The Pittsburgh Penguins slow start to the 2026-27 season has already started the trade rumor mill, with reports over the past week or so that general manager Kyle Dubas could be looking to move some veteran forwards to create some roster space for younger players already on the roster or in the organization.
That’s not really earth-shattering news given where the Penguins are, the makeup of their roster and where they want to be long-term, but we are always thirsty for more rumors and that certainly
delivers.
The latest edition of TSN’s Insider Trading continued that on Thursday night when Darren Dreger repeated the theory that, if the Penguins fall out of things any further, Dubas will continue to be open for business and that he is, and will be, listening on veterans like Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell.
But what makes the latest report the most potentially eye-opening was Dreger’s claim that Dubas is working with a “cash-strict budget,” and not necessarily just the NHL salary cap.
He added that the players are aware of the situation and that other teams around the league are aware of it.
Seems ominous.
The Penguins obviously have new ownership this season with the Hoffman family taking things over from Fenway Sports Group, and they remain something of a mystery.
They certainly talked a big game at their introductory press conference about giving Dubas and the hockey operations department everything they need to build a team Pittsburgh can be proud of.
A couple of things to keep in mind here.
- That is a little bit of an ominous report. But it also comes down to how much you trust Dreger’s sources regarding the Penguins because they haven’t always been completely on the mark. His information regarding them always seems to come from sources outside of the Penguins organization, which … can go a lot of different ways.
- It’s also not a surprise that those veteran players are mentioned as players that Dubas is, or will be, listening on. Karlsson is an unrestricted free agent after this season and it probably does not make much sense for a rebuilding team (which the Penguins are) to re-sign a 37-year-old defenseman.
- Letang is even older, declined even more, and has always been one of the big-three players that seemed most likely to finish their career elsewhere.
- The problem with both Karlsson and Letang is they both have no-trade protections that will help dictate where, or if, they go anywhere.
- My position on Rakell and Rust remains what it has been — I just don’t know that they have the value people want them to have given their ages and the fact they have term remaining. That does not even get into Rust’s injury history. Not saying something can’t, or won’t, eventually happen there, but it’s probably not going to be as easy as simply deciding to trade them. It’s probably a big reason why they are still here.
