Kyle Dubas’ first stretch as Penguins general manager came with plenty of noise, a few costly bets, and more than a little skepticism. But over three years, the volume of moves has been enormous, and the recent return has started to tilt sharply in Pittsburgh’s favor.
Dubas has signed 71 contracts and 20 entry-level deals, according to Puckpedia.com, with 74 of those deals coming in under $2 million. He has also overseen 50 Penguins trades and brought in 46 players.
On the draft side, the Penguins have acquired 35 picks and moved out 26. That’s the backdrop for a list that features a few genuine home runs.
The clearest example is the Tristan Jarry trade, a deal that checked nearly every box for Pittsburgh. Even with Jarry opening the 2025-26 season in strong form, Dubas still dealt him to the desperate Edmonton Oilers for Brett Kulak, Stuart Skinner and a second-round pick.
Sam Poulin, the Penguins’ 2019 first-round pick, was also included so he could get another NHL opportunity that wasn’t coming in Pittsburgh. Jarry carried a $5.375 million cap hit for the final two-and-a-half years of his deal, and the move removed that burden.
Some questioned it at the time, including PHN, but the trade ended up looking smart as Kulak meshed with Kris Letang, Skinner improved, and Pittsburgh avoided the expected Jarry drop-off later in the season.
Another major win came with Egor Chinakhov. The former first-rounder in Columbus had fallen into fourth-line duty and into coach Dean Evason’s doghouse, but Dubas and Blue Jackets GM Don Waddell spent months talking before finally striking a deal.
Pittsburgh sent out the St. Louis Blues’ 2026 second-round pick, which became 43rd overall, plus the Washington Capitals’ 2027 third-rounder.
Chinakhov responded with 18 goals and 18 assists in just 43 games, giving the Penguins another young scorer and a real piece for the future.
The move for Marcus Pettersson and Drew O’Connor also changed the direction of the franchise. Pittsburgh sent both players to Vancouver on Jan. 31, 2025, and in return landed the New York Rangers’ first-round pick held by the Canucks through the earlier J.T.
Miller trade. When the Rangers chose to surrender the 2025 selection, it became No. 12 overall.
Dubas then used that asset as part of a chain of moves that turned it into the 22nd and 24th picks, which became Bill Zonnon and Will Horcoff. For Pettersson, that was a hefty return.
The Penguins also found real value in Ben Kindel at No. 11 overall. With a top-10 pick just out of reach, Dubas and vice president of hockey operations Wes Clark took Kindel and got a player who immediately looked ready for the league.
At 19, he played the second-most NHL games of anyone in the 2025 draft class and was one of only three to earn full-time NHL work. In 77 games, he posted 17 goals and 35 points and made himself part of Pittsburgh’s long-term picture.
Rounding out the top five is the trade that brought Conor Timmins and Connor Dewar from Toronto for a 2025 fifth-round pick. The Maple Leafs needed cap relief near the deadline, and Pittsburgh took advantage.
Timmins proved to be useful enough as a third-pair defenseman that the Penguins later moved him to Buffalo for a second-rounder and Connor Clifton at the 2025 Draft. That second-round pick helped Dubas move up and select Will Horcoff at No. 24 overall.
Dewar became an even better find, setting career highs with 14 goals and 30 points last season while teaming with Blake Lizotte to form what was described as the team’s best fourth line in a decade. The Penguins rewarded him with a two-year, $4.5 million extension late last season.
For all the early stumbles, Dubas has now stacked up enough strong calls to give Pittsburgh a much better look than it had when he first walked in the door.
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For now, the only certainty is that the conversation has not formally begun, even if the expectation is that it will come before summers end. Crosby has already given the clearest hint about where this is headed, saying he is open to a one- or two-year extension while brushing aside retirement speculation, which at least keeps the focus on how long hell stay rather than whether hes done. [Read more 🡒]