- Dan Kingerski says the Penguins are no longer a top destination for trades or free agents
- Dylan Larkin leaving Pittsburgh off his shortlist is the clearest sign of the shift
- Read below for what Kingerski says has to change before stars want in again
Pittsburgh used to sell itself.
A reader asked Penguins reporter Dan Kingerski whether the team is still a place big trade targets and free agents want to land. His answer in Monday’s Pittsburgh Hockey Now mailbag did not leave much wiggle room.
“No, the Penguins are not a top destination right now, and the answers are simple, though probably not what you want to hear.”
Taxes get blamed for a lot of this stuff around the league. Kingerski put Pennsylvania right in the middle of the pack on that front, which makes it a footnote rather than the problem.
The standings are the problem.
“Nor are the Penguins a Stanley Cup contender. They’re rebuilding, and until they are clearly and undeniably on the upswing, top players will choose other situations.”
Dylan Larkin is the example everyone in Pittsburgh keeps circling back to. The Red Wings captain asked out this spring and named Minnesota, Vegas and Florida as the places he wanted to go, and that list still has not budged. Pittsburgh was never on it.
“Not being on Dylan Larkin’s shortlist or hearing other players pine to play in Pittsburgh as they did in years past has nothing to do with facilities, coaching, fans, or geography, but everything to do with their current station.”
Kyle Dubas has run into the same wall from the other direction. Minutes after the first round of the June draft, the general manager described a market that had priced him out.
“In the range of some of the guys that have been moved, in past years, they haven’t gone for that level of asset, right? There were multiple top 10 picks moved, which isn’t overly common. So, for us, we would aspire to be involved in every one of those conversations.”
Take a look at the full media availability from that night:
What Dubas has actually done this summer is smaller. He handed Tommy Novak a three-year extension that runs through 2029-30, a cheap deal on a 42-point center that split the fan base rather than energizing it.
Erik Karlsson is the one obvious August chip, and Kingerski said there have been no whispers about a deal all summer.
Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang are all still here, and the rest of the league reads Pittsburgh as a team stuck between two eras. Kingerski argued the Penguins have to point the roster forward after this season and show players around the league they mean it.
Until that happens, the guys with control over where they go will keep picking somewhere else.
