It’s become an evergreen type of update on the national scene: the Penguins are open for business when it comes to trading some of their veterans. The latest Saturday night TV update came from Sportsnet Elliotte Friedman.
Friedman mentioned that the situation in Detroit with the suspended Dylan Larkin and unsigned RFA Simon Edvinsson remains the biggest area to watch. After that, Friedman turned
his attention with a brief update about the Penguins.
“There are a couple of other teams to keep an eye on. Number one, Pittsburgh. The Penguins [are] 15th in the East. They want to get younger, they want to get faster, they want to make more opportunities for their young players. They have a bunch of [veteran] guys who’ve got [trade] clauses and I think the Penguins are trying to get a handle on, A) who’s willing to do what and B) it’s kinda known out there that if you want to help them inject some youth in the lineup, they are interested.”
A reminder of those veterans who have trade clauses:
- Rickard Rakell has a limited eight team no trade clause, his $5.0 million cap hit runs through the 2027-28 season
- Erik Karlsson has a full no movement clause, his current cap hit to the Pens or an acquiring team is $10.0 million and expires after this season
- Sam Girard has a limited nine team no trade clause, his $5.0 million cap hit expires after this season
- Evgeni Malkin has a full no movement clause on his incentive-laden contract that carries a $5.5 million cap hit that could be worth up to $9.0 million depending on bonuses – but a clause in the contract gives the Penguins the option to receive a list of three teams on February 1st and be able to trade Malkin after that date to any of those locations.
- Kris Letang has a ten team no trade clause this season on a contract that carries a $6.1 million cap hit and runs through 2028.
Andrei Kuzmenko also has a modified no trade clause that can block ten teams, though given his unimpressive season it stands to reason there wouldn’t be many suitors at this time.
One player the trade clause doesn’t formally apply to is Bryan Rust, whose trade protection ended in 2025 and has no official protection written into his deal until his $5.125 million cap hit expires in 2028.
If the Penguins continue to bumble through the season, trading away veterans will be the obvious conclusion put in Kyle Dubas’ lap for the next steps to take. The Karlsson situation could be the most pressing, given that his contract is expiring and the player holds all the cards as far as where and if he will allow a trade to happen during the season. Players like Rust and Rakell are frequently involved in the rumor mill, which definitely won’t be slowing down in the days, weeks and months ahead.
It’s still a long way out until the NHL trade deadline on March 1st this season. Depending on how the results continue on the ice, the Pens could shift gears from the holding pattern created last season from being competitive on the ice into more of a shift to the future by dealing out veteran players for younger assets and clearing the way for AHL players like Rutger McGroarty, Avery Hayes and Harrison Brunicke to ascend into NHL roles. The timing on just when the moves will start remains to be seen and is dependent on what gets offered and the willingness of players like Karlsson to cooperate, which should lead to several more stories from the national media as the process plays out.
