The most poignant moment of the Pittsburgh Penguins’ offseason took place late on a Friday night one month ago, after the first round of the NHL Draft.
High above the U.S. Steel Tower, on the 61st floor of Pittsburgh’s tallest skyscraper, Penguins president/general manager Kyle Dubas stood with his back against the wall as the media waited to join him. The look on his face said everything. Dubas acknowledged he had wanted to make a big splash and had tried to move up in the first round.
He tried and tried. The market, however, had changed. Dubas had learned over the years that making emotional decisions does not serve GMs well. So, he sat this one out.
He looked dejected, not because he had done anything wrong but because he knew another year is likely to pass before his aggressive plan can be put into action. Another year of being average. Another year of “brick-by-boring-brick” team building, as he called it that night.
The Penguins aren’t bad and aren’t directionless, but they feel a little stuck.
Can they reasonably beat Florida, Carolina or other Eastern heavyweights in a playoff series next spring? Probably not. Can they make the playoffs again? Sure, maybe. Can they crash and burn and get that top-five pick they’ll probably need at some point? I doubt it.
Those feel-good vibes from last season’s spectacular playoff run will evaporate quickly if the Penguins start slowly next season, and Dubas knows it.
The sweet spot of the NHL’s offseason transactional period has come and gone. Now, the dog days of summer are here. What’s the plan? I suspect it’s the same as it was at this time last year. That wasn’t the intention for the 2026-27 season, but circumstances have changed.
Dubas, for all of his brilliance over the past two seasons — especially his run of trades — made two miscalculations.
For one, the 2025-26 Penguins were far better than he expected. By his second year on the job, I believe Dubas thought this team would age out organically, and he’d get his top-five pick(s), and the rebuild would be on. Then, last fall happened, and the Penguins jumped out of the gates and produced a truly memorable season. There was no organic aging out.
Dubas’ other miscalculation came this summer. There’s little doubt he thought he’d be able to move up in the first round of the draft — maybe trade Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell, whatever. The Penguins had worthy assets to deal. Instead, of course, Dubas either misjudged the value of his assets or, more likely, misjudged how challenging the market would be. Teams pretty much had to sell the farm to land any top-tier talent this summer, and that was the one thing Dubas wouldn’t do.
There comes a time when you’re willing to sell the farm, or at least valuable pieces of it. That time comes when you’re ready to win and, for all the romanticizing about helping Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang end their final years in Pittsburgh with one last championship, the Penguins aren’t ready to win yet, and Dubas knows it. They haven’t won a playoff series since 2018, after all.
Still, they could be just as good next season, which could complicate things further. On paper, they’re even deeper at forward. They’re a bit younger, too, but the biggest reason for optimism is at the most important position in hockey. Among the many fascinating facets of the Penguins overcoming 9 percent odds to make the playoffs last season was first-year coach Dan Muse’s team doing so without the benefit of a high-quality NHL goaltender.
Stuart Skinner is a wonderful teammate, but he was below average last season and received the nod down the stretch and in the playoffs. He was the guy, except he wasn’t particularly good. His lack of athleticism stood out.
Sergei Murashov will make the Penguins roster out of training camp, barring injury. While it’s not common for rookie goaltenders to set the league ablaze, it does happen from time to time. Murashov, if he can fulfill the hype, could make the Penguins better. What really will make them better, however, is Dubas finally pulling off a couple of trades he’s long desired. He wants to bring in young players to help right now — guys like Egor Chinakhov. Dubas thought it could happen this summer, but there were no reasonable deals to be made. So, the plan waits another year.
Next summer, the Penguins could have in excess of $70 million in cap space. The market will be much better. They’ll have a better feel for which of their aging players can still be helpful down the road. They’ll have a feel for just how good Murashov is. They’ll have a feel for which of their young players and prospects are ready for the NHL.
So, yes, the summer of 2027 could be a grand time. But this is 2026, and Dubas is entering his fourth year with the Penguins. He uses the word “urgent” to describe his desire to mold the Penguins into championship contenders. He’s done outstanding work so far. Let’s not forget that the team and its prospect system were in shambles when he took over in 2023. He deserves more time for his vision to come to fruition.
Still, I can’t help but feel that the view from the 61st floor last month wasn’t so pretty. The 2025-26 season exceeded expectations. The summer of 2026 has not. Autumn is right around the corner, though the spring feels very far away.
