Penguins Roster Crunch Could Force Trade Before Opening Night
Pittsburgh currently has somewhere between 17 and 18 players who could reasonably play NHL minutes at forward, for a roster that realistically only has 13 spots to give.
The Penguins have re-signed restricted free agent forward Ville Koivunen to an eight-year contract.
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) August 6, 2026
Sidney Crosby, Bryan Rust, Rickard Rakell, Evgeni Malkin, Egor Chinakhov, Ben Kindel, Tommy Novak, Andrei Kuzmenko, and Nick Robertson look like the safe locks, but that still leaves a crowd of legitimate NHL-caliber players, including newly signed Ville Koivunen, fighting over just a handful of remaining jobs.
Why This Isn't A Simple Roster Problem
Assistant GM Jason Spezza addressed the situation at the end of camp, making clear the opening-night roster isn't going to be the final answer.
"We know we want to inject youth into the lineup. We know we have to," Spezza said. That's a real indication that Pittsburgh's plan involves more roster churn throughout the season rather than settling everything in the next few weeks.
Assistant GM Jason Spezza with some injury updates on several players. @snp pic.twitter.com/kAspENi0kF
— Dan Potash (@DanPotashTV) September 17, 2026
The forward glut is only half the equation.
The Penguins also need a left-shot defenseman, and the group they have competing for those jobs, names like Ryan Graves, Owen Pickering, and Harrison Brunicke among others, hasn't produced anyone who's held down a consistent NHL role yet.
Why A Trade Makes More Sense Than Waivers
Losing a legit NHL forward to another team for nothing on waivers would be a real inefficiency for a team that's spent years building out its forward depth.
Turning some of that surplus into a defenseman instead, even a depth piece, would let Pittsburgh address its actual weakness rather than simply cutting talent loose.
