Connor Bedard isn’t hiding how he feels about a possible Patrick Kane reunion in Chicago.
The Blackhawks star said he’d welcome Kane back to the organization where he began his career, and he made clear just how much that would mean to the team and the building.
“I hope so. I don’t know what I can say to persuade his decision, but we’d all obviously be so excited to have a player like that, but also a guy like that.
I can’t imagine his first game back at the UC, the reaction he’d get and how much juice that would bring not only to our team but our fans as well. That would be incredible to get to play with him and learn from him.
Hopefully he decides to come back. You talk about the legacy aspect of it, but as a team, it would make us a way better team.
He’s still an amazing player. I don’t know if this is the best pitch, but hopefully he comes back and we can play together, for sure.”
Elsewhere in the rumor mill, Pittsburgh is being linked to a few big names, though the fit and the price tags vary wildly.
Josh Yohe of The Athletic reported in a mailbag that two sources have said the Penguins have some interest in Seattle Kraken forward Shane Wright. Pittsburgh is thin at young center, which makes the interest logical. The issue is the cost, which is described as very high and possibly too much for the Penguins.
Erik Karlsson is another name to watch. The 36-year-old defenseman is in the final year of his contract, and if the Penguins don’t see a future with him, moving him could make sense.
A new deal would not come cheap, and because of his age, it may not be the cleanest path. If Karlsson plays well and Pittsburgh is in the race, the team could hold onto him past the deadline and let him reach free agency.
If the Penguins fall out of contention, a trade looks more likely.
Jason Robertson would be a major swing, but the price is steep. Yohe wrote that landing the Dallas Stars winger could cost Rickard Rakell, a first-round pick, Harrison Brunicke and Rutger McGroarty, which may be more than Pittsburgh wants to pay.
The Penguins would also have interest in Elias Pettersson, but only if Vancouver kept a large portion of his contract and Pittsburgh didn’t have to give up much in return. That scenario, as Yohe noted, seems unlikely.
In Other News...
Penguins May Be Closing In On A Costly Young Center Pivot
The Penguins are still hunting for help down the middle, and Shane Wright has emerged as a name worth watching. The 22-year-old Seattle center was taken fourth overall in the 2022 NHL Draft, but his fit with the Kraken has not matched the expectations that followed him into the league, which has opened the door to a possible move.
For Pittsburgh, the appeal is obvious: a young center with a manageable contract and room to grow. The problem is the cost. Seattles asking price is said to be substantial, and Kyle Dubas may only push harder if the Penguins miss on their primary target, Jason Robertson, leaving Wright as a more expensive Plan B than Pittsburgh would like. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Near A Painful Crosby Era Decision Fans Feared
The Penguins return to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in 2025-26 brought at least a familiar kind of frustration, with the run ending in six games against the Flyers and the same old question hanging over the franchise: how long can Pittsburgh keep trying to thread the needle between a rebuild and a core that has already lived through everything? Sidney Crosby is still producing at a level that makes him impossible to ignore, and he remains the face of a team that has added younger talent without fully turning the page on the veterans who helped define the last era.
Josh Yohes latest look at the organization captures the bind neatly, because this is no longer just about being competitive in the present. The Penguins have enough older regulars in the mix to make the roster feel crowded, but not enough certainty around the next wave to make a clean reset feel simple. Kyle Dubas is resisting anything that looks like a full teardown, yet the pressure to make harder decisions is only growing, and the next round of roster choices could say a lot about how quickly Pittsburgh is willing to accelerate the rebuild around Crosbys final prime years. [Read more 🡒]