Penguins Update: Let the Busy Season Begin

With the Stanley Cup finally raised and firmly ensconced in South Florida, bringing to an end the loooongest of NHL seasons, the business (and busyness) part of the offseason is upon us, and quite suddenly.

Indeed, the NHL Entry Draft will be held on June 28 and 29 at the Sphere in Las Vegas, followed in ultra-short order by the start of free agency on July 1. Kyle Dubas and his GM brethren have precious little time to swing deals with an eye toward clearing cap space and/or adding needed talent.

On lockdown for the better part of four months, the window to the trade market sprang open this past week, leading to several high-profile deals.

On June 19, the Devils finally got their goalie, acquiring Jacob Markstrom from the Flames. The price? A first-round pick in the 2025 draft and physical defenseman Kevin Bahl.

In a swap of pricey underperformers, the Capitals sent former Cup-winning goalie Darcy Kuemper to the Kings that same day for prickly pear forward Pierre-Luc Dubois.

The trade market heated to a frothy boil a couple of days ago, with the Senators acquiring former Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark from the Bruins for goalie Joonas Korpisalo, rugged forward Mark Kastelic and a first-round pick in the upcoming draft.

Detroit GM Steve Yzerman made two trades yesterday. In the higher profile of the two, he sent defenseman Jake Walman (12 goals this season) to the Sharks for a second-round pick in this year’s draft and future considerations.

With Ullmark and Markstrom, arguably the two premium goalies of the bunch, already off the table, does that open a door for Dubas to deal Tristan Jarry?

Rumor has it the Avalanche may be seeking an upgrade over incumbent starter Alexandar Georgiev. Might they view Jarry as such?

Several sites have suggested the Avs may consider moving Ross Colton to open up cap space. The 27-year-old center is strong on draws, physical and provides solid offense (17 goals, 40 points). He’s got three seasons left on a deal that pays him a very reasonable $4 million per.

The 6’0”, 194-pounder would be an ideal No. 3 center for our Penguins and allow us to bump Lars Eller down a notch to bolster a weak fourth line.

Another name I’ve seen bandied about is Andrew Mangiapane of the Flames. The speedy left wing plays a scrappy, north-south game reminiscent of ex-Pen Jason Zucker and scores most of his goals around the cage. Alas, following a breakout (outlier?) campaign in ’21-22 when he tallied 35 goals, the Toronto native’s settled back to earth with a combined 31 goals over the past two seasons.

Finances are a sticking point…the 28-year-old scrambler is due a hefty $5.8 million on the last year of his contract. Which would roughly represent an even-up swap, dollar-wise, for Jarry.

Hey, the Flames need a goalie now that they’ve traded Markstrom, right?

Well, maybe not. They seem set to ride 23-year-old wunderkind Dustin Wolf between the pipes.

I’ll close by recounting a conversation I had with fellow Pooper Caleb Di’Natale yesterday. He asked me what I would do if I were the Pens’ GM to improve the team.

I confess, I was flummoxed. We have so many needs and not a ton of cap space to fill them…scoring winger, third-line center, bottom-six scoring, not to mention a net-front presence at both ends of the ice and a possible replacement for Jarry…I didn’t know where to begin.

Finally I blurted, “Nicolas Hague. I’d try to get Hague out of Vegas.”

For the unfamiliar, the 25-year-old defender patrols the left side, where we definitely need help (Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Ryan Graves…shudder). He goes 6’6” 230, and unlike the aforementioned Graves, plays a physical game. Fights, and quite well. Not a huge play driver or puck mover, but I think we have enough of that on hand with Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang. (Think balance and contrasting styles like Cup winners do.)

Affordable, too, at a modest $2.3 million.

Given Hague’s attributes, I doubt if the Golden Knights are all that anxious to part with him. But they are cap-strapped. And he sure would make a nice addition to our blue line.