These five people will have a significant impact on the the Pittsburgh Penguins current process.
The Pittsburgh Penguins have missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season, and while the results over that stretch have been the same this season still feels different and an important switch for the franchise. Of those three seasons, and even going back to the previous four playoff seasons where they were eliminated in the opening round, this is the first time everything they did from a team-building a roster standpoint was done so with an eye toward the future.
They were trying to win a year ago.
They were definitely trying to win the year before that.
They were all-in committed in the previous four years.
This season? The same urgency was not there. The roster moves were not the same. The roster construction was different, and they were clearly looking for different returns in the trades they made. This is officially the first season of rebuilding for the Kyle Dubas Penguins.
While it remains to be seen how far they are going to take this and what their timeline actually is, it is pretty clear that the big picture is of greater importance than the short-term picture.
Now that the rebuild is here, I wanted to take a look at five of the most important people for the Penguins in that process.
1. Kyle Dubas
This should be the obvious name at the top because Dubas is the person whose vision is going to dictate what direction the Penguins take, how the team is built and whether or not this process is successful. It is a big job.
While there have been some head-scratching moves and decisions that have not worked out as hoped or expected at the NHL level, Dubas has done a strong job of positioning the Penguins for this process. They have more draft picks than any team in the NHL over the next three years, and a lot of them come in the first two rounds of those classes. Those picks will not only put his front office’s scouting and player development skills to the test, they will also put his asset management skills to the test as you have to imagine at least some of those draft picks will get traded (either for more picks, to move up, or for more immediate help).
He has added some high upside young players into the organization, has a significant amount of salary cap space to work with in the coming offseasons and still has a couple of trade chips he can play at any time (specifically with Rickard Rakell, and potentially Erik Karlsson).
He has the resources and the assets. Now it is on him to utilize them.
2. Sidney Crosby
I know he is 37 years old and is going to be 38 years old next season. He is closer to retirement than he is to his peak. That does not mean he will not play a big role in this process over the next few years.
He is still under contract for two more seasons, and it is worth wondering if he has anything beyond that contract. He very well might. As long as he plays for the Penguins, he IS the Penguins. He is the face of the franchise. He is the captain. He theoretically has the most power of any player in the organization. He can play a big role in helping to pass the torch from his era into the next era.
Along with that, he can play a pivotal role in the development of some of the team’s best young prospects, specifically forwards Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen.
It is only going to help those guys to have an opportunity to play next to one of the greatest players in NHL history, learn from him, and develop as NHL players as his teammate.
Whether it is as a linemate, or in practice, or just in the day-to-day process of being a professional, having a player and person like Crosby around for the early stages of this process is going to be invaluable.
You still need professionals that can set a standard. This is as good as you can get for that sort of leadership.
3. Mystery player(s) not yet in the organization
Yeah I know that is vague. Stick with me here for a minute.
The Penguins farm system has improved significantly over the course of the past year. When The Athletic’s Scott Wheeler ranked farm systems during the 2023-24 season the Penguins were about as bad as you could possibly get in those rankings. Just one calendar year later, they are up to No. 20 and have made a significant climb. They not only have legitimate NHL prospects, they have some depth to the system as well.
What the system is lacking is a true, top-tier, potentially franchise-changing STAR. A No. 1 center. An all-star winger. A No. 1 defender. Somebody that can step in and be a player you build the whole thing around for the next 10-15 seasons.
McGroarty and Koivunen look promising, and there is real reason to be excited about them. They could — perhaps should — be top-six scorers as soon as next season. But they are probably not going to be the focal point of a rebuild. They might be a significant part of the next core group, but expecting either of them to be a superstar is probably setting too high of a bar or expectation.
The Penguins have three first-round picks over the next two years, and there is a good chance they could be fairly high.
They already know they are going to have a top-10 pick this season. As of Monday, they have a 6 percent chance at the No. 1 overall pick.
They might have another lottery pick next season.
They also have that New York Rangers draft pick in one of the next two years. The Rangers can protect it if it is in the top-13 this season. That pick is currently 10th. Would the Rangers choose to protect it and make a top-10 pick? Or would they send it to the Penguins in the hopes of keeping a potential Gavin McKenna pick next year? Do the Rangers have enough belief in themselves to fix their issues and assume they are going to be picking in the 20s next season?
Either way, I kind of like those options for the Penguins. They either get a second top-10 selection this season and the opportunities that creates, or they get another pick next season that could be another lottery selection in a draft with a true franchise changing talent at the top (not to mention a deeper class in general).
Heck, maybe Chris Drury (or whoever is general managing the Rangers this offseason) should be on this list.
However it ends up playing out, those picks are likely to jump to the top of their prospect rankings. The development of them will be huge.
4. Sergei Murashov
Not to put too much pressure on a goalie who just turned 21-years old that has played 40 games of pro hockey in North America, but this could be a player that can rapidly change the short-term and long-term outlook of the franchise.
Goalies can — and do — change everything for a hockey team. Great ones turn bad teams into fringe playoff teams, fringe playoff teams into solid playoff teams, solid playoff teams into contenders, and contenders into champions. Bad ones have the exact opposite impact. Remember what I said up above about the Penguins lacking somebody that could be a franchise cornerstone? If things go right with Murashov, he actually could be the sort of player. The only problem is projecting goalie development is a hopeless endeavor that will likely just end in frustration.
He is a wild card. He is an exciting wild card. He is a potentially franchise-changing wild card.
5. Rutger McGroarty
There were a lot of different people I considered in this spot.
Mike Sullivan? He is the head coach, and as long as he has that job he will play a big role in developing these young players. But even though there is little sign of him being fired anytime soon, I still think there is a good chance somebody else takes over that role in the not-too-distant future. Maybe the Penguins fire him. Maybe he steps down to take another job or just to take a break.
I thought about putting Rickard Rakell in this spot just because he is the best trade chip Dubas has, and is also still a really good player that could still have a long-term future here. But that seems like a reach.
Koivunen will play a big role in making or breaking the return for Jake Guentzel, but there are a lot of parts to that deal. He is an exciting prospect, and like I said above, I love his short-term and long-term potential. He is a very important player in this. He might be the No. 6 person on this list.
Just ahead of him, though, is McGroarty. Not only because he is the best prospect in the system at the moment, not only because he has big potential and upside as a top-six power forward, but also because of how he was acquired.
It was a one-for-one prospect swap involving Brayden Yager, the player that had previously been the Penguins top prospect and the first pick that Dubas made with the Penguins.
As long as those two are playing professional hockey there is going to be a desire to compare their progress and development.
This season, Yager had another strong year in the WHL, but given his age and the level of competition that should have been an expectation. His numbers also regressed somewhat from a year ago.
McGroarty spent the year making the jump from the NCAA to pro hockey, and steadily improved all year. He got off to a slow start in terms of results, but they eventually started to get there. It will be exciting to see what he can do over a full season next to Crosby.