Penguins need to ‘execute our butts off’: Kyle Dubas sets expectations for long road back

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CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — There is a lot of work to do before the Pittsburgh Penguins will again contend for the Stanley Cup.

Kyle Dubas didn’t say those exact words Monday, but the team’s hockey president/general manager didn’t paint a rosy picture of the franchise he’s overseen for the past two seasons. When speaking to local media for over 33 minutes at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, Dubas detailed challenges facing the Penguins, who have missed out on the Stanley Cup playoffs for three consecutive seasons after a salary-cap-era-defining 16 straight appearances that produced three championships.

“If you look at the history of these things, to go from where we’re at now to go all the way back to being in legitimate contention, and I don’t equate just being in the playoffs with being a contender … those two things are not the same,” Dubas said.

“I think if you asked the fan base, the folks in this room that followed the team long enough, if the decisions were made to get the team back into the playoffs next year or make the moves necessary to contend in the long run, in a the way the fan base is used to, they’d probably choose the latter.

“We just have to stick to a very concise plan and execute our butts off.”

That was a long way of pouring cold water on any outsized expectations from the Penguins, who went 10-6-2 after the NHL trade deadline and received a boost from prospects such as Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen.

Dubas conceded the next potentially great Penguins team will need more than those young forwards, not to mention a couple of promising defensemen in Harrison Brunicke and Owen Pickering, and goalies Sergei Murashov and Joel Blomqvist. Though the system is no longer barren, it’s also not overflowing with prospects projected to develop into consistent game-changers. A collection of 18 picks in the first three rounds of the next three NHL Drafts might provide prospects with higher ceilings, but Dubas strongly hinted that a player ready to make a big mark in the next couple of seasons will probably only come if some of those picks are packaged to acquire another team’s talent.

A big-ticket signing in free agency this summer, when the Penguins are projected to have around $23 million in cap space, isn’t likely, either.

Getting younger — and getting contributions from younger players while they’re on entry-level or less-expensive second contracts — is only one of the tasks at hand, Dubas said.

The other is correcting some problems with the current roster, and he didn’t pull punches about what is needed to maximize captain Sidney Crosby’s late-career excellence. Dubas made the following points:

• Evgeni Malkin, entering the final season of his contract, would benefit from regular wingers, even though he spent this past season, and much of his career, with a rotating cast. Though coach Mike Sullivan will make the call, Dubas envisioned Malkin working with veterans Rickard Rakell and Thomas Novak in training camp.

• Dubas said he did not anticipate making changes to the coaching staff. He called Sullivan “a proven elite-level coach” and said as long as Sullivan is on board with the Penguins’ current situation, he wants Sullivan as their coach.

• When speaking with veteran goalies Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic on Friday, Dubas said the message was “they’re going to be competing for their spots in camp.” He anticipated a “robust competition,” but also referred to a need to continue developing Murashov and Blomqvist. The messaging on individual goalies was mixed, but Dubas also noted the Penguins “allowed more goals than expected, too” when pressed about the team’s penchant for surrendering quality scoring chances. Overall, Dubas described the goalie position as “having good depth.”

• The forwards are a team strength, but Dubas said it’s fair to expect McGroarty, Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev and Tristan Broz — the latter a prospect who was not promoted this season — to push for spots on the NHL roster in training camp. If any corresponding roster moves with veterans are required, Dubas said he favored sending those players to the AHL rather than using one of three buyouts available to the Penguins as of July 1.

• Regarding buyouts: Dubas said he is not opposed to them as a hard rule. Rather than buyouts of current veterans with term remaining, Dubas said equal cap relief would come from placing those players on waivers and, if they’re not claimed, assigning them to the AHL, “like we did with Tristan.”

• Rakell and Bryan Rust, whose full no-movement clause is expiring, remain part of the plans for next season. Dubas didn’t say that neither would be traded, but he stressed — and not for the first time — that he views those wingers as part of the solution.

• “Everybody always wants to come back,” Dubas said, smiling, when asked about players who expressed on Friday a desire to remain with the Penguins. One such player, Matt Grzelcyk, is on an expiring contract. Dubas didn’t rule out re-signing Grzelcyk, who at one point assumed quarterback duties on the Penguins’ top power-play unit. Still, he referred to the one-season arrangement that emerged as one that “worked out well for both sides,” and noted Grzelcyk signed with the Penguins last offseason to reset his NHL career.

• Dubas spoke of the defense corps most harshly.

“The defense group is an area of major concern,” Dubas said. “We’ve got a few guys, in terms of prospects, that have good potential … but it’s an area of major concern for us, and one we need to focus on to return our team to contention.”

Neither of the defense corps’ two most prominent members — Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson — stood out for positive reasons. Each will be at least 35 years old next season, both are signed for multiple seasons with contractual clauses that provide significant barriers to any potential trade.

Letang had surgery to repair a small hole in his heart at the end of this season, though a full recovery is expected. Karlsson, who missed most of training camp with an injury sustained late during offseason training, admitted on Friday that his two seasons with the Penguins had been disappointing, even if he has enjoyed his time with the organization and in Pittsburgh.

Acquiring Karlsson was the buzziest move of Dubas’ first offseason. It was part of a one-off attempt to keep open a window for Cup contention.

Karlsson also said on Friday he was frustrated over the Penguins’ final 15 games because he signed off on a trade to the Penguins in August 2023 to chase the Cup, which he’s never won.

“Erik is and will forever be a polarizing figure,” Dubas said. “My view would be we expect him to be one of the people who pulls us from where we’re at into contention. I had a long meeting with him on Friday; my push would be his actions have to match his ambitions — that’s in consistency, preparation and training, like every other player on the team.

“He showed throughout the year that he has another level to him. At times playing for us, certainly for Sweden playing at the 4 Nations Face-Off, he was a player that you would watch and say this guy can help any team not only contend but probably win. … We have to push him to admit that’s the expectation dictated by his talent level and the impact he can make. And it’s a joint venture.”

• There is no more significant joint venture for the Penguins than theirs with Crosby. His two-season extension begins on July 1, but the contract is structured to pay him the supermajority of money before playing a game in year two.

Deals with similar structures are easier to trade, though Crosby has said he has no desire to play for another franchise.

• Crosby skated at the Penguins’ practice facility on Monday, working out with players who finished the season injured. He has not ruled out playing for Canada at the upcoming IIHF World Championships. He’s likely maintaining his in-season on-ice routine to leave open that possibility.

Crosby has been on the winning side of a postseason handshake line only once since 2018. He had missed the playoffs only once before the past three seasons.

“Sid is going to want to win every single things he does,” Dubas said. “Until we are back to contending to win the Stanley Cup, I expect him to be grumpy and I expect him to express the toll that he can explain to everybody in this room.

“That’s who he is. That’s what makes him able to do the things he does.”

(Photo: Chase Agnello-Dean / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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