Kyle Dubas Praised by Analysts for Refusing to Sign One Specific Player

2025 NHL free agency is now a few days old, and in the first few days, we saw a flurry of moves made, with the Pittsburgh Penguins involved perhaps a little more than initially expected heading into the off-season.

The team added Anthony Mantha on a one-year deal, with the team likely to flip him at the trade deadline if he stays healthy, while also signing the likes of Parker Wotherspoon and Rafael-Harvey Pinard.

However, in their latest piece, The Hockey Writers have instead praised Pittsburgh for the moves that they didn't make, most notably Cody Ceci, who was signed to a four-year deal with the Kings worth $4.5 million per season.

Sure, the Penguins need depth on their blue line with Kris Letang getting older and Erik Karlsson potentially on the trade block, but at that price, there's no one else in the NHL that would be giving out that money than Ken Holland.

Simply put, Ceci is not a great hockey player at the NHL level, and if Pittsburgh could have added him for what many believe his value was, it would have been a solid veteran pickup, but for Dubas to hold off once this money was offered by LA, it was a great move.

Ultimately, at that price, it likely wasn't difficult for Dubas, Dan Muse and the Penguins staff to avoid the Ceci deal, but with the team looking to add on the blue line, they deserve credit for not pushing harder to land the veteran depth blue liner.