Despite being talked about as draft lottery fodder before the season, for the first time since 2022 the Pittsburgh Penguins will be participating in the Stanley Cup Playoffs. The Penguins locked up their playoff ticket with a 5-2 victory over the New Jersey Devils on Thursday night. Not only did the Penguins lock up a playoff spot, they will be hosting their unknown opponent in round one.
This has been a remarkable season considering where the franchise has been the past few years. Sidney Crosby’s point per game streak was pretty much the only intriguing story line last year. Heading into this season there were no expectations for the team. Penguins fans had to tolerate a ton of Canadian media horny for a Sidney Crosby trade and how he would never make the playoffs again in Pittsburgh.
Well, here we are. The Penguins are hosting round 1 and this year’s Penguins team has already scored more goals in the regular season than any other Crosby/Malkin era team.
Everybody is a contributor. The stars are playing like stars and all the player additions have thrived under Dan Muse. You couldn’t have asked for a more entertaining and fun product given where things were.
So how did we get here?
Dubas weaponized cap space
The incredible turnaround the Penguins have made can be traced back to the guy who calls the shots in Pittsburgh now, Kyle Dubas. His early work in Pittsburgh was spotty and deserved criticism. Things like signing Ryan Graves and Tristan Jarry to the contracts he did. It tied up valuable cap space and didn’t allow any wiggle room with the roster. The result was top heavy rosters with players in their mid to late thirties. The hockey wasn’t good to watch and the on-ice results weren’t any better.
However, after Dubas’ focus shifting from a total win now approach and shifted to building out the future. He has been one of the best, if not the best, GM’s in the league.
The turning point for this approach was when Dubas decided to trade away Jake Guentzel. Teams trying to win at all costs don’t trade away players like Jake Guentzel (who has 78 goals in 159 games with Tampa Bay).
The book is out on the Guentzel trade. Pittsburgh drafted promising defenseman Harrison Brunicke with the draft pick from the trade. They also acquired Ville Koivunen who seems to be stuck in a rut developmentally, but does possess good vision and puck skills.
Part of the change in philosophy allowed for Dubas to start weaponizing cap space. He started taking less than desirable players/contracts for draft capital. It started with receiving a 2nd round pick from St. Louis for Kevin Hayes.
It continued when he took Matt Dumba off the Dallas Stars for another second round pick.
The latest example is the glorious Tristan Jarry trade where he acquired a marginally better goalie in Stuart Skinner, but also received a 2nd round pick and Brett Kulak. Dubas has taken advantage of cap strapped teams to build up the stock of futures while not doing anything to damage the short or long term abilities of the team.
Dubas further improved the Jarry trade when he flipped Kulak to Colorado for Sam Girard and yes, another 2nd round pick. Girard took some time to acclimate himself in Pittsburgh, but he and Letang have started to play much better together in recent games.
So not only has Dubas improved the short term roster in these trades, he is also hoarding draft picks because of the salary cap leverage he has over other desperate general managers.
Free agent finds
Kyle Dubas hasn’t hit a home run on all of his UFA signings. I already mentioned Graves and Jarry. Those misses are in the rear view mirror because he has been terrific as of late.
The most notable free agent signing has been Anthony Mantha. Coming off of a major knee injury his stock was down, thus being willing to sign a one-year deal for 2.5M. This was an excellent signing because if it didn’t work out, who cares, it is only a one-year deal. If it worked out and the team was bad then you can trade him at the deadline. If it works out and the team is good, well you have what has actually happened this year.
Mantha has hit career highs in both goals (31) and points (61) with three games left in the regular season. He has been an integral part of the team’s ability to generate goals throughout the lineup. Mantha has the ability to jump up and down the lineup and give the team good power play minutes. Without Mantha the Penguins wouldn’t have done what they did this year.
Justin Brazeau has also hit career highs in both goals (17) and points (34). While Brazeau can’t climb the lineup quite like Mantha can he has provided a necessary output of depth offense this team has sorely lacked in recent memory.
They aren’t the only two putting up career best numbers, either
Blake Lizotte was a very important depth signing for the team. His speed and tenacity has been a real asset on the penalty kill. This much has been made clear in his absence. The penalty kill has tanked since his injury.
Overall, the results for Pittsburgh have been better when he has been available to play
Parker Wotherspoon has been a set it and forget it complementary defenseman for Erik Karlsson this year playing top pairing minutes. He is filling the kind of role Brian Dumoulin used to fill when playing with Kris Letang. This is one of those signings that slides through the cracks league wide, but has had a tremendous impact on the Penguins structure as a team.
Ryan Shea is another signing in this mold. He’s another guy who slots in every night and goes about his business in a way that isn’t highly noticeable (compliment), but there he is playing 19 effective minutes on a nightly basis. To get the minutes Shea and Wotherspoon have given the Penguins has allowed the forwards to do their thing and pile up the goals.
That is close to 30% of the active game day roster being free agent signings and all contributing in proper roles on the team. The total cap hit for these five players is 7.75M this year. Incredible value in a market that isn’t famously known for providing teams great value.
Wheeling and dealing
Kyle Dubas has made quite a number of quality trades for the Penguins since taking over the team. The most notable trade was obviously acquiring Erik Karlsson. He somehow pulled of the classic HF Boards trade where you trade all your bad players for their great player trade. Karlsson has been sublime in the 2025-26 season and the team rightfully awarded him MVP honors for this season.
This year Dubas orchestrated another franchise changing trade when he used some of the draft capital he has built up to send a 2nd and 3rd round pick to Columbus for Egor Chinakhov. The Chinakhov trade has been a best case scenario so far. Chinakhov has 18 goals and 36 points in 41 games with the Penguins. These are all career highs if you only use his Pittsburgh games this season. That works out to a 36 goal and 72 point pace.
Chinakhov has been absolutely dynamic since joining the team. His shot is electric and his engine is always going. He has blended his pure skill with a high workrate. Evgeni Malkin’s playmaking ability has unlocked Chinakhov’s potential by giving him even more time and space. This is the kind of trade that haunts a division rival and why teams hate trading within their division
Dubas made multiple trades with the Nashville Predators trying to hit on players who hadn’t unlocked their potential. He had a couple that didn’t quite pan out, like Philip Tomasino and Cody Glass. With Tommy Novak he nailed it. He shipped out Michael Bunting and a 4th round pick for Novak and Luke Schenn. Schenn lasted two days in Pittsburgh and Dubas got a 2nd and 4th round pick from Winnipeg. Novak has been very good for the Penguins. He has 16 goals and 41 points. He’s been very successful using his patience and hands to help facilitate for his linemates. He is very slick and is able to keep offensive possessions going
Elmer Soderblom is the latest dart throw by Dubas. He was acquired from the Detroit Red Wings for a 3rd round pick. For now, Soderblom is filling in nicely on the 4th line. He has started to combine his size with a healthy aggressiveness. If he can consistently bring the kind of pressure he has lately he can carve out a bottom six role with the team.
Bullseye in the draft
What might turn out to be Dubas’ best move in a season full of great decisions is drafting Ben Kindel at 11th overall. It was a bold selection and speaks to why Kindel was available at all that late in the round. He was a little undersized and didn’t fit in with many teams shifting towards drafting size again.
Kindel has been unbelievable as an 18 year old rookie for the team. In 76 games he has 17 goals and 34 points all while being incredibly responsible defensively. In fact, it was his defensive work in the preseason against Patrick Kane that sold Dan Muse on keeping him up with the team. He has given the Penguins quality third line minutes and it has been the best 3rd line center work since Nick Bonino was on the HBK line.
When Kindel builds his frame out he is going to be quite the force. He has all the skills you want in a player. His awareness and offensive instincts are top notch. His hands and shot are real strengths. He has a tremendous understanding of how to navigate time and space with the puck. When he graduates to a top six role and has top six wingers he is going to be a complete menace.
So when you go through all the work Dubas has put in, it makes a lot of sense why the Penguins are where they are. He has transformed the roster on the go. I’m not really sure anybody could have done a better job considering the state this franchise found itself in not too long ago.
The Penguins deserve to be where they are and they are where they are because of the work their President of Hockey Operations has done.
After three years of disappointing hockey the Penguins are poised to make a little bit of noise in the spring, once again. Something that wasn’t guaranteed to happen with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang closing out their run with the team.
It has been a great regular season and now we get to experience the best time of the hockey calendar, playoff hockey.
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