Penguins will look to remake roster via trades

Dubas will be busy working the phones

Roster change for the Penguins this summer will likely be coming in the form of trades, and not free agency. Josh Yohe got the details from talking with Kyle Dubas.

“It’s similar to the trade deadline,” Dubas started. “The usual suspects are receiving all of the calls and interests.”

With that in mind, read this section and think of Rickard Rakell/Bryan Rust and Buffalo/Detroit/Anaheim…

It’s no secret that teams covet some of the Penguins’ veterans, and Dubas shed some light on his plans in that regard.

“There are teams that have been rebuilding for a while that are looking to take steps,” he said. “They are interested. That’s potentially a good fit with us.”

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.

If the Penguins are aggressive in the next month, it’s likely to be on the trade market more than in free agency.

“Yeah,” Dubas said, confirming that he’ll potentially be busy on the trade market. “Trade, (then) sign guys for longer range (after they’ve been acquired). UFA isn’t a good place to find good value.”

No specific names mentioned however it sounds like it fits for players like restricted free agent Bowen Byram (and, hey, maybe New York’s K’Andre Miller while we’re at it).

Trades are virtually the only thing that Dubas has available. The NHL’s buyout system is too restrictive for teams to consider — especially when teams load up the signing bonuses like they unfortunately did on the two players/contracts they’d most like to disappear in Ryan Graves and Tristan Jarry.

Both Graves and Jarry were high-profile July 1, first day of free agency mistakes. Many a long-term July 1 contract ends up that way, so Dubas is going to stay away from it for good reason this time around. Dubas did qualify his plans and leave an out by saying that his free agency plans could change “unless there’s someone young enough who maybe deserves a little bit more term”. That probably doesn’t mean Mitch Marner level, but down a couple of rungs.

The Pens now employ a developmental coach and they might as well shift gears further to start the youth movement. Whether it’s Erik Karlsson, Alex Nedeljkovic, Kevin Hayes, Noel Acciari, Danton Heinen or any other non-foundational member of the team over the age of 25 ought to be up for grabs. Assuming anyone out there wants these players, which for some of them will be an issue that might result in them returning to the Pens next season.

Dubas was hesitant to deal Rakell during the season but the summer reset gives him more time to think on that area now too. There’s new information to process in that regard, it can’t hurt that since the trade deadline the Penguins were able to see Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty show they are both NHL ready at this point. Tommy Novak has been acquired and supposedly was a player they wanted to try in a key role prior to his injury. The absolute need levels within the team for Rakell don’t quite feel the exact same as they were a few months ago. (Even though an NHL team still doesn’t cast off a 35-goal scorer just because, either).

Trades always made natural sense as the main mechanism to drive change for the Penguins this summer, even before the recent Dubas comments. Buyouts are too implausible and free agency is a big factor to put Pittsburgh in the position that they’re already in and doesn’t give much reason at this point to steer into. The Pens have a ton of draft picks, they have an estimated $24.5 million in cap space and weaponizing available cap space via trades is a great avenue for short or long term gains for a club. That looks like the route the Pens will take now, the big answer needed from Dubas will be whether or not he is willing/able to grab a big knife or opts for a small scalpel when he goes to conduct some roster surgery over this summer.