Dubas: Penguins can't rely on core to set the bar anymore
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For the first time in the Sidney Crosby era, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been one of the worst teams in the National Hockey League.
The Penguins hold the second-worst record in the Eastern Conference at 26-31-10, and appear to be well on their way to missing the Stanley Cup playoffs for the third consecutive season.
While most teams would be on their way to a rebuild in these circumstances, team president and general manager Kyle Dubas is exploring ways to retool the roster while the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang are still capable of contributing on a contending team.
While appearing on The Ray & Dregs Hockey Podcast on Thursday, Dubas shed light on his plans to help guide the Penguins back to success with Crosby and co. still on the roster.
“I think the key thing for us is just, very simply, we’re obviously in a time of transition,” said Dubas. “I knew that when I came in here that we would be going through this. There’s obviously a standard that’s set here, as you guys know, by the key core guys that have helped lead the team to two or three Stanley Cups, depending on how long they’ve been here.
“Those guys have set the bar and what we’re really looking for is that we can’t just rely on them to continue to do that, especially as they continue to…they’re defying aging to some extent, especially in Sid’s case to a large extent. But we need to know which guys are going to be able to help to lead us through to the next stage and help build the team back into a contender.”
Crosby and Letang will both be entering their age-38 season at the start of the 2025-26 campaign, while Malkin will turn 39 this summer.
The trio led the Penguins to 16 consecutive postseason appearances from 2006-2022, including three Stanley Cup wins coming in 2009, 2016, and 2017.
Since Dubas joined the team following his departure from the Toronto Maple Leafs, the Penguins have played to a 64-63-22 record through 149 games and are mired in their longest playoff drought since the 2005-06 season, back when Crosby was a rookie.
Pittsburgh is currently eight points outside of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with just 15 games remaining.
“We’ll learn a lot about the rest of the guys,” Dubas shared. “Whether they’re younger or they’re pending free agents or what have you, and whether they do, in this stretch, what’s going to be needed and give us the belief that they can help to preserve and to really stimulate the standards and culture of the Penguins to lead us to be a contender again.”
Dubas has positioned his team to have 30 draft picks over the next three seasons, including four first-round selections and 17 picks inside the first three rounds.
The 39-year-old executive will look to get creative in how he can supplement his current core without committing to a full rebuild.
“I think the key for us, in the plainest form, we’re using the picks to acquire good players that can help the team,” he said. “With draft picks, No.1 is drafting and developing good players, but also, with that many picks, I think it also positions us in a spot where if teams are… for whatever reason that it happens, teams sour on guys, guys sour on their situation with the current team. There’s contract issues, there’s cap issues. We’ve tried to position ourselves in a spot where we can, between young players, roster players, draft picks, and get involved in all of those conversations.
"It’s just really to try give us as many options as possible. Any chance we have to acquire younger players, whether it’s in the draft or via trade or restricted free agents, we’ll use that and continue to position ourselves as best we can to take advantage.”