Free agency, trades could overhaul team
Kyle Dubas devoted significant capital to the current club with nothing to show for it. Now, Crosby and the veteran core are a year older, Jake Guentzel is gone, and Karlsson in year one didn’t provide enough bang for the buck. Dubas has his work cut out for him this offseason.
Let’s take a look at nine pressing questions Dubas the Penguins must address.
1. Will Mike Sullivan be back?
Dubas at several points this season stated publicly that he sees Sullivan as the long-term answer as coach. He reiterated that when the Penguins were at their lowest point, one month ago when they fell into their funk around the NHL trade deadline. Pittsburgh’s late surge only solidified his footing with the franchise.
So, yeah, it would be a shocker if they were to dismiss Sullivan now, especially since his most recent contract extension won’t even kick in until next season.
However, we may see a change on his coaching staff for the first time since 2020.
Assistant coach Mike Vellucci has interviewed for NHL head coaching gigs the last couple of offseasons and will likely be on the radar of some teams again.
And then there is Sullivan’s right-hand man, Todd Reirden. His track record as an assistant here is quite good. He helped a number of defensemen reach new heights and oversaw a topfive power play in his first year back in town. But the failure of that unit this season could prompt the Penguins to make a change.
2. Does Crosby get extended?
Clearly, the Penguins want the captain back. Fenway Sports Group chairman Tom Werner confirmed the obvious back in the fall. Dubas has stated the same. And all indications are that Crosby still wants to finish his career in Pittsburgh.
Now, there will be a little anxiety until he signs on the dotted line. But the safe bet is Crosby will sign a teamfriendly deal that locks him for at least two more seasons. From there, there is the possibility that he goes the Patrice Bergeron route, signing a series of one-year contracts until he’s ready to call it a career.
3. What about other core guys?
Dubas said in February that he still sees Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang as core pieces to build around, adding that there will be value in having them around to show the ropes to the next wave of future Penguins. And even if he decided to change course, the long- time Penguins can wield their no-movement clauses.
Interestingly, Dubas lumped Karlsson into that core group. He might have had no choice but to declare that given Karlsson has a full-trade clause, too, and his contract — a $10 million salary cap hit for three more years — may be unmovable.
Hypothetically speaking, if the Penguins did look to trade Karlsson, the Ottawa speculation does make sense. He spent the first decade of his career there, and the Senators reportedly want to add impact veterans to accelerate their rebuild.
Bryan Rust is another valued vet who can veto trades to all teams this summer.
4. Will we see a Guentzel reunion?
Anything is possible, we suppose. But given his disappointment with being dealt and his smash success with his new team, Guentzel may take an open mind into free agency this summer, when he will be one of the best players available.
If there is mutual interest in a reunion, Pittsburgh will need to clear cap space.
5. Who could be traded away?
Reilly Smith is the most obvious candidate. He proved to be a poor fit with the Penguins but could garner interest as he heads into the last year of his deal.
Rickard Rakell is another one to watch, though his value is hardly sky-high. His scoring numbers nosedived this season, and his effort waxed and waned. Plus, his contract still has four years left. Not many teams will want to take that on.
And if the Penguins are indeed trying to get younger, Lars Eller and Noel Acciari were helpful players in their first seasons here but are 34 and 32, respectively.
What’s that you say? Trade Ryan Graves? No one is touching that contract right now. The Penguins can only hope the big blue-liner bounces back in 2024-25.
6. What about the goalie gig?
It will be fascinating to see how this one plays out. Our assumption a couple of weeks ago was that the Penguins would run it back with Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic and give top goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist more time to develop.
But then Sullivan stuck with Nedeljkovic with the season on the line, even after the Boston game gave Sullivan an opening to turn back to Jarry if he wanted.
It begs the question: Has Pittsburgh reached the point of no return with Jarry?
First things first, the Penguins will need to re-sign Nedeljkovic. Last month, he said he would be “very happy” to stay after the goalie got his career back on track here. As rock-solid as he was late in the season, he isn’t going to break the bank.
7. Who else is a free agent?
Nedeljkovic and Jeff Carter are their most notable unrestricted free agents. Jansen Harkins, Ryan Shea and Radim Zohorna can also hit the open market.
Their long list of restricted free agents includes Emil Bemstrom, Jonathan Gruden, Pierre- Olivier Joseph, Sam Poulin, Valtteri Puustinen and Jack St. Ivany.
8. Any prospects to watch?
Actually, there are for once. Top prospects Owen Pickering and Brayden Yager aren’t expected to make the NHL roster next season. But a wave of secondtier prospects will very much be in the mix at Pittsburgh’s training camp in the fall.
Up front, it might be now or never for Poulin to seize a spot with the Penguins. And the team is high on Ville Koivunen and Vasily Ponomarev, two of prospects acquired in the Guentzel deal. They both should get a long look in camp.
St. Ivany has already arrived on the blue line and not looked out of place, so he can lock down a lineup spot in the fall. In his first year, Dubas also added a pair of youngish, left-shot defensemen in Jack Rathbone and Dmitry Samorukov.
And then there is Blomqvist, awesome in his first pro season in North America.
9. When do the Penguins pick?
Stay tuned. They could have two first-round picks this year — but may get none.
The draft pick they traded to San Jose in the Karlsson deal is top-10 protected, so they will need draft lottery luck to hang onto that. And they will only get that firstrounder from Carolina if the Hurricanes make it to the Stanley Cup Final.
If Carolina comes up short, Pittsburgh will get a second-round pick instead. That would give the Penguins two seconds, a fourthrounder, a sixth and two sevens.