Penguins Blog: Say No to These 3 Possibilities

No, non, nyet, ei, nej, ingen. There are plenty of ideas floating about on how to make the Pittsburgh Penguins better, or at least purge their roster of underachievers and fan un-favorites. From deep cuts via more Penguins trades to turning loose the prospects like kids at a birthday party, there are ideas.

But most ideas should receive a firm veto.

For the record, the above no translations are French, Russian, Finnish, Swedish, and Danish, respectively, just to represent all of the languages that would fly in the Penguins dressing room.

Who among us hasn’t been wrong? However, there are plenty of opinions and assertions for the Penguins offseason that have gained traction, which won’t, can’t, and definitely should not happen. As Nancy Reagan once said, “Just say no.”

My, the country has changed just a little bit since then, eh?

3 Penguins “Noes”

Trade Tristan Jarry

For context, we need to look no further than the Penguins’ division rival, the New Jersey Devils, who are finding the costs prohibitive to acquire the one piece that would transform them from a team out of the playoffs into a Stanley Cup contender.

The line that follows “trade Jarry” usually involves re-signing Alex Nedeljkovic and installing top goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist on the NHL roster, too.

Working backward, Nedeljkovic failed to keep a .900 save percentage as he held the Penguins net in that 14-game final charge. There is a beguiling argument for Nedeljkovic’s return, but not as an unquestioned No. 1 starter.

After a shaky playoff performance, there are real questions if Blomqvist is ready for the big show, too.

So, trade a starting goalie without another readily available and an exorbitant cost to acquire one for what could be Sidney Crosby’s last great year? Nope.

Buy out Ryan Graves

Graves has five years remaining on his contract, which means a buyout would be 10 years of eating $750,000. Ten years. Imagine the annual frustration of buying out a player in 2014, and it just ended. Imagine a decade of trade deadlines and free agent frenzies with valuable salary cap space long gone.

The Penguins are much better off trying to salvage what looks like an ill-fitting free-agent signing.

A buyout would be insanity.

Give the Young Players a Chance!

It sounds good, and in theory, the Penguins management would like to refresh their roster with the fruits of the prospect tree. Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas acknowledged the team must get younger when he addressed the media following the Jake Guentzel trade in early March.

However, like a politician promising to cure the evils that affect constituents, a bumper sticker slogan or ideal can sound great, but the solutions in practice are another matter.

Over the past week, we spoke with folks around the Moose Jaw Warriors—the WHL team that features Penguins top forward prospect Brayden Yager—and scouted him in person. He’s probably not ready for NHL duty next season. Read the PHN+ Yager scouting report here.

Sure, stat sheets and optimism paint a bright picture of Yager and others, such as Ville Koivunen. Still, the cold reality of the Penguins’ farm system is that Sam Poulin, Jonathan Gruden, and Vasily Ponomarev are the best available options for the start of next season. One or two of those players very well might earn an NHL sweater, but none are going to make a large impact. They certainly won’t be scoring contributors in the top nine.

Ponomarev is the only one who might break through that ceiling. Since he was injured four games into his Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins debut following the Guentzel trade, he’s a bit of an unknown commodity. However, given that the Carolina Hurricanes protected their top prospects from the Penguins in that trade, hopes for a middle-six contributor should be tempered.

An internal refresh of youth is much more likely in the summers of 2025 and 2026 when Yager, defenseman Owen Pickering, Koivunen, and Tristan Broz have some professional seasoning.

The Penguins’ plight should serve as a case study in GM school: Don’t trade your first-round picks for short-term fixes. The fixes usually don’t fix the issue, and the bill eventually comes due.

Will the kids storm the NHL roster? Again, nope, but in this case, be patient because they are indeed on their way, just not for 2024-25.