‘Lots of Interest’: Why Dubas Declined to Trade Rakell, Grzelcyk

The Pittsburgh Penguins and Rickard Rakell will remain in Las Vegas for another few hours on Saturday for a practice at the Vegas Golden Knights’ practice rink.

Just how much this team can improve with any amount of practice is another matter.

Fans should be under no illusions or pretense. A rebuild is underway. It’s not a tear-it-down rebuild but is beginning to teeter on a “watch it crumble” sort of revamp.

A quick gander upon the lineup Friday night might have elicited far more questions than is customary in these parts. The most notable query would surely have been about the identity and qualifications of those filling parts of the Penguins lineup.

The Penguins’ lines tonight are … ummm… yeah. Goals might be tough to come by:

Rakell-Crosby-Rust
Hayes-Malkin-Bemstrom
Heinen-Novak-Tomasino
Imama-Lizotte-Acciari

— Dan Kingerski (@TheDanKingerski) March 8, 2025

But Rakell remains with the Penguins. Despite a strong seller’s market at the NHL trade deadline Friday, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas did not trade the winger.

The reasons to keep Rakell were abundantly clear Friday night in the Penguins’ 4-0 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights. If not for the Penguins’ top line with Rakell, Sidney Crosby, and Bryan Rust, the game would have been an ugly beatdown uncomfortable to watch for even the most bloodthirsty UFC fans.

Not that there wasn’t strong interest in Rakell, but the Penguins need to keep a few players.

“He is a big part of our program. I think everyone has seen this year–he’s got a long history of the type of player that he is–We see him every day, and the type of person that he is, as well,” Dubas said. “When you have players that perform that way on a game-in and game-out basis, that show the ability to respond when things don’t go well and then can propel themselves back into being near the top of the league and perform at (a high level), that’s not something you (give up), especially when you have them signed.

“(When) they want to be a part of the community, the program, and know the path we’re on and want to bring the team back into contention, I would say you don’t just push that out the door because that’s what (fans) want. You have to do what’s right for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and for us, having Rickard Rakell was the right thing to do.”

Rakell is one goal from the third 30-goal campaign of his career. His 40-goal pace has slowed in recent weeks, and he’ll likely only finish in the mid-30s, which would have placed him among the top available wingers at the deadline. Only Mikko Rantanen, who finished a multiple trade odyssey that began with Colorado in January and landed with the Dallas Stars Friday, was a more productive option than Rakell.

Enormous contract demands hampered Rantanen’s latest trade, but he settled for the low, low price of $12 million per year over eight years before the trade was completed.

Rakell is signed for three more seasons at comparable peanuts, only $5 million per season. While veterans with term were once taboo trade targets, a productive winger with cost certainty in a rising cap world becomes increasingly valuable.

And Dubas is going to hold onto that value.

“Regarding the marketplace, there was lots of interest in Rakell,” admitted Dubas. “We just decided that where we are at, his value to us, the term remaining on his contract, the way that he’s played, and the player that he is, it was in the best interest of the team to have him remain. ”

Matt Grzelcyk

One of the surprises of the Penguins’ trade deadline day was keeping defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, a pending unrestricted free agent.

Based on Dubas’s comments, the decision was less his than it was the other 31 GMs who didn’t come to the table with an offer of market value.

“There was interest–teams kicking tires–but in the end, we got through the deadline, and he remains a member of our team,” said Dubas. “We expected him to have a strong season when (we signed him), and we pledged that we’d give him the opportunity to get things back rolling, and he’s taken advantage of that–and we’ll push him to do so through the last stretch of the year.”

Dubas’s comments also did not mention or even hint at a new contract for Grzelcyk.