The Penguins don’t sound like a team planning to storm into free agency and grab the loudest name on the board.
When the market opens at noon, Kyle Dubas appears ready to take the slower route, even if that means passing on the kind of splash that grabs headlines right away. “We’ll stay after it, for sure,” Dubas said.
“But it might not be the one gigantic-type transaction. We’ll try to stay active on those, but it might be more of a brick-by-boring-brick style.”
That cautious tone fits the day. Dubas said he wants to avoid forcing a move just to make one.
“I try to learn from the past, and we’ll try to steer clear of that,” Dubas said. “Rather than just doing something for the sake of doing it, I’d rather come here and say, ‘Yeah, we aspire to do it and the options weren’t there.’ So, we’ve had to check down and continue to build it up the way that we have.”
That approach may be especially sensible given the shape of this year’s free-agent class and the amount of cap space around the league after the recent increases. That combination has made the market a tricky one.
There are still plenty of names floating around, though, and Elliotte Friedman’s latest notes offered a few Penguins-related angles to watch.
Jason Robertson remains one of the biggest wild cards. Friedman said Robertson wants Dallas to budge, but he doesn’t see that happening right now and expects arbitration could be the next step.
If Robertson files, offer sheets are off the table, and he’d be looking at a one-year deal with the Stars. Pittsburgh may still have some hope of finding a way in, but the path looks very thin at the moment.
Darnell Nurse is another name tied to the Penguins, though the fit is complicated. Friedman reported that Pittsburgh wanted Edmonton to take back a contract, and that the Oilers didn’t like what was put in front of them.
That lines up with the idea that Ryan Graves would need to be part of any real conversation. Graves carries a $4.5 million cap hit for three years, and Edmonton taking him on would seem like the starting point if the Penguins were ever going to seriously pursue Nurse, who has a $9.25 million cap hit for four years.
If the Oilers don’t want that structure, they can simply move on, and that appears to be where things stand.
Alexander Nikishin is another player drawing heavy attention. Friedman said there is a lot of interest, that Carolina will wait until it gets what it wants, and that the package would include a player.
He also said the Rangers were believed to have offered a first-round pick and another selection, and that still wasn’t enough. Nikishin can’t be signed to an offer sheet, which makes any pursuit even more complicated.
He checks a lot of the boxes the Penguins need, especially age and position, but the cost to get him would be enormous.
There’s also movement around a group of possible depth and middle-six targets, with Los Angeles, Philadelphia, Toronto, Utah, Vancouver and others around Noel Acciari, Erik Haula, Boone Jenner, Scott Laughton, Colton Sissons and Kevin Stenlund. Acciari in particular is one to keep an eye on, and there’s at least some expectation that Utah could again be a landing spot for former Penguins. The hope, from Pittsburgh’s perspective, is that Philadelphia is not.
Goaltending could also become part of the puzzle. Friedman said Stuart Skinner would make sense in Winnipeg if Hellebuyck is traded.
Otherwise, he’d take a shot with the Mammoth, who need to ease Karel Vejmelka’s workload. Utah already traded for and signed Sebastian Cossa, though, so the fit there is not obvious, especially with Vejmelka also signed for next season.
Skinner may simply be waiting to see how the goalie market settles before choosing his next stop. Sergei Bobrovsky is still out there as a major name, while Florida appears to be full after adding Jacob Markstrom and Akira Schmid, leaving fewer openings for a goalie like Skinner unless another situation changes.
On the back end, Ryan Shea is another player worth tracking. Friedman said he had a really good year and that Tampa Bay really liked him, though the Lightning also have their eyes on Zach Werenski and John Carlson if Carlson doesn’t sign in Carolina. Friedman also noted that San Jose is looking to add a defenseman, which could be a useful fit for Shea.
Offer sheets may be the other pressure point today. Friedman pointed back to last year, when Carolina threatened Edmonton and the Rangers, and said the Hurricanes may be considering doing it again.
He also thinks Seattle could be in that mix, and mentioned Mavrik Bourque as a possible target. Bourque could be signed to an offer sheet worth up to $4.775 million, with a 2027 second-round pick as the compensation if Dallas doesn’t match.
That could matter for Pittsburgh, which owns two second-round picks in 2027, plus three more second-rounders in 2028.
So while the Penguins may not be lining up a blockbuster in free agency, they do have options if they want to create one through the trade market or an offer sheet. Dubas has shown before that some of his moves arrive out of nowhere, and that could be true again today. Whether it turns into a bigger swing involving Rickard Rakell or Bryan Rust, or something smaller with Tommy Novak or Justin Brazeau, the possibility of movement is very much alive.
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