The Pittsburgh Penguins’ start has pushed Kyle Dubas into a corner few general managers want to face. If the losses keep piling up, the conversations around this team are going to get a lot louder, and they may turn from retooling talk to something much more drastic.
That’s the point Darren Dreger drove home on Insider Trading, where he suggested Pittsburgh could be headed toward a larger selloff. “You could see a bigger selloff by Kyle Dubas, the general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins.”
Dreger continued,"What I can tell you is this. The focus remains on getting younger."
That alone is enough to set off alarm bells, because the Penguins have already spent the season with their struggles hanging over every decision. Dreger didn’t say the team has made a new move toward unloading veterans, but he did make it clear that the priority remains youth - and that stars could be available if the right situation comes along.
Kris Letang is now part of that discussion, which is a stunning place for the longtime Penguin to land. He has been one of the organization’s most dependable figures in Pittsburgh, but if another team were willing to take on his contract, Dubas would have a real decision to make. It would be a hard message to send inside the room, but one the Penguins may eventually have to confront.
Letang isn’t the only name in play. Dreger said, "Even though Dubas is listening to players like Letang, Karlsson, Rust and Rakell."
That puts Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell in the same trade conversation, and it hints at a possibility that goes well beyond one deal. If Pittsburgh’s season keeps slipping, the Penguins could become one of those teams that shifts from trying to manage the present to reshaping the roster quickly.
The idea of moving players like Rust, Rakell, and Karlsson has floated around before. Letang entering the rumor mill changes the temperature completely. It shows how far this situation has progressed.
The biggest obstacle in any Letang deal is obvious: the contract and the full no trade clause. He controls where he goes if a trade is made, which makes him a complicated player to move and a difficult one to value properly.
That’s why a Letang trade would not be simple, and it likely wouldn’t bring back a massive return either. In the end, if Pittsburgh ever gets to that point, Letang would have the final say on where he lands.
In Other News...
Kris Letang Is Giving The Penguins A Reason To Reconsider Everything
Kris Letangs recent stretch has given the Penguins something worth thinking about beyond the usual questions about his offense. The scoring touch has tapered off, but the defensive side of his game has looked sharper, and the underlying numbers point to a veteran who is still capable of driving play in the right direction even as his role shifts.
The wrinkle is that the improvement has not come in every pairing or every situation. Letangs recent minutes suggest the Penguins may be getting better results when they use him differently, and the broader picture is still shaped by some small-sample noise and a few favorable bounces. Even so, the trends are strong enough to make Pittsburgh reconsider how it wants to deploy one of its most important defensemen. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Keep Sending A Frustrating Message About Their Young Players
The Penguins are getting healthier, and with that comes the kind of roster squeeze that always seems to leave their younger players on the outside looking in. As the club prepares to activate a couple of players from injured reserve, it also appears headed toward sending some of the young call-ups who have recently played well back to the AHL, a familiar cycle for a team trying to balance immediate lineup needs with long-term development.
For a franchise that has talked about getting more out of its next wave, the pattern is starting to carry a frustrating message. The Penguins have leaned on those younger skaters when injuries created openings, then pushed them back down just as they started to make a case for staying, and the timing makes the decision feel even more familiar with the roster getting healthier again. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Just Made A Bold Ville Koivunen Bet Fans Will Debate
Kyle Dubas has made a habit of looking for solutions before the market gets too expensive, and his latest move fits that pattern. The Penguins general manager locked up forward Ville Koivunen on a long extension, betting on a player whose pro rsum is still thin but whose place in the organization has clearly risen fast enough to justify a major commitment.
It is the kind of deal that will be judged in multiple ways over time. If Koivunen grows into the player Pittsburgh expects, the contract could look like a smart template for securing young talent before other teams can get involved. If not, it could become another reminder of how tricky it is to project young forwards, especially for a club trying to build around youth while dealing with the realities of a tough player-acquisition market. [Read more 🡒]