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New Trade Market Update Out of Pittsburgh Raises Questions About Kyle Dubas' Plan
Photo credit: DK Pittsburgh Sports
New questions are arising after Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas failed to trade any one of Rickard Rakell, Bryan Rust, and Erik Karlsson during the summer.
Right now, it looks like the Pittsburgh Penguins are going to go into the new season with Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, and Bryan Rust all still on the team despite multiple reports that GM Kyle Dubas was trying to trade them.
Despite his efforts, it appears as though Dubas was never able to find a trade partner for any of the aforementioned 3 players.
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If the goal of Dubas was to lower the collective age of the Penguins and to even maximize their chances of getting the 1st overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft Lottery, it stands to reason that his asking prices for any one of Karlsson, Rust and Rakell may have been too high.
There are plenty of teams who would love to add a key offensive piece like Rust and Rakell to their team, while there still are other teams who wouldn't say no to acquiring Karlsson if Pittsburgh were to retain a portion of his hefty $11.5 million AAV (average annual value).
Per team analyst John Yohe of The Athletic, Dubas could be content to begin the new season with all of them still on the roster.
Team sources told me he's content to enter the NHL season with the roster as constructed. But that doesn't mean he won't be trying to make a deal or two. I'm somewhat surprised we've reached September with Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell still on this roster. I believed Karlsson had the greatest chance to move this summer, and while I still feel that way, he's also the most difficult of the three to trade.
The Penguins are more talented with Rust, Rakell and Karlsson on the roster, which will almost guarantee that they won't have any realistic chance of finishing with poor enough a record to maximize their chances at the 1st overall pick.
This understandably leaves many Penguins confused as to exactly which direction the franchise is going in.
| POLL | ||
SEPTEMBRE 8 | 40 ANSWERS New Trade Market Update Out of Pittsburgh Raises Questions About Kyle Dubas' Plan Which Penguins player is the most likely to be traded 1st? | ||
| Bryan Rust | 6 | 15 % |
| Rickard Rakell | 3 | 7.5 % |
| Erik Karlsson | 31 | 77.5 % |
| List of polls | ||