Penguins’ Sebastian Aho Linked To SHL
Before long, the NHL won’t have two Sebastian Ahos. The Penguins depth defender is expected to sign with Växjö Lakers HC of the Swedish Hockey League when he becomes an unrestricted free agent at season’s end, Adam Savonen of Norran reports.
It’s far from a surprise. Aho inked a two-year, league-minimum contract with Pittsburgh in 2024 but hasn’t played a single NHL game for the Penguins. He’s cleared waivers twice and has spent the entire deal with AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, where injuries and adherence to veteran maximums have limited him to just 39 games over the last two years.
The 30-year-old Swede has long been an intriguing puck-mover near the bottom of a lineup, but his 5’10” frame has limited NHL teams’ willingness to deploy him, even in sheltered situations. A fifth-round pick by the Islanders in 2017, he spent his entire career with them before leaving for Pittsburgh in free agency. He made 190 appearances for the club from 2017-24, notching 11 goals and 39 assists for 50 points with a -10 rating.
He’s kept up his respectable point production in the minors. He had 14 assists in 27 games with the Baby Pens last year and has a goal and five points in 12 outings this year. He returned to the lineup this week for the first time in a month and a half, so while he may have some time down the stretch to boost his stock, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him opt to return to his home country regardless to play out the back half of his pro career.
Sidney Crosby Ruled Out Of Semifinals, Possible For Medal Game
Feb. 20: Crosby will not play in today’s semifinal matchup against Finland, Hockey Canada announced. As IIHF rules stipulate a captain must be named for each game, Connor McDavid will wear the ‘C’ in his absence. Crosby, who by all accounts avoided a worst-case injury, is still questionable for either the bronze or gold medal game pending today’s result.
Feb. 18: During Canada’s dramatic overtime victory over Czechia in the quarterfinals of the ongoing Winter Olympics men’s hockey tournament, Pittsburgh Penguins forward Sidney Crosby was forced out of the game with an injury.
ESPN’s Emily Kaplan relayed word from Canadian head coach Jon Cooper post-game, who said that he didn’t know the extent of Crosby’s injury. According to Kaplan, Crosby will undergo medical imaging to determine the extent of the lower-body injury he suffered. The Athletic’s Pierre LeBrun reported that Hockey Canada is expected to issue an update on Crosby’s status on Thursday.
As one of the most iconic players in the history of Canadian international hockey competition, Crosby’s status is one of the key storylines to watch as the tournament progresses into the semifinal stage. At this point in time, one can only speculate on whether Crosby will be available for the rest of the tournament.
If Crosby is unavailable, it goes without saying that would be a massive loss for Canada. Crosby has six points in the tournament and his line with Mitch Marner and Mark Stone has been one of Canada’s best.
Any extended absence would also impact the Penguins. Pittsburgh is in the thick of the Eastern Conference playoff race, in large part powered by Crosby’s 59 points in 56 games. Losing Crosby, even for a brief period of time, would make winning on a nightly basis far more challenging for the Penguins.
As of right now, all Canada and Penguins fans can do is wait for Hockey Canada to issue an update regarding Crosby and hope it’s positive.
Penguins, Evgeni Malkin Expected To Discuss Extension
The Penguins are presumed to sit down with icon Evgeni Malkin and discuss an extension before the NHL season starts again next Wednesday, as outlined by David Pagnotta in an article published by The Fourth Period.
According to Pagnotta, prior to the Olympic break, it had been planned that GM Kyle Dubas and Malkin’s agent J.P. Barry would work through their options. It has yet to happen, but there’s still a plan to do so, at least laying the groundwork for a new contract which could be finalized down the road. Naturally, Malkin’s status has been a major story in Pittsburgh this season, and after this week, both sides should have a stronger indication of what’s next.
As difficult as it is to imagine the 39-year-old wearing anything else other than the black and yellow, 20 years into his Penguins tenure, the club has missed the playoffs in each of their last three seasons. Pittsburgh hasn’t won a playoff round since 2018, when Phil Kessel was still dishing it around on Malkin’s wing at an elite level.
Former GM Ron Hextall’s efforts to keep the window open proved futile, leaving Dubas with the difficult situation of simultaneously building toward the future, while doing the team’s beloved stars right and not letting them go out quietly.
All of that to say, there was enough reason to speculate if the core had one more run left in them, or if Malkin and Sidney Crosby could split before it is all said and done. Instead, to the credit of Dubas, the Pens are well on their way back to the postseason. Not all of the former Toronto executive’s moves have panned out perfectly, but if anything, the team’s revival is a testament to the legend of Malkin and Crosby. Just last month, it was starting to become apparent that the predicament was fading away, and an extension should materialize.
A -24 last season with 50 points in 68 games, Geno has turned the page in 2025-26, currently at over a point-per-game production in 41 contests. His metrics at even strength have dipped, just below the 50% mark in corsi for in all situations, but Malkin remains elite on the power play and still a vital top six contributor.
Outlined in the article, Malkin is likely willing to take a pay cut from his current $6.1MM value on a one-year extension, taking him through 2026-27, which is also Crosby’s final year signed. Such will have to be worked out in the coming weeks, but in all likelihood, Penguins fans can look ahead to a proper final chapter for their franchise giants of the 21st century.
Image Credit: Credit: Eric Hartline-USA TODAY Sports
Penguins Assign Filip Hallander On Conditioning Loan
The Penguins announced Wednesday that they’ve assigned forward Filip Hallander to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on a conditioning loan. Since Hållander is on standard injured reserve and not long-term injured reserve, the loan can last for up to two weeks for him to get back into game shape.
Hallander’s return to the ice comes more than three months after the 25-year-old was diagnosed with a blood clot in his leg. He was ruled out for at least three months at the time, so his pending return to game action in the minors roughly comes on schedule.
Hallander participated in NHL practice yesterday after the Penguins were eligible to reconvene, so it stands to reason his time in the AHL should be more game-focused than practice-focused since he’s already got one under his belt. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has three games on the schedule before Pittsburgh makes its post-Olympic debut on Feb. 26. One of them is against Springfield tonight, meaning Hallander is more likely to suit up at least once during their back-to-back against Bridgeport this weekend.
A second-round pick back in 2018, Hallander is already in his third stint in the Pittsburgh organization. He was traded to the Maple Leafs in 2020 for Kasperi Kapanen, only to be re-acquired the following summer in the Jared McCann deal. He then opted to return to Timrå IK in his native Sweden following the 2022-23 campaign, but the Pens retained his signing rights with a qualifying offer. After Hallander was named the SHL’s Forward of the Year in 2024-25, he activated the NHL out-clause in his deal with Timrå and returned to Pittsburgh on a two-year, league-minimum contract.
Hallander made Pittsburgh’s opening night roster and, after being a healthy scratch on opening night, got into 13 straight games before the blood clot took him out of the lineup. He recorded the first four points of his NHL career – a goal and three assists – with a +4 rating while averaging 13:09 of ice time per game. He slotted in at left wing up and down the lineup, as high as first-line duties with Sidney Crosby and Bryan Rust and as low as fourth-line reps with Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar.
The rookie had decent even-strength possession impacts and averaged about a minute per game on the penalty kill, but with Pittsburgh’s forward group fully healthy coming out of the break, it’s hard to see where he fits into the lineup. Egor Chinakhov was acquired from the Blue Jackets while Hallander was out and, with 12 points in 18 games, has solidified his spot alongside countryman Evgeni Malkin on the second line. Veteran Noel Acciari slots in with Lizotte and Dewar, and that trio has some of the best defensive metrics in the league. In all likelihood, he’ll serve as a versatile plug-and-play extra for the stretch run while allowing prospects like Avery Hayes and Rutger McGroarty more seasoning in the AHL.
East Notes: Penguins, Laine, Flyers
As teams return to practice today, some without notable members still competing in the Olympics, several updates have emerged. In Pittsburgh, Kris Letang told the media, including Michelle Crechiolo, Penguins team reporter, that he is nearing 100% from his lower body injury. It’s expected that he’ll be ready for February 26 against the Devils, but not yet certain.
The 38-year-old had to miss the club’s last four games going into the Olympic break. Letang had a rough start to his 20th season with Pittsburgh, leading to questions on his outlook. Since then, the stalwart has still played heavy minutes, 22:06 a night, just behind Erik Karlsson. His 50.5% corsi at even strength is a slight improvement from last season, but still a step below the norm. Currently +3 with 25 points in 50 games, Letang has turned the corner from last season’s -15, 30 point output.
Symbolic of the team’s rebound as a whole, Letang’s Penguins are closing in on ending their three year postseason drought, as they have the opportunity to go on what could be one last dance as an unforgettable era winds down.
Also in Pittsburgh, Filip Hallander returned to practice, as reported by Crechiolo. The forward hasn’t played since November, missing 42 games from a blood clot in his leg. At 25 years old, the former second round pick is just getting off the ground in his NHL career, with all four of his career points coming this season. The timing of his ailment was especially unfortunate, costing him a chance to play in his native Sweden in the Global Series.
Elsewhere across the conference:
- Canadiens winger Patrik Laine missed today’s practice due to a lower body injury, per the team. He is still working his way back from core muscle surgery, not having played since October. Noted as a likely trade candidate last week, Laine’s days in Montreal seem to be nearing an end, although his $8.7MM price tag will be difficult to work through. The 27-year-old former 40 goal scorer will be an intriguing free agent this summer, but unfortunately his health is a major factor. Laine hasn’t dressed in more than 68 games in a campaign since 2018-19. His Habs return to action February 26 against the Islanders.
- Along with goaltender Carson Bjarnason, who was recalled earlier today, Flyers prospects Oliver Bonk and Hunter McDonald will join the team for practice this week, according to Jackie Spiegel of the Philadelphia Inquirer. Bonk, a first round selection in 2023, made a case to make the team right out of the OHL but was injured in camp. Finally activated in early December, he has just six points in 22 games, indicative that seasoning is needed for the team’s top blueliner prospect, who has second pairing potential. On the other hand, McDonald, a former sixth round pick, has a more limited upside at the highest level but at 6’4” he brings serious physicality. Both defenseman are awaiting their NHL debut.
Trade Deadline Primer: Pittsburgh Penguins
With the Olympic break upon us, the trade deadline is under a month away. Where does each team stand, and what moves should they be looking to make? We continue our look around the league at teams on the playoff bubble; next up are the Penguins.
The Penguins spent the summer collecting what appeared to be spare parts, and many expected them to be a top contender for the first overall pick in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft. That has not been the case, however, as the Penguins have defied projections and their own uneven play to find themselves not only in the hunt for a playoff spot but also in a position to earn home-ice advantage in the first round of the NHL Playoffs. It’s been a fun, feel-good story thus far, but it has certainly changed the calculus for Penguins GM Kyle Dubas as he heads into the trade deadline. What once appeared to be a surefire sell-off now feels as though it could turn into a conservative shopping spree for the Penguins.
Record
29-15-12, 2nd in the Metropolitan
Deadline Status
Conservative Buyer
Deadline Cap Space
$53.52MM on deadline day, 0/3 retention slots used, 46/50 contracts used, per PuckPedia.
Upcoming Draft Picks
2026: PIT 1st, PIT 2nd, WPG 2nd, PIT 3rd, SJ 3rd, NSH 6th
2027: PIT 1st, PIT 2nd, NYR 2nd, PIT 3rd, NJ 3rd, WPG 4th, PIT 5th, PIT 6th, PIT 7th
Trade Chips
The Penguins have no lack of trade chips heading into this deadline, which is something they haven’t been able to say all that often in recent years. Pittsburgh has built a healthy backlog of prospects and a robust stockpile of draft picks for the coming years. That said, GM Kyle Dubas has shown a willingness to pivot from the plan slightly if it makes sense to bring in young, controllable talent. In some cases, Dubas has brought in talent along with futures, but the deadline may be an opportunity for Pittsburgh to move some pieces out for a bigger piece.
So, who could Pittsburgh trade? Well, last summer’s trade chips are probably not on the table, given their playoff positioning. That list includes Bryan Rust, Erik Karlsson and Rickard Rakell, and unless Pittsburgh is blown away, it feels like all three will remain with the Penguins. In fact, it feels like most of Pittsburgh’s current NHL roster is safe for this season, because it is a tight-knit group, and it would be hard to tell the veterans that they need to subtract talent.
But what about in the minors? One potential chip is 2022 first-round pick (21st overall) Owen Pickering. The hulking defenseman hasn’t progressed as Penguins management would have hoped, but he shows signs of being an NHL defenseman, possibly even in the team’s top four. Pickering has long been viewed as a defenseman with a very high ceiling. He is mobile, has good size, and is reasonably skilled with the puck on his stick. That said, Pickering remains a project, and there is work to do on the defensive side of his game. Pittsburgh has been patient with his development, but you have to wonder if the Penguins might see him as another potential Samuel Poulin, a former first-round pick who ran out of chances and watched his trade value fall to nothing. Pittsburgh has to make a call on Pickering soon, and they could leverage him as trade bait before that decision is made.
Another prospect who has fallen out of favour this season is Ville Koivunen. The forward was a key piece in the Jake Guentzel trade two years ago and showed enough last season to have people thinking he would be part of Pittsburgh’s top six this year. He had chances this season, but his play was uninspired, and he was quickly returned to the AHL, where he has been fantastic, posting 25 points in 20 games. Koivunen has a ton of skill and hockey IQ, but he isn’t overly big or strong, nor is he fleet of foot. He will rely on his smarts to score, but there is an adjustment to the NHL game Koivunen hasn’t made yet. Given that Koivunen is probably Pittsburgh’s highest-skilled prospect, it’s hard to imagine them dumping him in a deadline move, but anything is possible.
Finally, we return to the NHL roster and the possibility of moving a player off it. While it seems unlikely that Pittsburgh makes any major changes with the big club, there is always the possibility that a team blows them away with an offer for one of their veterans. Rust, Rakell, and Karlsson aren’t likely to be moved, but a player like Noel Acciari probably wouldn’t be off limits. Acciari has formed a formidable fourth line with Blake Lizotte and Connor Dewar and is a free agent this summer. Pittsburgh isn’t likely to re-sign the 34-year-old, but Acciari has played well enough to get paid this summer. If a team made a strong enough offer, one would have to believe Pittsburgh could be persuaded to move him if it improved their long-term future.
Team Needs
A Right Shot Defenseman: It’s easy to look at the Penguins’ defensive core and think their bigger issue might be on the left side, but Pittsburgh is banged up on the right side. Kris Letang is out, as is Jack St. Ivany, and with those two hurt, the right side looks very thin. Ryan Shea has been filling in recently, but his performance has declined, and he looks uncomfortable in his current role. Right-handed defensemen are historically hard to acquire, and given that Dubas has been stockpiling assets, he probably isn’t interested in turning a bunch back to acquire a stopgap. An under-the-radar trade feels likely here rather than a big addition, but Dubas is nothing if not unpredictable, so it wouldn’t be a shock to see him look for a longer-term solution if it fits the bigger plan.
Top Nine Forward Help: The Penguins look set up front and able to roll four consistent lines. However, they lack depth beyond their top 12 forwards and struggled when several forwards were sidelined by injury in December. Pittsburgh lost 9 of 10 games during that stretch as the loss of Evgeni Malkin, Anthony Mantha, and Justin Brazeau eroded the team’s depth. Given the Penguins’ history of injuries, adding an extra top-nine forward might be a wise move to prepare for such an unfortunate series of events. The Penguins don’t need to break the bank to acquire an additional body and could certainly shop the bargain bins to add a bit of depth just in case they run into injury troubles in the final weeks of the season.
The Danger Of Signing Goalies To Lucrative Contracts
The New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks are two of the NHL’s worst teams this season and are both on the verge of massive roster changes. While both teams face unique challenges, one parallel is that they’ve made a mess of their goaltending finances with pricey extensions that were miscalculations.
The Rangers and Canucks are far from alone in this predicament. High-priced extensions have also burned several other teams at the bottom of the standings, leaving them with goaltenders who had been performing well but whose play fell off a cliff after signing their new deals.
That isn’t necessarily the case for Shesterkin, however, it is the case for Linus Ullmark of the Ottawa Senators, Juuse Saros of the Nashville Predators, and Jacob Markstrom of the New Jersey Devils, who are all making big money on recent contract extensions, with no guarantees their play will turn around. This has left three teams with win-now rosters featuring goaltenders who are vastly overpaid.
It’s become a trend over the past five-plus years that teams signing goaltenders to expensive deals must be seriously concerned about their performance throughout the term of the agreement.
There is concern about every player’s performance after they sign a lucrative long-term deal. However, goaltenders have become a unique cause for concern lately, and it’s hard to say why.
In the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s, many veteran goaltenders on the wrong side of 30 would sign expensive long-term deals without so much as a second thought from their new teams. In July 2002, for example, goalie Curtis Joseph signed a three-year, $24MM contract with the Detroit Red Wings, even though it wasn’t the best offer on the table.
Joseph had a three-year $26MM offer from the Toronto Maple Leafs but opted to move to Detroit. Toronto then pivoted and signed Ed Belfour to a two-year, $13.5MM deal.
By today’s standards, those contracts aren’t eye-popping, and the term is relatively short. But Belfour and Joseph were 37 and 35, respectively, and there was a chance their play would drop off significantly during the brief time they were signed.
Nowadays, it’s hard to imagine a team giving $8MM a season to a 35-year-old goaltender, and Joseph’s deal was inked 23 and a half years ago. The Senators gave Ullmark four years and $8.25MM annually just last year, but he had just turned 32 and was two seasons removed from a Vezina Trophy as the league’s top goaltender.
It was a pricey gamble for Ottawa and hasn’t looked like good value this season, but Ullmark has been dealing with personal issues, so it’s hard to project how the deal will work out long-term.
Circling back to the Rangers and Canucks, they are a tale of two teams whose expensive goaltending has led to team-wide issues, but for wildly different reasons. In Vancouver, Thatcher Demko was signed to a lucrative three-year deal at the start of free agency, worth $8.5MM annually.
It was a gamble by Vancouver, as they hoped the former Vezina Trophy finalist could bounce back from a poor showing last season. Had Demko had a good year, he would have been a candidate to get $9MM or more on a new contract, but Vancouver thought it was wise to jump the queue. It has not turned out well.
If Demko had played well, Vancouver likely would have paid him an AAV slightly higher than the $8.5MM they gave him, but would’ve been on the hook for more term, which would’ve been riskier. Instead, Vancouver made a different bet and is now on the hook for more term than Demko would’ve received in free agency. But hindsight is 20/20, and for the Canucks, they are stuck with the Demko deal, one they’d love to have back.
In New York, it was a different calculation. Rangers’ general manager Chris Drury believed he had a Stanley Cup contender on his hands, which meant doing everything he could to retain his Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender, Igor Shesterkin. Drury moved out his captain, Jacob Trouba, to open up space to sign Shesterkin to a record-breaking eight-year, $92MM contract.
While it was the right on-ice move given Trouba’s cap hit relative to his play, the Rangers have never been the same since the trade. New York fell off a cliff last season and has remained at the bottom of the league this year, despite Shesterkin being good.
But that is the issue: Shesterkin has only been good. In the years leading up to his extension, Shesterkin was elite.
His play in those seasons masked many of the Rangers’ problems and led Drury and New York management to think the team was much better than it actually was. Shesterkin’s goaltending was a mask, hiding the fact that Drury had built a fatally flawed roster that relied too much on out-of-this-world netminding, which was clearly unsustainable.
While the Rangers, Canucks, Devils and Predators aren’t the only teams with pricey goaltending, they are the most apparent examples of paying a premium for goaltending. But even middle-of-the-pack teams can run into issues where their extensions turn into disasters.
There are good examples in Washington: a few years ago, with Darcy Kuemper, who had just won a Stanley Cup, and Philipp Grubauer, who had been solid for years before signing as a free agent with Seattle and becoming unplayable in the NHL. Matt Murray in Ottawa was the same story, but none is more egregious and obvious than Tristan Jarry in Pittsburgh, who was recently dealt.
Pittsburgh is a relevant example because of Stuart Skinner, who has been a revelation with the Penguins but is a UFA at the end of the season. Pittsburgh already has its goalie of the future in tow in Sergey Murashov, and the Penguins would be wise to ride Skinner into the playoffs and then let him walk in the offseason if his salary demands exceed $5MM annually, which they surely will. It should be interesting to see the Skinner story unfold, but there is plenty of evidence that the Penguins would be wise to avoid giving term to a netminder who is unpredictable.
Penguins In The Market For Defensive Depth
Entering the season, the Penguins had a logjam on defense. Despite a couple of in-season additions already in Brett Kulak and Ilya Solovyov, it’s largely cleared out.
Caleb Jones hasn’t been a factor all season due to injury and now a PED-related suspension. The Matt Dumba experiment is over, and he’ll play out the rest of the season buried in AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. “Veteran” depth pickups Sebastian Aho and Alexander Alexeyev were waived to begin the season and haven’t seen any NHL ice. Top prospect Harrison Brunicke was returned to his junior team.
Then, in the days leading up to the Olympic break, injuries piled up. Jack St. Ivany, who’d emerged as a great bottom-pairing shutdown option over the last few months, fractured his hand and won’t be back until late March. Kris Letang is dealing with a fractured foot, too, although he’ll be back by the trade deadline.
Still, those surgeries (and apparently some nagging injury concerns with Erik Karlsson) have the Penguins in the market to add another defenseman before March 6, Josh Yohe of The Athletic reports. That body would presumably be a righty with Pittsburgh’s top three on the right side, Letang, Karlsson, and St. Ivany, comprising their current injury concerns.
It’s likely one of the first places they’d go for depth is San Jose. The Sharks have plenty of rental names available that won’t be overly expensive, namely Timothy Liljegren. A reunion with Vincent Desharnais, who the Penguins had for a 10-game run last year before flipping him to the Sharks for a fifth-round pick at the deadline, is logical as well.
With Letang and Karlsson already in the picture, it stands to reason Pittsburgh won’t be looking for an offense-oriented defender as depth. A plug-and-play, more well-rounded option like Liljegren seems preferable. Among potential rental options across the league, there’s Ottawa’s Nick Jensen and Winnipeg’s Colin Miller out there as well.
Who Could The Penguins Target Before The Trade Deadline?
The Penguins appeared to fall back to earth in December after a strong start had them in playoff contention. A ten-game stretch dropped Pittsburgh to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings. However, since the Christmas break, the Penguins have been on a tear, going 14-3-3 and climbing to second place in the Metropolitan Division.
No one expected Pittsburgh to be in this spot, but that’s where they are, and it is likely changing general manager Kyle Dubas’ long-term plans. Pittsburgh was expecting to sell at the trade deadline, but now there is talk of potential additions, as Josh Yohe writes in The Athletic.
But what exactly would the Penguins add? The truth is that Dubas probably isn’t looking for short-term answers and isn’t going to give up previous picks and prospects for rentals.
He might send out a late-round pick for a player or two, but his big moves, if he makes them, will not be short-sighted. So, given that he is armed with a ton of cap space and a plethora of draft picks in the subsequent three drafts, who could Dubas target?
Some people might see a player like Blues forward Jordan Kyrou as a fit, but Pittsburgh’s GM has a type. For the past two years, it’s been clear he’s targeting high-ceiling, (mostly) young players who have fallen on hard times, need an opportunity to showcase their skills, and come at a discount.
Egor Chinakhov, Arturs Silovs, Philip Tomasino, Cody Glass, and Stuart Skinner were part of a couple of trades Dubas made to acquire young talent with a ton of upside. Most of those moves have worked out, with Tomasino being the exception.
Then there is the free agency market, where Dubas’s work is very impressive. Justin Brazeau, Parker Wotherspoon, Ryan Shea, and Anthony Mantha were all brought in for a song. Now, they are all contributing significant minutes in key roles for Pittsburgh, and the team is reaping the benefits.
Kyrou could be considered a fit, but given the price tag and the money he is owed, it doesn’t feel like a Dubas target heading into the trade deadline. He has been burned by significant acquisitions before, both in Pittsburgh and Toronto, so he could be tepid when it comes to big-game hunting, especially if he is eyeing the Penguins’ long-term prospects. But like Kyrou, there are many players who have fallen on hard times and are available, with the upside Dubas might be looking for.
What about a Shane Wright in Seattle? Would Dubas be willing to move some of his picks and prospects to acquire the former fourth-overall pick in 2022, or even go so far as to move a player from the Penguins’ current roster?
Wright looked like he’d found his NHL footing last season, but an uneven start to this year has him on shaky ground. Seattle is putting out feelers to gauge the market for the 22-year-old.
Pittsburgh needs young, high-end talent to add to its young core of Benjamin Kindel, Sergey Murashov, Harrison Brunicke, and Rutger McGroarty. Could Wright be a fit? There is nothing to suggest Pittsburgh has interest, but given Dubas’ track record, it’s hard to ignore that there could be a fit there.
What about another top pick, Alexis Lafrenière, who is reportedly not a significant part of the New York Rangers’ retool? The former first overall pick in 2020 looked to have turned the corner two years ago, when he tallied 28 goals and 29 assists in 82 games.
However, last season was a setback offensively, and this season has been an even steeper drop. His assist numbers remain stable, but the finishing just hasn’t been there. He has a two percent drop in his shooting rate and isn’t generating the same shot volume as in 2023-24.
It’s hard to believe the Rangers would trade with the Penguins given the bad blood between the two sides, but they’ve done business before, as recently as 2024, when Pittsburgh sent forward Reilly Smith to New York for two draft picks. This would be different, though, as Lafrenière is in the first year of a seven-year, $52.15MM contract. And make no mistake, that contract could be a barrier to the Rangers moving him, although with a rising cap, it could be worth taking on, given Lafrenière’s potential.
At 24 years of age, Lafrenière has yet to live up to the billing that made him a first-overall pick. He was touted as an offensive wizard, drawing comparisons to another former first-overall pick, Sidney Crosby.
Now, in his sixth NHL season, it doesn’t appear he will morph into an offensive wizard anytime soon, but that doesn’t mean there isn’t value to be had. Lafrenière could be a good long-term option to play on the wing with Kindel in Pittsburgh’s top six.
Lafrenière is a smart player. Like Kindel, he has a high hockey IQ and is an excellent passer who handles the puck well. There could be a match there if the Penguins are looking for younger players who have underperformed.
Given Dubas’s previous connection in Toronto, it’s hard to believe he wouldn’t be interested in right winger Nicholas Robertson, a pending RFA next summer who has been on the trade block for what feels like forever.
Robertson wanted out of Toronto 18 months ago and never got his wish. However, the Maple Leafs have moved him up the lineup this season, with varying results, thanks to the injuries the team has dealt with. Would Toronto move him now? It’s hard to say, but for the right price, anything is possible.
It’s not certain that Robertson would be a fit in Pittsburgh, as he likely wouldn’t be in their top nine. The Penguins’ fourth line of Blake Lizotte, Noel Acciari and Connor Dewar has been highly effective this year, meaning there might not be a place for Robertson with the Penguins. Things could change in the summer, when the Penguins have more slots open up due to departures, but for now, it seems unlikely that they would acquire the 24-year-old forward.
At the beginning of the season, the Penguins were widely regarded as having the worst left-side defensive unit in the league. No one could have predicted the emergence of Shea and Wotherspoon, who have become solid defensive options, while Brett Kulak was still playing in Edmonton with the Oilers.
At the time, Penguins fans were discussing the possibility of acquiring Anaheim Ducks defenseman Pavel Mintyukov, the 10th overall pick in 2022. Reports from Elliotte Friedman at the time indicated that Mintyukov wasn’t happy with his playing time, and Penguins fans rightly saw him as a potential solution to their defensive woes. But now, with the Penguins’ current depth, it’s hard to say whether it would be a move for Pittsburgh to make. Dubas always likes to stockpile NHL defensemen and has at least a dozen of them right now, but would he put together a 22-year-old defenseman who would be a heck of a buy-low option?
Make no mistake, Mintyukov can play and would be a great long-term option for the Penguins alongside Brunicke on the back end. This season, Mintyukov has six goals and eight assists in 48 games, buoyed by a career-high shooting percentage of 12%. Pittsburgh is being cautious about how it spends its future assets and may not want to roll the dice if the price gets too high. But if Anaheim is looking to move on from Mintyukov, the Penguins could likely put together a competitive offer for the pending UFA.
NHL Teams Continue To Avoid Roster Re-Starts
Several NHL teams have been major disappointments this season, particularly the New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks. While the Rangers have made it clear they intend to retool, the Canucks have refrained from labelling their plans, possibly due to ongoing roster assessments or other internal considerations. Even teams that have entered clear rebuilds have become apprehensive about fully starting over (e.g., the Calgary Flames), for various reasons. PHR had a piece last year that addressed why teams are choosing a retool over a rebuild, but this piece will focus on why teams have shied away from ever starting over.
The reluctance to start over makes sense from the team’s perspective, even if it hinders the team’s long-term prospects of becoming competitive again. The Rangers are a perfect example, having invested a pile of past development years into players such as Igor Shesterkin and Alexis Lafreniere. This is common among NHL teams, who constantly fall into the sunk-cost fallacy of continuing to throw money and time at a player, even though he will never be what they were hoping for or effective enough to justify the costs they’ve paid.
Beyond past costs, teams are also trapped by future expenses from contract extensions given to players who are not performing up to their AAV. This is something the Rangers are arguably dealing with in the cases of Shesterkin and Lafreniere, another bitter pill for management to swallow, as they are now in a position where they feel as though they are throwing both past and future years away on a player they piled so many resources into.
Those extensions were signed by Rangers general manager Chris Drury, and his fingerprints are all over this team. Drury has invested everything into his current club, from draft picks to term to cap space to his public messaging. It’s part of the reason he has recently talked of pivoting to a retool. Walking away completely from this core would signal a massive failure on his part. Even if the pieces in place probably aren’t the ones you’d want to retool around, Drury will likely keep a lot of them, because he staked his reputation on acquiring them.
GMs who build a team and then have to blow it up are essentially admitting they were wrong in their roster construction. Few NHL GMs want to do that, and most front offices would rather be a consistent disappointment than openly admit they are wrong.
And therein lies a big problem in the NHL. Executives aren’t necessarily rewarded for championships; they are rewarded for not collapsing. Making the playoffs is safe; finishing just outside the playoffs shows stability, but tearing down a roster and rebuilding it is a considerable risk, one that can cost you your job. A full-scale rebuild requires several ugly seasons. It means fans with brown paper bags on their heads attending games, and it means an impatient owner circling the offices, wondering when the team will turn the corner. Rebuilding is brutal and ugly, and it requires patience. Retooling is more manageable, quicker, and often leads to immediate, albeit tepid, results.
Retools can also sell hope, and teams can see it in a retool. Owners prefer hope to being told they have to tear down their team, and hope sells more tickets than telling fans you are going to start over. That matters more to owners: a full building over a full draft-pick ledger. A middle-of-the-pack team with designs on limping into the playoffs is easier to market than a disciplined rebuild with zero guarantees.
So, NHL teams opt for the theatre of optimism over meaningful structural change, and it’s tough to fault them given the incentives at play. One of the most famous examples of this is the Toronto Maple Leafs of the late 2000s, who were managed by Brian Burke. The management group had assembled a promising prospect pool but grew impatient in September 2009 and made the trade with Boston to acquire Phil Kessel. The rest, of course, is history: Tyler Seguin was drafted in 2010 with the Maple Leafs’ first-round pick, and defenseman Dougie Hamilton was drafted a year later with Toronto’s 2011 first-round pick. Had Toronto simply been patient, there is no telling where that iteration of the Maple Leafs would have ended up.
Front offices dread wasting years, and in the early stages of a rebuild, there will be wasted years. It’s also why teams rush rebuilds and mess them up. That is effectively what Drury did. He became impatient and made bold moves to bolster his lineup, which ultimately blew up his prospect system and, eventually, his NHL roster. The Ottawa Senators are guilty of the same thing, taking wild swings early in their rebuild on Alex DeBrincat and Jakob Chychrun. Teams trade their future away and call it supporting the core. They extend players to justify their original bet on a player (see last week’s piece on this). They shift their own goals from winning the Stanley Cup one day to simply not having to start over.
Again, it’s hard to fault GMs for doing this. The NHL’s structure used to encourage full-scale rebuilds, but now the rules discourage them. The draft lottery has made it harder to build through top picks; the salary cap floor requires acquiring veteran players; and some high draft picks take longer to develop. All of that has made the retool, or stated differently, the half-rebuild, safer. Even if the retool leads nowhere, which it often does.
The Pittsburgh Penguins are a prime example of this. In the 2022-23 season, it became clear the Penguins needed to get younger, but general manager Ron Hextall doubled down on his roster, trading for veterans such as Nick Bonino, Mikael Granlund, and others. He also sent Brock McGinn, Kasperi Kapanen, and Teddy Blueger out the door. It was a clear case of doing something now to change the furniture, hoping it would improve. It failed miserably. Hextall had stood still for most of his tenure in Pittsburgh, and while his flurry of moves that year showed urgency, he accomplished nothing and was fired at the end of the season.
The complex reality in the NHL is that teams can’t rebuild under current management, not in any meaningful way, because it would expose all of management’s mistakes. Bad drafting, poor development, bad signings, cultural rot in the dressing room, the list goes on. Starting over requires a top-down reset, from the president of hockey ops and general manager on down to the players, and most teams can’t stomach that kind of carnage or don’t have the humility to admit things aren’t working. This is why teams don’t rebuild until it’s five years too late, and the only choice they have is to start over and wait five to seven years for results.
The Maple Leafs are currently at that point. They can retool around Auston Matthews, William Nylander, and Morgan Rielly, or they could begin the painful teardown and build a whole new culture in Toronto. Given the incentives at play, it’s hard to believe they would choose the latter over the former, even if it might be the better choice for the franchise long term.