PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – It’s not that the Pens didn’t want to be in play for a major trade before or during the draft, but general manager Kyle Dubas seemed pretty upfront as to why.
“We haven’t had the assets to get there,” Dubas said.
Pens management saw a couple of big moves, but the teams gave up a fourth overall and ninth overall pick. The Pens didn’t draft until pick 22, that, and the lack of young talent available to move, kept them from grabbing a mid-to-late 20-year-old established player.
“I think we found in this last stretch that teams want the exact guys that we are looking for in exchange in those deals,” Dubas said. “It’s players in that group that we lack.”
Dubas said they continue to ‘work away at it’ and ‘aspire’ to be in all of those trade conversations, but being a surprise playoff team kept them from having a top 10 draft pick as an asset.
“I don’t think we would change that whatsoever because of the way it was fueled by the development of Kindel, Lizotte, Dewer, Wotherspoon, who are going to be a part of this for a long time,” Dubas explained. “We’ve got Arturs Silovs in net with Sergei (Murashov) and Joel (Blomqvist) pushing.”
So instead of the hoped major trade, what Dubas said of his desire to get that established player in the start of, or prime of his career, it might be something that will take more time without splash.
“We will continue to stay active,” Dubas said. “It’s a shifting landscape. It may not be the gigantic-type transaction. We try to stay active on those, but it might more of a brick-by-boring-brick style.”
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Barring some strange turn or a massive win in a trade, don’t look for a shocking addition to the Pens roster for 2026-27. Dubas is well aware it’s an issue. He obviously has a near handful of future Hall of Fame veterans and believes he has the beginning of a young base, but no one really entering the prime of their careers who is an impact player. The players from the 2026 draft class are likely a few years away from contributing.
Free agency is not going to be the conduit to find that level of addition.
“We could be aggressive as we want on July 1st but if you look at what’s available, it could be an expensive mistake,” Dubas said. “I try to learn from the past, we will try to steer clear of that.”
You will likely continue to see the Pens pull trades for players needing a change of scenery like adding forward Hendrix Lapierre from Washington for a third and fifth-round pick or the Egor Chinakhov trade with Columbus. The latter provided some early positive returns.
“We would love to have it done already, but it might be something that’s later in the summer, or in the year, or next summer, but we will stay after it, for sure,” Dubas said.
Kyle Dubas said it’s likely to be a brick-by-brick approach
Kyle Dubas said it’s likely to be a brick-by-brick approach
