2027-28, several of those names being veterans that they may even trade in the next 15 months. That small number is bound to change soon, including once they get through the heavy player movement seen at next week’s draft and through the thick of free agency in the opening days of July.
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It emphasizes a ton of options available and flexibility of how to move forward. Some answers will find themselves, like if players like McGroarty, Avery Hayes, Ville Koivunen and Elmer Soderblom step up and prove they should have a spot moving forward or if mid-level veterans like Wotherspoon, Novak, and Sam Girard entrench themselves into a longer stay.
Otherwise, at this point, the Penguins have a position that looks both risky and also exciting in a medium-term outlook. From 2021-23, tons of players like Rust, Rakell, Letang, Malkin, Graves, Tristan Jarry and Noel Acciari all got 3-6 year contracts, lately that’s been eradicated. Only Lizotte (three-years) and Jack St. Ivany (2024, a near-minimum deal for three seasons) have received term of more than two seasons since July 2023, not counting the requisite three-year deals that go to entry level rookies.
As a result, the future is wide open for the Pens to steer in any number of directions. Dubas already indicated not to expect Pittsburgh to be involved in high-end free agents that will sign for lots of dollars and term this summer. Trades could be a way to bolster the lineup, and progress of any young players in the next 12 months would also be very welcome for a Penguin team that is going to need a lot of material to develop for their club in an intermediate outlook.
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