Let’s look into the crowded crystal ball
For fun purposes only and these aren’t predictions as in “hold these up to happening for sure” so much as thought provokers but here’s a possible outlook of what could be ahead in 2025 for the Penguins..
Mike Sullivan is still the coach of the Pens on 1/1/2026
Is this a bold prediction? Maybe not. Unpopular? Possibly so. But there won’t be a change behind the bench in the near future in Pittsburgh. Sullivan has the confidence of his bosses and the utmost respect from his star players. He hasn’t been close to actually going anywhere as far as job security goes, and that won’t change in the coming year.
Sidney Crosby will NOT win gold this year (but he will next year)
Crosby has won the last four major international tournaments in which he’s played (2016 World Cup of Hockey, 2015 World Championships, 2010 and 2014 Olympics) but he won’t be adding the 2025 4 Nations Faceoff to his endless mantle of achievements. That will be due to Sullivan and the Americans taking the title of the NHL’s international tournament next month.
That said, the unfamiliar feeling won’t last long — Crosby will capture his third Olympic gold in Milan for the 2026 Olympic games. How’s that for a bonus prediction?
Crosby breaks the Wayne Gretzky record of most point per game seasons
Easy one, by April Crosby will have more points than games to break the record that Wayne Gretzky set.
The Penguins will trade Marcus Pettersson and not make the playoffs in 2025
The Pens have had a few nice weeks to end 2024, but their hot shooting will regress and they don’t have the defense or goaltending to overcome their general team construction that lacks too much talent in too many areas over the long run. They’ll finish a handful of points out of a playoff spot — not an embarrassment, but at the same time not a serious, real contender to make the playoffs by the end of the season.
As such, the team will trade Marcus Pettersson at the deadline, and maybe one or two others (but not much more). There won’t be a firesale, partially because the Pens will want to keep some talent around to finish the season and partially because contenders are not going to be that interested in what Pittsburgh has to sell. The return for Pettersson won’t thrill but won’t be terrible.
One of Ryan Graves or Tristan Jarry will be moved this summer
Kyle Dubas will look to undo a self-inflicted mistake and clear out a bad player/bad contract this summer. He won’t be able to work miracles and get rid of both, but he will flip one under-performing and over-paid veteran for a similarly bad contract in the off-season. It will be met with some relief in the long-term.
Erik Karlsson stays…for now
The Penguins will need players, and Karlsson’s $10.0 million existing cap hit won’t be easy to move. Pittsburgh won’t be that hard-pressed to make a bad deal that requires them to retain salary and/or acquire asset(s) lesser than what a 22 minute a night right handed defender who can score 50+ points in a season can offer as value on the ice, so they won’t make such a trade. Which means they’ll hold tight with Karlsson for a while longer yet. Karlsson won’t finish his contract (which lasts through 2026-27) in Pittsburgh, but he’ll spend of all 2025 in the Steel City.
No exciting trades or free agent signings..
Much like in 2024, the Penguins won’t be looking at the top free agents available. Besides entry level contracts they will not sign anyone for three or more seasons and not attempt to significantly upgrade their roster through free agency. Nor will there be any exciting trades ahead, unless dealing Pettersson for a couple of futures does it for ya.
Which means don’t hold your breath for news of a Bryan Rust or Rickard Rakell trade in 2025, it’s not going to happen this year. The Pens still need somebody to play with Crosby, and those two have been productive and fit the bill to surround Crosby with legit NHL scoring line talent. Both Rust and Rakell are signed through 2027-2028, they’ll play most of the time remaining on those deals in Pittsburgh (even though, like Karlsson above, they won’t finish their contracts with the Pens – but the team will not be in a huge hurry to move them along either).
..But the youth revolution will begin
The Pens have been retooling in the last year, but have not really shifted into being a young team just quite yet. That’s mostly because they don’t have enough NHL caliber young pieces to fit the bill, but the slow process is about to show more progress. With Owen Pickering’s development that’s starting to change already, in the next 12 months it will only continue. Rutger McGroarty, Tristan Broz, Ville Koivunen, Joel Blomqvist and Vasily Ponomarev will all work towards being NHL regulars in the coming year. Harrison Brunicke will make his NHL debut. Veterans like Matt Nieto, Noel Acciari and Kevin Hayes will fade away through one mechanism (free agency, trade, IR) or another.
The changes and turnover won’t happen overnight. Veterans like Crosby, Karlsson, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang will inflate the team’s overall average age, but make no mistake that through the the median age of the player, the Penguins will certainly be trending towards youth as 2025 goes along.