Penguins open to trading up in 2025 NHL Draft, reports say

Will Kyle Dubas make the jump?

General manager Kyle Dubas may have his sights set on moving up in the 2025 NHL Draft, if new reports are to be believed.

Dubas and the Penguins are looking to move up from their current spot, which is 11th in the current draft order, according to Daily Faceoff NHL insider Jeff Marek on a recent edition of “The Sheet.”

In some ways, it’s surprising to hear the Penguins want to be aggressive in pursuing a prospect in this year’s draft class, which, by most analysts’ accounts, is weaker than normal.

On the flip side of that coin, Dubas has routinely used the term “urgent” when describing how he plans to plot this rebuild to get Sidney Crosby and company back to contention as quickly as possible.

While any prospect the Penguins select, be it at the 11th spot or higher, doesn’t figure to earn a roster spot right out of this year’s training camp, their presence alone in a barren prospect cupboard goes a long way in setting the Penguins up for long-term success post-Crosby.

Which teams could the Penguins trade with?

Here are the top 10 teams based on draft order. The Penguins are slotted with the 11th overall pick.

1. New York Islanders
2. San Jose Sharks
3. Chicago Blackhawks
4. Utah Mammoth
5. Nashville Predators
6. Philadelphia Flyers
7. Boston Bruins
8. Seattle Kraken
9. Buffalo Sabres
10. Anaheim Ducks

Barring some miracle, I imagine the top three teams will keep their draft selections. Could Pittsburgh offer something like Rickard Rakell coming off a career year, the 11th overall pick, the second-round pick from the Washington Capitals from the Anthony Beauvillier trade (59th overall), and the third-round (73rd overall) to the Utah Mammoth for the fourth overall selection?

Maybe. Maybe not.

Instead of that seismic jump into the top five, could the Seattle Kraken emerge as trade partners for a lesser package?

Kyle Dubas recently said, when speaking with The Athletic’s Josh Yohe, that he plans to form the roster via trades rather than free agent acquisitions, and while the context of the answer was based around acquiring young forwards for a “change of scenery” trade, the same logic could apply for why Dubas would want to trade up to get “his guy” in the draft.

Dubas and the Penguins have a bushel of draft picks and several veterans they’re willing to trade. In return, they hope to acquire young, talented players who, for whatever reason, are no longer proper fits on their teams.

Be it for young NHLers or prospects, trading picks (or players) seems like the most likely route Dubas takes to accomplish whatever goals he has.

Prices for past draft-day pick swaps

Jumping up into the top five would likely be an expensive undertaking for Dubas. Here are some recent returns for trades to move up in the draft order.

• The Buffalo Sabres traded their 2024 first-round pick (11th overall) to the San Jose Sharks for 14th overall and 42nd overall.
• The Minnesota Wild traded a 2025 third-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers to move up from the 13th to the 12th overall pick in 2024.
• The Montreal Canadiens traded 26th overall, 57th overall, and a 2024 seventh-round pick (198th overall) to the Los Angeles Kings for the 21st overall selection last year.
• The Anaheim Ducks traded a 2024 first-round pick (31st overall) and a 2024 second-round pick (58th overall) to the Toronto Maple Leafs to move up to the 23rd overall pick in 2024.
• In 2019, the Arizona Coyotes traded 14th and 45th overall selections to move to the 11th overall spot.

Who could the Penguins select with a higher draft pick?

The million-dollar question is: What player is Dubas targeting (depending on where he trades up to)?

Players like Matthew Schaefer, Michael Misa, Anton Frondell, Porter Martone, or Caleb Desnoyers are generally believed to be selected within the top five picks.

What comes after that is anyone’s guess. Mock drafts vary wildly.

But we do have some breadcrumbs to go off of to get a general idea of what Dubas may be thinking when it comes to trading up, based on which players the team hosted for dinner/lunch during the NHL scouting combine.

This tweet from Elite Prospects’ Cam Robinson sheds some light on Dubas’ potential rationale: wanting to make the Penguins a bigger, tougher, or nastier team to play against.

Based on Dubas’ prior draft history, we also have some noticeable trends that have emerged since he began calling the shots, namely selecting an OHL or WHL player, likely a forward.

Let’s dive deeper.

Radim Mrtka (D, WHL) — A hulking, 6-foot-6, 200-plus-pound right-shot defenseman would certainly add to the line of thinking of being tougher and nastier to play against. As Hooks described in his draft profile, Mrtka doesn’t exactly do one thing better than anything else, but teams will be attracted to an 18-year-old right-handed defenseman to try and mold him into a forceful shutdown defender.

Roger McQueen (C, WHL) — Most mock drafts have McQueen being selected before the 10th pick, but a potential trade with a team like the Kraken could allow the Penguins to draft a tall, offensively gifted center, but lingering injury concerns could scare Dubas—and a few other general managers—away from the Saskatoon native.

Brady Martin (C/RW, OHL) — Being a Soo Greyhound is nothing to laugh about when it comes to Kyle Dubas. He’s shown an affinity for players who come from his local team. Beyond that, Martin plays a “high-energy, physical game” that goes beyond what some may consider a small, 6-foot, 180-pound frame.

Porter Martone (RW, OHL) — Perhaps the longest shot of any of these players, drafting the 6-foot-3, 205-pound winger would likely cost the Penguins a draft package of multiple picks and/or a capable NHL player, like described above. We projected Martone as the No. 3 best player in our prospect rankings as of June 7, and it’s unlikely he falls outside the top five picks.

These players are but a few of several possibilities that could fall the Penguins’ way by June 27.

Whether or not a trade comes to fruition, it appears Kyle Dubas’ vision for the rebuild is coming into clearer focus with a bevy of draft picks over the next few seasons, a growing amount of salary cap space, and a desire to acquire young players on the cusp of becoming NHL regulars.