Avalanche Emerge as Top Destination for Penguins Veteran Following Rantanen's Game 7 Statement

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been receiving significant interest in their top veterans this off-season, and according to recent reports, Kyle Dubas is ready to make some big moves before the summer comes to an end.

The most likely option for the Penguins is to move out one, if not both of Rickard Rakell and Bryan Rust, both of whom have drawn interest on the trade market, although a deal hasn't been close this off-season.

Now, Sonny Sachdeva of Sportsnet has looked into the two veterans, putting together a list of five teams that could and should be interested in them, with the most intriguing of all being the Colorado Avalanche, a team still looking to replace Mikko Rantanen after his Game 7 heroics broke the hearts of the team in the post-season.

According to the list, both Rakell and Rust would be perfect fits for the Avalanche after moving on from Miles Wood and Charlie Coyle this off-season, with the team needing that one proven star in their top-six to round things out.

It's unclear at this point if Colorado are one of the teams that have been in contact with Dubas and the Penguins, and while most like to link captain Sidney Crosby to the Avalanche, Rust and/or Rakell make way more sense for the team looking to contend for a Stanley Cup in 2025/26.

There were other teams on Sportsnet's list that could potentially be interested in Rakell or Rust, and right now, there's a chance that one of Kyle Dubas' upcoming big moves could be moving them, but of all those teams, Colorado appear to be a very intriguing spot for the Penguins to look at.