Top Prospect Cruz Lucius Won't Sign With Penguins; Will Become Free Agent

Wisconsin's Cruz Lucius celebrates goal during 2025 game.

The Pittsburgh Penguins won't be getting one of the more intriguing collegiate forwards available this summer.

Cruz Lucius, whose signing rights were acquired as part of the Jake Guentzel trade with the Carolina Hurricanes, has informed the Penguins that he won't be signing his entry-level contract with the organization.

Dubas confirmed the news on the GM Show podcast Thursday, saying that Lucius and his representatives at Newport Sports made the decision shortly after the trade deadline.

"They informed us that he was not going to be signing in Pittsburgh for a few reasons that's up to him to share," Dubas said. "It's a personal thing for him. We felt we had a great opportunity for him, and the proof is in the pudding on the development side. But players are entitled to make their decision, and I don't think we're at the position here anymore where we have to beg people to come."

Lucius becomes eligible to sign as an unrestricted collegiate free agent on August 15, and he should have no shortage of suitors.

He's the Penguins' fifth-ranked prospect.

Cruz Lucius Career Stats

Lucius, 21, just completed his best collegiate season by a considerable margin.

After transferring from Wisconsin to Arizona State and dealing with injuries that limited him to two goals and 10 points in 19 games in his junior year, he came back healthy and put together a genuinely impressive senior campaign, with 15 goals and 46 points in 36 games, finishing 11th in the nation in scoring and just one point behind James Hagens of Boston College.

Before the injury-plagued junior year, Lucius had been remarkably consistent at Wisconsin, scoring 11 goals and 34 points in 34 games as a freshman and nearly replicating that line as a sophomore.

Cruz Lucius is refusing to sign his ELC with Pittsburgh, they can trade his rights between now and Aug 15th to a team he is willing to sign his ELC with

Or he becomes a UFA on Aug 15th

Pretty solid college producer most of his college career - don’t know how high his NHL…
— NYR Louie ™️ (@NYRLouie) April 2, 2026

Over four collegiate seasons, he's shown legitimate offensive instincts and impressive playmaking ability. The Hurricanes originally took him in the fourth round at 124th overall in 2022, and his rights ended up in Pittsburgh as part of the return for Guentzel.

Why Lucius Is Looking Elsewhere

The Penguins have spent the last several months adding veterans at forward, like Justin Brazeau, Anthony Mantha, Connor Dewar, Elmer Soderblom, Egor Chinakhov, while younger prospects like Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz, and Avery Hayes have struggled to find permanent NHL footholds and cycled between Pittsburgh and Wilkes-Barre.

For a 21-year-old who just put up 46 points as a college senior and wants to get to the NHL as fast as possible, that's a crowded group to navigate.

I am very curious as to why Cruz Lucius does not want to sign with the Penguins. Dubas wouldn't say why on the GM show, he just said that it is up to Lucius to divulge.
— Matt Meagher (@Flux_cc) April 2, 2026