Two penguins 'good as gone' after team's poor start.

The Pittsburgh Penguins may soon be moving on from two of the veteran players on their roster, in large part thanks to the organization's poor start to the season.

The Penguins currently sit dead last in the National Hockey League's Metropolitan Division, in spite of playing more games than all but 1 team in that division, and boast a -28 goal different on top of that. To say it has been a horrible start to the season may be an understatement and as a result general manager Kyle Dubas is expected to make some significant changes.

We've already seen veteran forward Lars Eller moved this season, Eller was sent to the Washington Capitals in exchange for a third round pick at the 2027 NHL Entry Draft and a fifth round pick at 2025 NHL Entry Draft, and according to one Penguins insider there are two more players who will soon be on their way out.

In a recent article for The Athletic, Penguins insider Josh Yohe indicated that both forward Rickard Rakell and defenseman Marcus Pettersson are "as good as gone" with Yohe predicting that both men will soon be playing for different teams.

Pettersson is currently in the final year of a 5 year deal that carries an average annual value and cap hit of just over $4 million per season and as a player on an expiring contract he makes a great deal of sense as a potential trade target. Pettersson's name has already come up a few times in trade rumors this season which suggests he does have some value to other teams around the NHL and as a result Yohe believes he could fetch as much as a second round pick.

Rakell will be trickier to move as a player in just the 3rd year of a 6 year contract that carries a significant cap hit of $5 million per season. The former first round pick is coming off a season that saw him put up just 37 points over 70 games last year, but has been producing at a much better rate this season despite the Penguins struggles. Rackell has 10 goals and 5 assists for a total of 15 points over the first 26 games of the season, but whether or not that will be enough to convince teams to trade for a 31 year old with 3 more years at a sizeable number remaining on his contract remains to be seen. I have no trouble believing Dubas would like to move on from Rakell, but I'm less convinced that he will be capable of finding a buyer.

Either way this suggests a big shift is coming for the Penguins this season, especially if they continue to remain well out of the playoff picture after the holiday season, and there may be even more names that end up on the rumor mill if that does indeed prove to be the case.