Kingerski: Dubas Must Upgrade Trade Targets

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ trade acquisitions this season were names that rightfully didn’t generate much excitement. Salary dumps, spare parts, and second chances rather than established veterans with predictable production comprise general manager Kyle Dubas’s transaction list.

There was one trade that helped the near and long-term future of the franchise: When Dubas swapped his 2023 first-round pick, Brayden Yager, for the Winnipeg Jets’ unsigned 2022 first-round pick, Rutger McGroarty.

And those are the deals that Dubas needs to repeat. No more scraps.

In that context of trades that didn’t pay off, it should be no wonder the Penguins missed the playoffs for the third year running. Yet the losing still disgusted the veterans for whom winning and playoff appearances were annual custom, and wasted yet another extraordinary season by Sidney Crosby with linemates Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell.

For an NHL record 20th consecutive season, Crosby averaged more than a point per game. Rakell and Rust set career highs with 35 and 31 goals, respectively.

The Penguins’ problems were as plentiful as glaring. Of course, the defense was anything but. The middle six had stretches that enticed optimism but otherwise offered subpar production. The goaltending struggled.

However, the bulk of Dubas’s receivables didn’t offer much help.

Read More: Penguins Grades: Problems for Trade Acquisitions

Kevin Hayes shuffled around the lineup, but his time as the third-line center was inconsistent, and ultimately, his season ended with just 23 points. PHN offered a D grade on his season, which included fewer than 100 shots in 64 games.

Cody Glass was the first acquisition last summer. He showed a strong defensive game on a team that struggled mightily with that commitment, but added just four goals and 11 assists in 51 games. Philip Tomasimo also had only 23 points despite significant time in offensive roles in the middle-six.

Connor Dewar and Conor Timmins were gifts from the Toronto Maple Leafs in exchange for only a fifth-round pick. They flashed potential, but Dewar’s contributions are suited for fourth-line defensive duty, and the Penguins have a plethora of those types.

Timmins was caught in the blender of the blue line chaos, sometimes playing on his backhand with fellow righty Erik Karlsson, as former coach Mike Sullivan oddly paired two right-handers on the second pairing and two lefties on the third.

Dubas’s Hotel Opportunity didn’t necessarily yield any results that will impact the Penguins’ rebuild, unless one factors the accompanying draft picks affixed to Hayes and Glass as part of salary dumps (Dubas also flipped Glass to New Jersey for a third-round pick).

The jury is still out on Tomasino, but a decision is looming and may not be a favorable verdict. Timmins might be the one who sticks long term because he’s a 26-year-old defenseman who can be physical, skate, and move the puck. Perhaps in a better situation, the Penguins will see a more reliable defenseman. Timmins’s inconsistent play was as much the result of the situation as it might have been his own shortcomings.

And so the larger question is whether Dubas should once again trawl the depths of the NHL rosters looking to give second chances and uncover improperly used gems?

No.

It is time to upgrade the quality of acquisitions to more projectable players.

It’s about the future, but the low-rent gambles actually both took opportunity and time away from players who could be there for the turnaround.

Furthermore, looming at the top of the 2026 NHL Draft is phenom Gavin McKenna, a franchise cornerstone center who ranks in the realm of the Macklin Celebrini, Connor Bedard, or who knows how much better.

The top of the 2026 draft includes a handful of players currently viewed by scouts as standouts.

Answering the same question in a different way, Dubas must be patient, no longer stuffing his roster with castoffs who are unlikely to produce more than they have, and exclusively hunt for keepers while maximizing his 2026 draft position.

Simply, it’s time to upgrade his target list to higher-profile, younger NHL players or prospects who can be reasonably assumed to make an impact.

Then, plug the existing holes with more reliable veterans, as the Penguins did with Matt Grzelcyk and Anthony Beauvillier. Dubas curiously kept Grzelcyk at the deadline as teams didn’t line up for his services, but Beauvillier brought a second-round pick in return.

If reports, conjecture, and reading between the lines of Dubas’s postseason comments when terminating Sullivan, as well as Sullivan’s noticeable reticence to embrace unconditional opportunities for likely lower-ceiling players, Dubas seems to be preparing for a longer rebuild.

The Penguins’ draft pick wallet is full. They don’t need more second or third-round picks; they’re unlikely to use all of the ones they’ve already acquired.

Dubas needs to find cornerstone pieces to go with his promising rookies, including McGroarty and Ville Koivunen. Selecting near the top of the draft is the traditional route. After all, your own high draft pick doesn’t cost additional assets … only a losing season. Or two.

Or three more.

The other avenue available to the Penguins is the NHL trade market, but there are few opportunities.

Indeed, despite our impatience and desire to quickly turn the corner of the rebuild, it is Dubas who must remain patient–more patient than we on the outside. Dubas’s trade targets should be relegated to only sure things, like McGroarty, who will be a Penguin for the long haul, instead of dumps and disposable gambles like Tomasino. Plug holes with dependable veterans who can be traded, just like Beauvillier and before him, Lars Eller.

Not adding enough bricks in the foundation over the next few offseasons might very well bring about the need to do it all over again.