Penguins’ new trade plan implicates Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas may have made up his mind that his team will not be buyers at the March 8 trade deadline. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, Dubas is not looking to trade top draft picks and his best prospects from that limited pool for a short-term solutions.

The new plan now is to focus on rebuilding some of its assets and improve the roster for the next seasons, liking all possible trade moves to the futures of captain Sidney Crosby and star forward Evgeni Malkin, and you could even add in there defenseman Kris Letang. They are basically in control at this point. Here is how Friedman explained it:

“I don’t think they’re going to be buyers… Pittsburgh is not going to be trading first rounders or second rounders or their best prospects for short-term fixes. I think this is a team that realizes it needs to rebuild some of its capital.”

“…I think they’ll try to do a “soft rebuild”, strengthen up over the next 2 or 3 years and see what they can do and we’ll see what that means for some of their star players.”

Rumours have grown that Dubas could pull the trigger on a Jake Guentzel trade that would get him an exceptional return for the near future. There is a sense that Guentzel, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, could fetch a draft pick, a prospect, and an NHL-ready player on the market. Rob Rossi of the Athletic noted that moving Guentzel could be exactly what the Penguins need to do to allow Crosby another push at the Stanley Cup before considering retirement.

“The Penguins need youth and depth, picks and prospects,” Rossi writes. “Guentzel can probably command all three if Dubas creates a market for him. The guess here is he will.”

Guenztel has been tremendous for Pittsburgh, putting up 22 goals and 27 assists for 49 points in 46 games, just behind Crosby in points total on the team with 50.

If Guenztel gets traded in order to get some key assets around Crosby before entering a full rebuild in Pittsburgh, the time might be now, right before the trade deadline.

To be continued…

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