We are in September with training camp around the corner. Alas, there haven’t been any notable trades for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Meanwhile, the team has not been sold to the Hoffmann family. I thought there may have been some action in August. Unfortunately, it wasn’t meant to be.
Team sale talks not at the finish line
Here are some updates on both situations courtesy of Josh Yohe of The Athletic:
I’ve spoken with many people within the organization, and the theme is pretty consistent: FSG is conducting business as usual, conducting quarterly meetings and continuing to spend money as it always has.
There have been talks between both sides. Currently, Fenways Sports Group has to continue on as if they are going to be the long term owners of the team. Meanwhile, it will be business as usual until a sale happens.
As for Mario Lemieux…
A group that includes Mario Lemieux, Ron Burkle and David Morehouse remains intrigued by the thought of purchasing the Penguins. However, the group almost certainly cannot match the asking price, which is believed to be between $1.7 billion and $1.8 billion.
No status change here. The Lemieux group sold low four years ago and now the group they sold to is going to likely double their money. Consequently, this doesn’t bode well for the Lemieux group to be in the proper neighborhood to buy the team.
There is also no indication that Lemieux is involved with the Hoffmann family. Conversely, if the Hoffmann family takes over, you’d have to imagine their first phone call will be to No. 66. It’s no secret that Lemieux has a very frosty relationship with FSG.
No player is more tied to a professional franchise than Mario Lemieux is to the Pittsburgh Penguins. Nobody has his career path. He, to me, is the best hockey player who has ever played, that alone would be enough to tie a player to the one professional team they played for. Additionally, fact he was a player/owner and saved the team from moving and secured their future and nobody can touch it.
That said, I don’t want the team to change their current path of operation. I don’t want Mario to come back and push for a compete now approach. I’m not even sure that is something he would do for sure. For better or worse the path Dubas has put the team on is the one they have to stay on. You can’t flip flop on major organizational directions and expect to break out of mediocrity or worse. I would love to see Mario back with the organization, as long as the long term planning stays the course.
On the Penguins trade front
There hasn’t been any movement with Karlsson, Rakell, or Rust. The speculation is that the team will enter the 2025-26 season with them on the roster.
Team sources told me he’s content to enter the NHL season with the roster as constructed. But that doesn’t mean he won’t be trying to make a deal or two.
September is a tough month to be striking major deals. Normally, most general managers focus in-house. There are a lot of internal roster decisions that need focus during training camp. Thus, it doesn’t make for a likely September trade. However, nothing is set in stone.
The Penguins should have plenty of cap space to eat some of Karlsson’s deal so I anticipate a decent trade market for him now that he only has this year and the next on his contract. Meanwhile, Karlsson should carry legit trade value with salary retention. As Josh says in his article by trading Karlsson you would open up a spot on the right side, potentially for Harrison Brunicke.
For now we will continue to wait.
