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Penguins Q&A: Trade Talk, Draft Targets, and Real Changes

Published

3 weeks ago

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Pittsburgh Penguins, Evgeni Malkin Rickard Rakell Erik Karlsson

The number of questions for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ offseason is growing, and there have not yet been answers to quell the eagerly awaiting populace who have already gone six weeks without hockey in the local barn. They want Penguins trades, draft pick projections, and most importantly, answers. Soon.

The draft, free agency, roster reconstruction, and revamp await. However, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is just beginning in-person interviews with the preferred candidates for the vacant head coaching position. While there are already reports from some corners of the internet that a decision is close, that is procedurally impossible and not credible.

You and I can begin to circle Penguins coaching candidates without interviews, but it probably behooves Dubas to actually conduct the first round of face-to-face chats, and then a second, maybe even final interviews, before making a decision.

So, we put out the bat signal on X for questions and input on the latest round of Penguins questions and answers.

Penguins Q&A

First, I do not believe the New York Rangers will part with their 12th overall selection. After hiring Mike Sullivan, they are going for it, and betting against themselves doesn’t seem prudent.

But let’s follow the premise, hypothetically. Perhaps Rangers GM Chris Drury says they like the back end of the 2026 Draft more than the front end of the 2025, and the Rangers give up the pick. On paper, an 11th and 12th overall pick for a fifth overall seems like a good trade, and in some years it would be.

But it is not a good trade in 2025. The dropoff in “guarantee” and increase in “risk” after picks No. 5 or 6 is significant. Perhaps Brady Martin and Jake O’Brien extend the range of blue chips to No. 8, but it ends there. So, the No. 4 or 5 pick will be significantly better than the 11th pick. In fact, James Hagens, Porter Martone, or Anton Frondell are better than a combination of Jackson Smith, Radim Mrtka, and Carter Bear. Quantity doesn’t equal quality here.

I’d say no dice. However, if the Penguins include a valuable veteran instead of two picks, then all bets are off.

A Two-fer. There were plenty of questions on Marco Rossi, but we’ll table those to focus on the unrestricted free agents and restricted free agents.

I’m not sure if the organization agrees, but I would re-sign RFA P.O Joseph. Joseph had to battle confidence issues as he was so often shuttled to Sullivan’s doghouse that arena staff built an express lane. Joseph has proven adept at playing with Kris Letang and even with Erik Karlsson, which places him in rare company within the Penguins’ current options. A new coach could do wonders with Joseph.

Boko Imama would be an easy choice to re-sign, too, but I disagree with colleague Dave Molinari, who believes the team should re-sign UFA Matt Grzelcyk. Surely, Grzelcyk can’t be the only D-man able to run the Penguins’ power play, which was his biggest selling point. Defensively, he can be replaced with a D-man who brings some attributes the Penguins otherwise don’t have.

I’m ambivalent on RFA Conor Timmins. There’s talent there, but the mistakes were costly. His usage in the final weeks of the season defied logic, as Sullivan never had a good answer for why he handcuffed Timmins and Erik Karlsson–two righties–together, but did so nonetheless. Timmins’s future might hinge upon Karlsson’s tradeability. If there’s an open spot, yes, but if Letang and Karlsson are still the top two RHDs, then no. Jack St. Ivany and Harrison Brunicke would very much like that third RHD spot.

Perhaps a new coach can get more out of Philip Tomasino, but money would be the deciding factor for this scribe. He got a healthy chance to rework his game and establish himself, but struggled to do so. He didn’t score enough to offset his lack of other dimensions.

RFAs Connor Dewar and Vasily Ponomarev are easy choices to re-sign.

It’s highly unlikely the Penguins trade Kris Letang. With a rough season and heart surgery, even if another team viewed him favorably, it’s a no-go. He’ll be 38, with health problems and declining play, but three more seasons remaining on a 35+ contract.

The more likely scenario is that Letang returns, is healthy, and probably better next season. This season, he was banged up more than we know. Sullivan alluded to that multiple times.

Dubas should be willing to move Karlsson for whatever he can get. That’s not a slight on Karlsson as much as the increasingly awkward if not terrible fit between player and team. Their goals no longer align.

However, Karlsson’s performance last season was not good enough. His shining moments were with Team Sweden in the Four Nations Face-Off tournament, not his NHL club, and the moment to deal him was after the tournament when the hockey world remembered just how good Karlsson can truly be. However, Karlsson’s trade value is assumed because of his talent, but his salary and refusal to consistently improve parts of his game are potentially insurmountable obstacles.

I love and hate this question. So simple, but so complex. The big picture answer without specifics is that Dubas must get the Penguins on the right course. Thus far, he’s picked at the edges of this rebuild, and the result was the arrival of some good young players such as Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen, but also a lot of angst and anger, some internal confusion and external disillusion.

No matter what specific moves he makes, a successful offseason would be defined by a general feeling of progress and optimism. That’s his job this summer–create forward momentum and belief in the process.

Boomerang! I wrote a column with those exact words about two months ago. If Dubas flubs this summer, if the moves don’t pan out, if he gets the wrong coach, the Penguins revamp could become a tear-down rebuild without anyone choosing it. If the Penguins are to win while Sidney Crosby is still around, this is the summer a few more blocks need to be in place.

Don’t be so negative, Pat! A Penguins trade involving Rickard Rakell will bring back talent, or there is no reason to make the trade. Marco Rossi is a center, and despite some criticism about his size, he is built a bit like Crosby (shorter, but with a solid base). The Penguins badly need centers for the next era, and Rossi is a 25-goal, 60-point center.

That’s not too shabby.

J.J. Peterka is reportedly unhappy with Buffalo’s direction. He would be an ideal get, too. Moving beyond Rickard Rakell, other potentially available players, including Trevor Zegras, who previously didn’t make sense for the Penguins, could now be proper targets.

Look for centers and defensemen at all levels. That’s Dubas’s stated focus this summer.

The organization will hold it’s scouting meetings in a couple of weeks. They’ll share and discuss more opinions then, and perhaps one will become clear. Next week, PHN will be at the NHL Draft Combine, and we may get an inkling there, too. Otherwise, it’s too soon to tell.

Also, this draft could go off the rails very quickly after the first handful of picks. The Penguins might have available to them several players they expected to be off the board, or they could have none.

I still like Roger McQueen because he has a legitimate top-six center potential, but his back injury scared some teams. I believe Jake O’Brien and Brady Martin will be off the board by 11, as both have seen their stocks rise later in the process. I’m not so enthused about the defensemen potentially available at 11; the risks are high, and the rewards are not commensurate.

Brace for a surprise on this one.

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