The NHL trade deadline is approaching this Friday afternoon, March 6th at 3pm Eastern time. The Penguins find themselves in an interesting spot, tied for third currently in points percentage in the Eastern Conference. They have been the most active team at trading this season, having added Egor Chinakhov, Stuart Skinner and Sam Girard during the season, while acquiring and sending out Brett Kulak.
There’s good reason to believe that GM Kyle Dubas isn’t done putting the final touches on his team and
making more moves to shuttle players and picks around in order to accomplish his stated goals of positioning the team now and in the future.
What we shouldn’t expect is any bold rental moves aimed solely with short-term ideas. The Pens weren’t involved at all in the Artemi Panarin sweepstakes and they won’t be involved in deals like the ones that included impending free agents like Rasmus Andersson and Kiefer Sherwood.
What’s left? Let’s get into it.
Areas to at least keep an eye on
Draft pick pile — no team has more quality draft depth in the next three or four years than Pittsburgh. The Pens have two second round picks in each of 2026, 2027, 2028 and 2029 and two third round picks in 2026, 2027 and 2028 thanks to previous trades made. That’s even after trading a second and third round pick for Chinakhov. If an opportunity arises to acquire a young-ish NHL player (like perhaps defenseman Zach Whitecloud) it makes a lot of sense that the Pens can use their excess picks to make that trade.
Connor Clifton —Clifton is an impending free agent that has been in and out of the lineup throughout the season. Lately he’s been a staple on the third pair, bringing his physical game and helping the team. While Clifton shouldn’t necessarily have his bags packed, if the Pens shuffle pieces to bring in a defenseman (like the aforementioned Whitecloud) it might make some sense to make a subsequent trade to send Clifton out to recoup some of that trade price. Hanging onto Clifton for depth’s sake also makes sense, but moving an impending free agent plays into what the team has frequently done.
Stuart Skinner —We wrote about this in detail last week, which all still applies today. Looking at the bigger picture, Arturs Silovs has only given up 16 goals in his last nine games. That has has to be noted if the Pens think Silovs might be turning into the main goalie for the rest of this season, where does that leave Skinner? It’s an intriguing question. Pittsburgh could always opt to stand pat and keep their goalie depth, but standing pat hasn’t been the typical M.O. as of late. You would have to think if a goalie-hungry team like Ottawa or Vegas was interested in Skinner that the Pens would at least hear them out.
Justin Brazeau — This might be months or even a year early, but if there was a time to sell high on Brazeau it would be now that he’s in a career-year in every major category. Brazeau is under contract for next season, so the onus would be on improving that third line for a player that might fit stylistically better with Anthony Mantha and Ben Kindel. Brazeau has been slowing down from his torrid early-season production, he found the back of the net against Vegas (scoring the fifth goal in a 5-0 win) but only had one goal in the 10 games prior to that. If the Pens think Avery Hayes or a trade addition might surpass Brazeau then dealing him could be a proactive move to make. Usually a player like Brazeau would be out of trade considerations at this time, but the Penguins have been so active at shuffling pieces like this around that it’s at least worth a mention.
Potential trade targets
Right side defense — The addition of Girard has seemingly set the left side for now with Parker Wotherspoon and Ryan Shea in tow. The right side is the area that looks prime for improvement. Whether that means a potential big swing like Dougie Hamilton or Justin Faulk remains to be seen, the options could expand to a rental like Connor Murphy or something in between like Whitecloud. If you had to place a shiny nickel on what position the Penguins will add to this week before the deadline, the right side defense would be a very good selection in whatever form that might be.
Center — There’s no need to overreact managerially to the Sidney Crosby injury since the Pens’ captain should return to the team in a few weeks, yet center could be a place to monitor. Evgeni Malkin has shifted to the wing, leaving the non-center Crosby options of Kindel, Tommy Novak and Rickard Rakell sticking out at the moment. Someone like Vincent Trocheck (32) has been older than what Pittsburgh has been targeting, though the positional flexibility of players like Novak and Rakell could open up possibilities to bring in a center now and figure out the pieces as they go. This could be a longer-term play too, if Malkin isn’t going to be a center on the Pens in 2026-27 then there would be more of a need for a second or third line center next season to join the Crosby-Kindel tandem.
Expect the unexpected – Many of the trades, like Jarry/Skinner and Chinakhov have come out of the blue without much indication until a deal was finalized. Dubas operates in the shadows, and often counter to the conventional wisdom or reports of the day, going back to the ‘reach’ of taking Kindel 11th overall in the draft. Dubas’s next move might very well be something that isn’t seen coming, like adding a Bobby McMann or an even deeper cut for a different target that isn’t mentioned commonly on the trade rumor mill. Given the team’s draft surplus and significant cap space, their hands are free to operate about as creatively as they dare to dream. Lately there has been no shortage of surprising and unpredictable moves, the next one very well could follow that path as coming out of left field.
