Big Trades Coming For Penguins Who Are Fully Committed To A Rebuild

Rickard Rakell & Bryan rust, Pittsburgh Penguins

The Pittsburgh Penguins have been on a downward spiral the last couple of years despite the contributions from the core. The oldest players - Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, almost at the end of their careers. It makes sense for a team like this to head towards a rebuild and build back up correctly so they have long-term success down the line, but with the many dominant years these players have put into the team and how much contributions they still have , many find it tough to see the Penguins still diving into a rebuild while they're still around.

That hasn't stopped a trade like the one that sent Jake Guentzel to the Carolina Hurricanes or the ones that are sure to come involving Erik Karlsson, Rickard Rakell, or Bryan Rust. While the team has already gotten younger and looking towards the future, any of those players being dealt all but solidifies a rebuild is in full swing.

According to Josh Yohe, "a big trade or two feels likely before training camp. Dubas hasn't received offers that meet his liking yet, but he is fully committed to a rebuild."

This is why the Penguins brought in Dubas. It wasn't to appease the core, it was a young mind that knows drafting, prospects, and analytics to build the future of this team and find good value in prospects or young players that are coming back in bigger trades. The team already has players like Rutger McGroarty, Arturs Silovs, Connor Dewar, Filip Tomasino, Valtteri Puustinen, Ville Koivunen, Samuel Poulin, Filip Hallander, Owen Pickering, Jack St. Ivany, Alexander Alexeyev, Joel Blomqvist, and unsigned first-round picks from this year with Benjamin Kindel, Bill Zonnon, and William Horcoff.

It is a bit of an older prospect pool and some may not even be considered prospects anymore, but the Penguins used to be one of the oldest teams in the league and that has caught up to them after a couple of Stanley Cups nearly a decade ago. I expect that if a trade or two is made before the season starts, Karlsson, Rakell, Rust, or Tristan Jarry are involved.