The Penguins are opening their 2026-27 season with a lot of moving parts, a lighter average age and plenty of questions hanging over the roster. After their playoff run ended in Philadelphia against the Flyers, Pittsburgh enters a new year with roster turnover, fresh faces and a team that now sits as the 15th oldest in the NHL while finally checking in under an average age of 30.
Kyle Dubas has kept leaning into youth, and that shift sits at the center of the uncertainty. The roster has changed enough that there’s room for both optimism and skepticism, especially with several players who helped push the Penguins back to the playoffs last season no longer in the mix. That sets the stage for a season full of predictions, and the boldest one starts in goal.
The biggest concern is that goaltending turns into the team’s undoing. With veteran goaltender Stuart Skinner now in WPG, the door opened for Sergei Murashov to grab the full-time job he has been waiting for since the Penguins drafted him.
Arturs Silovs is back, and the organization clearly believes in him after the flashes he showed in the first-round series against the Flyers and across the season. Still, the worry here is simple: there may not be a true No. 1, and asking two young goalies to carry that kind of pressure could be too much.
Up front, Nick Robertson is being tabbed for a real breakthrough. The brother of Jason Robertson, who Pittsburgh pursued heavily this offseason, is starting on the top line with Sidney Crosby and Rickard Rakell.
He already looked strong in the preseason, and the expectation here is that he finally puts together the kind of season that pushes him past previous career highs in goals and points under Dan Muse’s system. A change of scenery from Toronto, and the weight that comes with that market, is also part of the belief that Robertson can settle in and produce.
There’s also a clear belief that at least one veteran winger could be on the move before the trade deadline. Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell have both surfaced in trade chatter for a while, and the idea is that Pittsburgh could decide to cash in depending on where the team sits by early March. Rust would be the easier name to move because he no longer has trade protection, while Kyle Dubas is seen as valuing both players highly enough that the return may not be as rich as it once could have been.
One of the more intriguing names to watch is Bill Zonnon. He’s being pegged as the kind of player Pittsburgh is looking for, with the possibility that he turns into a Chris Kunitz type of presence for the team.
The prediction here is that Zonnon earns a call-up around midseason, makes his mark quickly and never goes back down. He’ll begin the year in the AHL under the new exempt rule, which allows him to play in Wilkes without being sent back to the QMJHL, and that path is expected to help his development.
Then there’s Sidney Crosby, who remains the center of everything. The boldest prediction of the group has him scoring 35 or more goals while Dubas wrestles with the question of whether to move him at the trade deadline.
Crosby enters the season without a contract extension, he’ll be 40 next offseason, and the conversation around his future keeps coming back to whether he still sees a real Cup chase in Pittsburgh. The belief here is that the younger talent around him could help boost his production, even if the team still lacks that Jake Guentzel-type left winger star.
And with Crosby, every season seems to bring another layer of uncertainty.
In Other News...
Penguins End Preseason With An Encouraging Defensive Statement
Joel Blomqvist and the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins closed out preseason play with a crisp 3-0 win over the Lehigh Valley Phantoms, and the result offered a tidy reminder of what matters most this time of year. Blomqvist stopped 17 shots for the shutout, while the Penguins got two power-play goals and kept the penalty kill perfect, a combination that usually travels well once the games start counting.
With the 2026-27 season set to open against the Springfield Thunderbirds on Oct. 3, the performance gives Pittsburghs organization a clean defensive benchmark to carry into the final stretch before the schedule turns real. Preseason results can be tricky to read, but a shutout built on special teams and structure is the kind of outing that tends to stick in a coachs mind a little longer. [Read more 🡒]
Sidney Crosby Still Looks Driven By Something Penguins Fans Need To See
Sidney Crosby is heading into his 22nd NHL season, and the details around Penguins practice still sound like the same player who has defined the franchise for years. Coach Dan Muse has seen Crosby bring the same relentless work ethic to the ice, alongside the longtime teammates who have grown up in this era with him. The routine may be familiar by now, but the standard Crosby sets has not changed.
Crosby has talked about how much he still loves the game and how much winning continues to matter, even after a long career and recent international play. For the Penguins, that matters as much as anything else this fall. The organization is trying to sort out what comes next, and the captains daily drive offers a reminder that the competitive fire is still there, even if the bigger question is how far it can carry them. [Read more 🡒]
McGing Gets An Emotional First Test In Penguins Home Opener
Hugh McGings first game for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton comes with a little extra weight to it, and the setting could hardly be better for the Penguins AHL opener. The forward, who signed with the organization during the offseason, will skate in the teams 2026-27 home opener on Oct. 3 against the Springfield Thunderbirds, the club he just left behind, with opening-night festivities set to give the evening a bigger stage than the usual first whistle.
The Penguins will lean into the occasion with a pregame outdoor festival and rally towels for fans, then keep the weekend rolling a day later against Hartford as the home slate gets underway. For McGing, it is a familiar opponent in a new sweater, and for Wilkes-Barre/Scranton it is the kind of early-season matchup that can turn a routine opener into something a little more personal. [Read more 🡒]