The Pittsburgh Penguins have reached the point where the loudest move might be the wrong one.
That’s the lesson hanging over this summer, even with the trade buzz swirling around names like Jason Robertson, Darnell Nurse, Elias Pettersson and Shane Wright. The chatter has been real, and it has been constant. But for the Penguins, the timing simply doesn’t line up with the kind of dramatic swing that once made sense.
Back in the summer of 2023, Kyle Dubas was new on the job and working through the Erik Karlsson sweepstakes. Pittsburgh pushed.
Carolina pushed. There were even reports that the deal was dead before a couple of phone calls revived it and led to the Aug. 6 blockbuster with the San Jose Sharks, a move that sent unwanted players and salaries out the door to land Karlsson.
This summer feels similar on the surface, but the circumstances are different in all the ways that matter. The Penguins are not positioned like a team on the edge of a Cup run.
Their blue line is still uneven, their forward group is crowded, and the roster overall is not close to contender status. That makes a splashy trade less like a solution and more like a distraction.
The biggest addition in free agency was Andrei Kuzmenko, who got a one-year, $5 million deal. His 39-goal season with the Vancouver Canucks in 2022-23 is still the outlier on his resume.
Since then, he has scored 46 goals across four teams over the last three seasons. That kind of signing doesn’t change the direction of the franchise, and probably isn’t meant to.
What has mattered more are the smaller bets that fit Dubas’ track record. The Penguins sent Parker Wotherspoon and $500,000 to the Vegas Golden Knights for 25-year-old right-shot defenseman Kaedan Korczak.
They also signed 26-year-old left defenseman Declan Carlile on July 1. Carlile fits the same general profile as Wotherspoon and Ryan Shea, players Dubas found in less obvious places and gave NHL chances to.
Those kinds of moves have paid off before. The Egor Chinakhov trade brought in a winger who scored 18 goals and 36 points in 43 games after Pittsburgh gave up a future second-round pick and third-round pick.
Connor Dewar arrived at the 2025 NHL trade deadline and was re-signed last summer after blowing past his previous career highs with 14 goals and 30 points. Blake Lizotte, now 28, became a lineup regular and earned a new three-year contract without setting career bests.
Finding overlooked talent has become one of Dubas’ strengths, which is why the Kuzmenko signing stands out as the odd one in the bunch.
Drafting has also given the Penguins reason to believe the long game is working. Harrison Brunicke went 44th overall.
Ben Kindel was taken 11th overall, a pick that went against much of the conventional thinking. Bill Zonnon and Wil Horcoff were added in what was supposed to be a weak draft, and both are viewed as having real NHL potential.
There are more Dubas-era picks who could pop before long, too.
The bigger issue is that the market has changed around them. The cost of making a trade has climbed fast, and that matters when the Penguins are still building toward something sturdier.
Reports have tied Seattle’s asking price for Shane Wright to top defenseman prospects from Vancouver. The Flyers were said to be willing to send four first-round picks to Anaheim for Leo Carlsson, then pay him $18 million per season.
The reported price for Robertson was the equivalent of four first-round-level assets, though later reports said Dallas was still trying to work out a new contract for the restricted free agent rather than move him.
With the salary cap rising, good players are harder to find and more expensive to acquire. That’s the reality Dubas is working in now. And it points toward patience, not urgency.
The Penguins’ best path is to keep getting better in the ways that actually fit where they are. Forcing a trade that doesn’t line up - whether that means overpaying for Robertson or taking a risky swing on Pettersson - would be the wrong kind of aggression.
Dubas has done a strong job over his three-plus years in charge, and the results are starting to show. But this is still a process, and nothing before or after free agency changed that.
In Other News...
Pat Verbeek May Be Eyeing A Painful Ducks Cap Move
The summer market for restricted free agents has already taken a few twists, and agent Allan Walsh noted that other Group 2 RFAs have seen offer sheets this offseason, with some eventually settling back in with their original clubs. For the Penguins, the bigger ripple effect may come from Anaheim, where Jaff Marek and David Pagnotta have floated the idea that the Ducks could look to move money off the books and use Pittsburgh as a landing spot to help create cap room.
The names being discussed around that possibility include Frank Vatrano, Alex Killorn and Chris Kreider, with the concept stretching beyond a simple player swap. Anaheim could also need to sweeten the return with draft-pick incentives, including a second-rounder, if it wants a deal to move. For now, though, it remains only chatter around a potential cap maneuver, not a confirmed transaction, which leaves the Penguins watching a situation that could still develop quickly if the Ducks decide they need to act. [Read more 🡒]
Jason Robertson Situation Is Starting To Feel Very Real For Stars Fans
Jason Robertsons status in Dallas has become one of the more intriguing offseason watch points, especially for a Penguins team that is always looking to stay in the conversation when a top-end talent might be available. The Stars winger remains a restricted free agent, and the longer this drags on, the more the situation starts to feel like it could spill beyond a simple contract negotiation.
For Pittsburgh, the appeal is obvious: a player of Robertsons age and production would fit a team trying to balance the present with whatever comes next. The Stars still have room to work through this, but the uncertainty has opened the door to speculation about trade possibilities and outside interest, with other clubs around the league also keeping an eye on how Dallas handles one of its biggest decisions of the summer. [Read more 🡒]