Pittsburgh Penguins Insider Reveals Which Players Will Be Traded By Kyle Dubas Next
A Pittsburgh Penguins insider revealed which players will be traded by Kyle Dubas next in a recent paper published in The Athletic.
Nothing seems to be working anymore for the Pittsburgh Penguins. After nearly a third of the season completed, Kyle Dubas' team is still at the bottom of the Metropolitan Division with 24 points in 26 games, even if they won their last three games.
A rebuild, at least a partial one, is expected in Pittsburgh, meaning many players could leave the organization soon, as Dubas continues to pursue his targets on the trade market despite falling short in the Jiricek Derby.
In a new paper for The Athletic, the insider Josh Yohe revealed that two players are "as good as gone": Rickard Rakell and Marcus Pettersson.
Here's what he wrote:
Everyone in the organization loves Pettersson, and for good reason. He's a good, top-four defenseman and he's also a quality human. Of course, he doesn't have a no-trade clause and he's scheduled to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1.
He could bring back a serious return - at least a second-round pick, maybe more. It will be a sad day for many to see him go, but it's inevitable.
Rickard Rakell
I wouldn't have had him on this list a few months ago because of his poor 2023-24 season. Rakell is back to looking like himself this season and given his contract, the Penguins would be wise to move on.
There figures to be a taker out there. Everyone wants a top-six winger. I don't think the return would be huge, but the Penguins could likely get something for him. To get out of his contract would be significant."
Parting ways with them won't be easy, as they're both appreciated members of the team. They are great players and great people.
On the market, it's hard to say what kind of return they could get.
Rakell has been great so far this season, scoring 15 points in 24 games despite the team's struggles.
However, he has three seasons left on his $5 million AAV contract. Unless Dubas agrees to retain a part of his salary, this will have an impact on what the team gets in return,
In Pettersson's case, he's a pending unrestricted free agent, and some teams could be ready to pay a hefty price to acquire him. In 26 games this year, the defenseman scored 10 points.
By trading these two players, Dubas could put his hands on interesting assets that will hopefully help the team in the near future.
| POLL | ||
DÉCEMBRE 2 | 208 ANSWERS Pittsburgh Penguins Insider Reveals Which Players Will Be Traded By Kyle Dubas Next Do you think the Pittsburgh Penguins will be able to turn their season around by trading Rakell and Pettersson? | ||
| Yes | 59 | 28.4 % |
| No | 149 | 71.6 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Filip Forsberg | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Artturi Lehkonen | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
| Clayton Keller | 1 | 3 | 4 | |
| Tomas Hertl | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Jason Robertson | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Blake Coleman | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Logan Cooley | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jonathan Drouin | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Oliver Ekman-Larsson | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Jake Guentzel | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Seth Jones | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Nikita Kucherov | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Casey Mittelstadt | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| David Pastrnak | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| Wyatt Johnston | - | 3 | 3 | |
| Tyler Bertuzzi | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Leon Draisaitl | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Quinn Hughes | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Cale Makar | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Josh Norris | 2 | - | 2 | |
| Complete stats | ||||
| STANDINGS 2024-2025 | ||||||
TOP 10 | GP | W | L | OL | PTS | |
Capitals | 45 | 30 | 10 | 5 | 65 | |
Jets | 46 | 31 | 12 | 3 | 65 | |
Oilers | 45 | 29 | 13 | 3 | 61 | |
Golden Knights | 45 | 29 | 13 | 3 | 61 | |
Wild | 45 | 27 | 14 | 4 | 58 | |
Maple Leafs | 46 | 28 | 16 | 2 | 58 | |
Devils | 47 | 26 | 15 | 6 | 58 | |
Stars | 44 | 28 | 15 | 1 | 57 | |
Hurricanes | 46 | 27 | 16 | 3 | 57 | |
Kings | 42 | 25 | 12 | 5 | 55 | |
| Conference | Cumulative | ||||||