Kyle Dubas Could Strike for Future NHL Star as Lightning Fumble Top Prospect

The Pittsburgh Penguins are loaded up with both salary cap space and draft picks heading into the summer of 2025, and there are plenty of options for them in free agency, the offer sheet market and the trade market.

Now, they've been encouraged to go after Isaac Howard, a former first-round pick of the Tampa Bay Lightning, who was expected to join the team this year, but after revealing he'll return to Michigan State next season, it's expected that he'll be traded.

The 21-year old is a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award this year after posting an impressive 26 goals and 52 points in 37 games played for the Spartans, and given his solid size and his skill set, he's shaping up as a potential star of the future in the NHL.

While Howard can hit free agency next summer, there is expected to be plenty of interest in him on the trade market, and after adding young star Rutger McGroarty last summer, this could be a great move for Dubas to make over the summer.

It's unclear exactly what it would cost Pittsburgh to make a deal happen, but with the team looking to build for the future as well as make a potential contender around superstar captain Sidney Crosby, if they could find a way to land the stud 21-year old, it's a no-brainer move to make for the Penguins.