It was a busy offseason for the Pittsburgh Penguins, and with the last big piece done with Sidney Crosby signing last Monday, the Penguins are back in business — albeit with a different philosophy, as their offseason ultimately explains.
Though the offseason was busy, it was quieter than the previous year when newly hired Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas made the blockbuster acquisition of defenseman Erik Karlsson. Dubas’s first summer was marked with big swings that didn’t necessarily end well, such as the Ryan Graves signing ($4.5 million for six years for a player who noticeably struggled) and the Tristan Jarry signing ($5.375 million for five years for a player who was usurped by backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic at the end of last season). Another big acquisition was right winger Reilly Smith, who, though not a poor trade on Dubas’s part given his production, never quite meshed with the team. Dubas ultimately traded him to the New York Rangers for a conditional fifth round pick — less than the third rounder it cost to acquire him, but better than nothing.
In his second summer as Penguins GM, Dubas was busy but more quiet. Many of his signings were AHL and ECHL players, such as left winger Bokondji Imama (one year, $775k), defenseman Filip Král (one year, $775k), and left winger Jonathan Gruden (two years, $775k). Many of those players will play under new Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins head coach Kirk MacDonald as Dubas works to strengthen the minor league affiliates of the Penguins, something he did in his time with the Toronto Maple Leafs as well.
But many of the other additions were bottom six players, something Pittsburgh desperately needed as those lines struggled to produce last season. He acquired left winger Kevin Hayes (two more years at $7.1 million) and a second-round pick from the St. Louis Blues at the NHL Draft for mere future considerations. Left winger Anthony Beauvillier signed for one year at $1.25 million after playing for three teams last year. And most relevant to our analysis is center Cody Glass, the 2017 sixth overall draft pick of the Vegas Golden Knights, in the last year of his contract, traded in a cap dump by the Nashville Predators along with a third-round pick and a sixth-round pick for Jordan Frasca, a young center who spent much of last year in the ECHL.
Glass is the perfect example of the kinds of players Dubas is looking for. So is Beauvillier, for that matter. They are young players on short-term deals who can improve the bottom six immediately and possibly can move up into the top six. Beauvillier has already slotted in nicely with Crosby on the first line, his speed giving him an advantage in retrieving pucks in corners. That role is obviously up for debate (it was Drew O’Connor’s last year after Jake Guentzel was traded to the Carolina Hurricanes) but it seems that “Tito” is in contention for an impactful role with the Penguins. Right winger Jesse Puljujärvi, who Dubas signed as his career struggled due to injury and is now on the second year of a two year contract, scored a hat trick in the Penguins’ preseason game against the Buffalo Sabres and seems primed to stay in the NHL this year after a stint in the AHL at the end of last season. Already, those moves are paying off, at least early in the season. Pittsburgh is getting faster and younger, and taking on very little risk to do so.
These players are all examples of Dubas’s new job. When Dubas was acquiring players this summer, he had no idea how long Crosby would want to sign for, and Crosby’s retirement date ultimately determines when the Penguins rebuild will begin. Crosby’s two year contract will take him until he is 39, almost 40. It’s possible he will sign another one or two year deal after that to continue playing if he feels he is still up to snuff. Or perhaps he will retire at 40. Kris Letang and Evgeni Malkin will likely retire around the same time and the rebuild will truly begin. Dubas’s job until then is to keep Pittsburgh competitive while accumulating draft picks. Players like Glass and Hayes — players who didn’t quite work out on their previous team and who teams want to get rid of enough to tie a draft pick to them, but also have enough potential to take a chance on and are nearing the end of their deals — are exactly who Dubas is looking for. The players that work out, he’ll re-sign; those that don’t will, not hinder the Penguins with dead cap space or playing liability as their deals will expire. Those that remain, along with the new prospects that he is acquiring, are designed to keep the Penguins competitive until (and possibly after) the Big Three retire.
Dubas’s path after that retirement is uncertain. Pittsburgh has only ever succeeded with generational talents, and fans are accustomed to that success and that star being a constant on the ice. Dubas is acquiring excellent players like Rutger McGroarty (acquired this summer in a one-for-one trade with the Winnipeg Jets for 2023 14th overall pick Brayden Yager) and Jack St. Ivany (re-signed this summer), who would be a credit to any team, let alone one about to lose its stars. But would Dubas prefer to tear it down, trade those players, and start over again to try and draft that generational talent? We don’t know. For now, Dubas’s job is keeping Pittsburgh competitive for the next year or two — and his work this summer was a direct reflection of that.
