GM Kyle Dubas will continue to reshape the Pittsburgh Penguins roster
Josh Yohe of The Athletic: (mailbag) Connor McDavid and Auston Matthews obviously weren’t happy with how their seasons ended. It’s not known if they’d be made available on the trade market. If they were made available, the Pittsburgh Penguins should be given a chance. Pittsburgh may not have the flair of an LA or New York, but playing with Crosby as he finishes his career has some appeal. Don’t believe that it would ever happen, though.
Don’t think the Penguins will overhaul their roster, but there will be some changes. AHL goaltender Sergei Murashov and forwards Avery Hayes and Rutger McGroarty could make the opening day roster. They’ll likely add one or two free agents and at least one player through trade.
GM Kyle Dubas will be looking to see if he can land a big player, but they aren’t easy to find, and other teams will be looking as well. They’ll have interest in Dallas Stars pending RFA Jason Robertson if he’s made available.
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Have the feeling that Dubas wouldn’t mind moving on from Evgeni Malkin as he continues to make the lineup younger.
Could see the Penguins trying to re-sign Yegor Chinakhov to a two or three-year bridge deal.
Dan Kingerski of Pittsburgh Hockey Now: (mailbag) If Mason Marchment gets to free agency, there’ll be plenty of interest in the 6-foot-5 forward. The Columbus Blue Jackets will be looking to re-sign the winger as he put up 15 goals and 17 assists in 39 games after being acquired from the Kraken. At 30 years old, he may not align with where the Penguins currently are.
Plenty of people are unhappy with Kris Letang’s play, but he’s basically their second-best right-handed defenseman, so he’s likely not headed to the third pairing/seventh defenseman. If they make some additions, Letang could drop in the lineup, and they could look to rest him more. They may go one more year and then see if they can find a trade partner or if he wants to retire. A buyout would be the same cost for the Penguins as if he’d retire.
Teams may be drooling over the idea of Pavel Dorofeyev and the Vegas Golden Knights’ lack of salary cap space. It’s very unlikely that he’s made available. They’ll move out other players/salaries to make something work.
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The Penguins trading for Darnell Nurse and his four more years at $9.25 million doesn’t make a lot of sense, even if they move out Ryan Graves’ contract. Nurse does skate well, but he has defensive issues, and he’s 31 years old.
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