The Penguins made at least one push to climb into the first round at the 2026 draft, and Ottawa’s behind-the-scenes draft content offered a rare glimpse of how that discussion unfolded.
According to Senators GM Steve Staios, Pittsburgh called about the 25th overall pick and was willing to send a “roster player” to get it. In the clip, Staios also noted a separate offer from Vancouver, which tried to send the 33rd and 41st overall picks to move up to No. 25 and get pick 72 back from Ottawa.
Staios brushed that aside with his group, saying, “no pick offers are good enough yet. But Pittsburgh is interesting with the roster player”.
Ottawa ultimately stayed put and used the 25th selection on Swedish winger Jonas Lagerberg-Hoen, who was the 16th-best prospect on their board.
What makes the Penguins’ call stand out is the uncertainty around what, exactly, they were offering. Staios didn’t say whether Pittsburgh had included another pick - something like 39th or 54th overall - or whether the unnamed roster player was the whole package.
From Pittsburgh’s side, the motivation is easier to read. The Penguins had already taken Liam Ruck at 22nd overall, and it was no secret they wanted to add his twin brother Markus to the organization. They wound up getting that done without a trade, taking Markus with their next pick at 39th overall in the early second round.
The Penguins also had a possible trade partner in Ottawa’s other first-round slot, 32nd overall, if they were looking for a team that might be open to adding an NHL player while holding extra draft capital. But the exact player Pittsburgh had in mind remains a mystery.
There are obvious names that seem unlikely. A straight offer built around Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell would have been enough to at least make Ottawa think hard about moving a late first-round pick, especially with the reported asking price on both veterans being higher than a single late first.
On the other end, names like Egor Chinakhov and Ben Kindel don’t fit the value range. The same goes for the obvious no-go list: Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang.
That leaves a narrower band of possibilities, with players such as Tommy Novak or Justin Brazeau fitting the “available but still useful” category. Near-ready prospects like Harrison Brunicke, Ville Koivunen or Rutger McGroarty could also fall into the discussion, though whether players who finished in the AHL would count as “roster players” is part of the uncertainty here.
For now, the full answer is probably staying inside Pittsburgh’s walls. Kyle Dubas is known for keeping a tight lid on trade chatter, and most talks that never turn into deals disappear without a trace. This one is no different in the end, except Ottawa decided to show part of the process on camera and give everyone a little peek at what nearly happened.
In Other News...
Flames Face A Tough Call As Trade Buzz Starts Building
With the Maple Leafs still looking for ways to round out a reshaped roster, the trade board has started to take shape around a few familiar names, and Pittsburgh is in the mix. Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson all surface as possible fits for Toronto, which has left the Penguins as one of the teams worth watching as the market slowly builds around a handful of high-end targets.
The interest is tied to the Leafs' broader search for upgrades, with different paths opening depending on how the rest of the board falls. Morgan Frost and Zach Werenski are also in the conversation, and Karlsson could become a fallback option if Toronto comes up short elsewhere, leaving Pittsburgh in a position where its veteran core may keep drawing calls even if nothing is close to imminent. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Success May Finally Depend On More Than Crosby And Malkin
For years, the Penguins have been at their most dangerous when Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are driving the play at five-on-five, but the real question has always been what happens when they go over the boards and the rest of the lineup has to hold up its end. In the 2025-26 season, Pittsburgh finally outscored opponents at even strength without Crosby or Malkin on the ice, which marked the first time that had happened since 2021-22 and gave the team a different kind of balance to lean on.
The pattern is hard to ignore. When the bottom six has helped the Penguins stay on the positive side of the scoring ledger away from their two stars, the team has generally been in the playoff picture, including in 2021, 2022 and 2026. When that support slips the other way, the season tends to follow, which is why the next phase of this roster may hinge less on the biggest names and more on whether the supporting cast can keep producing in new roles. [Read more 🡒]