There were several interesting tidbits from Pittsburgh Penguins' GM and POHO Kyle Dubas's 2024-25 end-of-season press conference, which signaled the direction that the team might take over the summer and into the 2025-26 season and beyond.
And one of those tidbits was the suggestion that the Penguins may look to restricted free agency to capitalize on some opportunities to acquire young talent.
"I think the areas that you probably would see us spend more would be acquisition by trade, and then signing players that other teams might not be able to fit," Dubas said at the time. "I think the effect in free agency is probably going to be somewhat of a spike in salary, and so it’ll dry up the cap space rather quickly for us, and those players are mostly into that late 20-early 30 category.
"It could do two things. Number one, I think it's going to allow us to maybe trade for players that other teams can't afford that are restricted free agents, and then sign them longer range ourselves, using that cap space that way. You're signing a player that's 23-24 for seven or eight years versus going into free agency for someone who's 27 to 32 and getting them for seven years. So, I think that would be the more likely route.”
While it is only Jul. 14, and there is a lot of summer left - everyone should know by now about Dubas’s tendency to make a random higher-profile trade in the month of August - the Penguins, up to this point, haven’t given too much indication that they’re being active in the RFA market. There was some rumored interest in Utah Hockey Club forward Jack McBain before he signed a five-year contract at $4.25 million average annual value, but, other than that, it’s been pretty quiet.
In all fairness, Dubas and the rest of the Penguins’ organization keeps things pretty close to the vest. Oftentimes, moves happen out of nowhere - as was the case with both goaltending trades this summer involving Alex Nedeljkovic going to the San Jose Sharks and Arturs Silovs being acquired from the Vancouver Canucks - and there isn’t much that even the NHL’s most renowned insiders are aware of.
But, given the field of RFA targets remaining - players like McBain, Dallas Stars center Mavrik Bourque, and Buffalo Sabres left defenseman Bowen Byram are now off the board - it’s fair to wonder not only if Dubas will still dabble in the RFA market, but also if he should dabble in it.
When looking at the list of names left, there are definitely some higher-end targets, mostly at forward. Minnesota Wild center Marco Rossi comes to mind, as does Anaheim Ducks center Mason McTavish and Winnipeg Jets center Gabriel Vilardi. There are also lower-profile players such as Toronto Maple Leafs forward Nicholas Robertson and Nashville Predators forward Luke Evangelista, both of whom could be more realistic, upside-potential targets for the Penguins that wouldn’t cost nearly as much.
The fact of the matter is, however, that there are a few factors that may or may not weigh into whether or not the RFA market is still a sensible avenue for Dubas and the Penguins.
For one, Dubas has made it clear that he is not particularly interested in offer sheets due to the rising cap. So any offer sheet-eligible RFA is, likely, not going to be acquired that way. Instead, it would probably happen in an RFA trade-then-sign scenario for rights acquisition. This could, conceivably, be part of a bigger return for one of the Penguins’ top trade candidates in Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, and Erik Karlsson.
But the Penguins need to be wary of overpayment. They’re not in any kind of organizational position right now to be overpaying for players - even if they are young players who will, presumably, be part of their future. The time to pay up would have been prior to the 2025 NHL Draft, when the Penguins were initially going into it with two first-round picks. And the reality of the rising salary cap is that player salaries are also rising, which could muddy the market a bit in terms of player value.
However, that’s not the only consideration. It is also worth noting that the Penguins already have 13 forwards listed on their active roster per Puckpedia - and it doesn’t include young players such as Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen, both of whom made an impression in a small sample at the end of the 2024-25 season and should push for roster spots.
Is Nick Robertson Worth A Look From The Penguins?One of the stated goals of Pittsburgh Penguins' GM and POHO Kyle Dubas at the end of the 2024-25 was to begin the "execution" phase of the organization's rebuild. He said part of that "execution" would, likely, involve young RFAs that other teams other couldn't afford or who needed a change of scenery.
There is already a bit of a roster logjam at the forward position - especially after the signings of Anthony Mantha and Justin Brazeau and the decision to bring back RFAs Philip Tomasino and Connor Dewar - that would only get more complicated with the acquisition of another young forward. Of course, the Penguins could always ship out a forward in return, but there is such a thing as “too many” when it comes to trying to give some of your most promising young forwards the necessary space to develop.
Finally, there is this, too: There is the distinct possibility that Dubas might not want to try to make this roster any better at this point in time. WIth a consensus generational prospect waiting to, inevitably, be drafted first overall in 2026, Dubas might want to hold off on any moves that would markedly improve the roster and, possibly, take them out of real contention for the draft lottery.
Whether or not tanking is the right perspective is up for debate. But the fact of the matter is that the Penguins are still pretty weak on the blue line, their goaltending is a question mark, and their forward group is already better than it was heading into last season. Adding to that forward group even further may set them back just enough to miss out on the lottery but not enough to make the playoffs.
If the Penguins to look into the RFA market, perhaps dialing it back and targeting a lower-profile player is the right call right now. Regardless, all eyes will be on the Penguins for the rest of the summer to see if Dubas has anything else up his sleeve.
Penguins' Potential Trade Target Signs Extension With UtahOver the past couple of weeks, it was reported by Josh Yohe of The Athletic that the Pittsburgh Penguins had interest in one of the Utah Mammoth's young RFA forwards.
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Feature image credit: Charles LeClaire - Imagn Images
