Armchair GMing the Penguins 2025-2026 Part 2: Trades

I was talking with a friend of mine, who is friends with and skates with the players we love to watch on the ice. The topic of our discussion centered around the draft and my last post. He brought up the rumors surrounding Jason Robertson being on the trading block rumors and advanced the idea that rather than use the two first-round draft picks our Pittsburgh Penguins have, Kyle Dubas trades them to the Dallas Stars for Robertson. My reaction was decidedly negative.

At the time, I really didn’t articulate my resistance to my friend’s idea. However, since my objections tie into the next part of my armchair GMing, I figure I will explain to him as I lay out what my trade strategies would be like in this game.

Since the last time a Penguin hoisted Lord Stanley’s Cup there have been eight “One More Run s” and what do we have to show for that? Zero Cups (Obviously), Zero Cup Finals’ Appearances, Zero Conference Finals’ Appearances, One Divisional Finals Appearance, and now three years not even making the Playoffs. For all of the posturing and preening, for all of the trades for veterans, our Penguins haven’t even come close to a legitimate one more run. Therefore, no! no more trades for players, at least no more draft picks for veterans.

Why?

Think about this,

• Yes, Robertson is only 25 years old but as soon as he comes in Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty drop back down the depth chart, hindering the development – again.
• The team loses more draft picks.
• Robertson does make the team a bubble playoff threat but that is all. Therefore, our Penguins finish the season with a draft pick way outside of the top ten next season.
• Evgeni Malkin’s contract is up, and it looks like Dubas is not planning on bringing him back. But the team had no exit strategy in place to fill Malkin’s skates. Tristan Broz has shown promise but that is not the same thing as an exit strategy. Maybe they can find a second line Center, but with no top end picks, the chances shrink.
• By this time Sidney Crosby is now 39, Bryan Rust is now 33, and Rickard Rakell is now 32. Although those three Penguins plus Robertson still sneak the team into the playoffs, at the very least putting the Penguins outside of the top ten draft picks.
• Now the team is two years down the road and Crosby is 40 and at the end of his contract. Rust is now 34 and Rakell is 33. Any hope of Koivunen or McGroarty developing is diminishing rapidly. The way the team now appears to be treating players like Malkin and Kris Letang (and the fans too), players that took team-friendly deals so that dim witted GMs and Coaches could waste the Cap space would not really look appealing to potential Free Agents. So, who is going to get Robertson the puck?

In fact, before the draft, I would not seek out any more trades other than trying to use Erik Karlsson to pry a first-round pick out of someone. I would listen to any trade offers that another team would bring to me, but I would not initiate any more trades until after the draft.

Tristan Jarry

After the draft, however, I would try and trade some players and the first player that comes to mind is our ersatz Goalie Tristan Jarry. I would first start my shopping with the Edmonton Oilers. After another Goaltender let down in Connor McDavid’s kingdom, Stan Bowman may be looking to make a trade. Jarry certainly can’t play any worse than Stuart Skinner and Calvin Pickard and the Oiler’s window is now starting to close. Furthermore, in Edmonton, Jarry would not have to be a Vezina Trophy candidate to possibly push the Oilers over the top. With the way McDavid and Leon Draisaitl can fill the net, all he would have to do is make a handful of saves more than the turnstiles currently backstopping the Stanley Cup runner’s up.

My first thoughts would be to try and get a second or third round pick for Jarry but to move him out of Pittsburgh I would be creative. Although, I would prefer to save salary retention slots to barter at the trade deadline to Cup hopefuls in return for draft picks I could be talked into retaining an amount equal to what it would cost to bury Jarry in the minors. With Evan Bouchard getting a new contract this season and McDavid’s contract ending next season, the Oilers may be Cap strapped, so I may have to do this.

In the end, if Bowman beats me down, my low end would be taking back one of their Goalies to bury in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and Vasily Podkolzin. For this trade to work, I would trade for players, but not at the expense of me giving up picks.

Ryan Graves

If you look at my draft picks from my previous article, it should be evident that Ryan Graves would not fit into my long-term plans. Unfortunately, Graves has very little value. Trading him before the season would require a certified miracle. The defensive schemes of the previous Coaching regime, putting players in a position to fail or at least not play to their strengths, destroyed Graves’ value.

My best hope is that Dan Muse and his staff will employ a system that puts Graves in a position to use his strengths and hopefully builds back some value in the Left-Handed Defenseman so that I could trade him in season.

Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell

I have no problems trading anyone for the right price, provided I have an exit strategy. In Rust’s and Rakell’s situation, the team really doesn’t have immediate replacements for either player. Before I try and shop either player, I wait to see how well my prospects are developing and how well both Right Wings are playing. (Perhaps, had Mike Sullivan moved on sooner or he learned how to identify players strengths and develop prospects Nathan Légaré would have been the player to make one of these players expendable – look what he did for the New Jersey Devils’ farm affiliate in Utica when they finally started to give him top 6 minutes)

• If either player’s stock starts to dip, I would try and trade them immediately before I could not get any return on them.
• If one or more prospects start to show signs of NHL readiness then I wait until the trade deadline, when I could get maximal value for them.

Other Players

As the off-season progresses and/or when the trade deadline approaches, other players whose contracts I would like to lose would be Noel Acciari, Kevin Hayes, Danton Heinen, and Thomas Novak. I haven’t had time really to look at creating trades for them, nor would I really want to trade a player like Heinen while I am not sure how the rest of my roster is developing. I would still need some players to fill the ranks. Also, since most of those players only have one year left on their contracts (except Novak, who has two), they could bring back much more than they are worth as end of the season rentals.

Summary

I no longer have any patience for the “One More Cup Run” mentality of mortgaging the future for veterans that really do not move the needle more than a fraction. In 2018 and 2019 the team had the opportunity to retool. They blew it. They had opportunity after opportunity to draft decent players and possible garner more prospects and develop them. Crosby, Malkin, and Letang could have had two or more runs at a Stanley Cup glory but for off-ice stupidity.

Next up

Part 3: what I would do about Free Agency