In 2008-09, the Pittsburgh Penguins won the Stanley Cup with a core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury. In 2015-16 that same fabulous foursome won another Stanley Cup defeating San Jose before a second consecutive Cup win came over Nashville. Now, with the 2025-26 season upon the Flyers’ state and divisional foes, Pittsburgh enters the year with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang still around. As for Fleury, he did a swan song in an exhibition game for the Penguins earlier in September.
The rebuild former Penguins general manager Ron Hextall attempted to implement ages ago by playing hardball with Malkin is a thing of the past. Now current general manager Kyle Dubas is attempting to do something that sounds better in press conferences and looks better on paper than reality: rebuild with such an aging group of talent while not trying to bottom out to do a proper rebuild. This half-pregnant scenario was slated to put Pittsburgh closer to playoff contention, particularly after acquiring Erik Karlsson. Instead, they’ve been out of the playoffs three consecutive years, with speculation the core could be dismantled this season.
So, with so much in limbo regarding the Penguins this year, and some experts predicting they’ll be better than the Flyers, let’s take a deeper dive into what to expect from Sid the greying-haired kid and company.
Their offseason, in one sentence
Fixing some deck chairs on the Titanic.
Penguins’ biggest additions
The Penguins tinkered around the edges in the summer, adding a few pieces that could help the current roster but in the bigger picture not change the direction of the franchise. During the draft they acquired Connor Clifton, a 30-year-old stay-at-home defender who spent the last two seasons with Buffalo. On July 10, they also brought along veteran defenseman Matt Dumba from the Dallas Stars. Again, a piece that might fill a short-term hole but nothing that drastically moves the needle for the Penguins into contention. And they brought in a goaltender, Arturs Silovs from Vancouver.
Elsewhere, in free agency, Pittsburgh added Anthony Mantha and 24-year-old center Philip Tomasino. Mantha was signed to a one-year deal and, having played just 13 games last year due to problems with his ACL, is a roll of the dice for Dubas. Meanwhile Tomasino, who they acquired in a trade with Nashville last year, is back for one season. He might provide a bit of offensive depth depending on who he’s lined up with. Winger Justin Brazeau (a young’un at 27) was also brought along following splitting his year between Boston and Minnesota. Outside of those additions, and a PTO granted to Robby Fabbri to see if there was anything left in the tank, the Penguins frame or blueprint remained intact.
Penguins’ biggest loss
With a club that didn’t have much new talent to begin with, the Penguins lost a few players in Connor Timmins, one they acquired from Toronto at the trade deadline. As well, goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic was shipped to San Jose and Pierre-Oliver Joseph was lost to Vancouver in free agency. Perhaps the biggest loss is to a Penguin prospect they were hoping would find some chemistry with the future Hall of Famers. Instead Rutger McGroaty is out indefinitely with an upper-body injury. The youngster has no set timeline to return but it’s expected he’s going to be out for some time this season.
Other stuff they did
Without question the biggest change to the Penguins this season isn’t in personnel but behind the bench. This year Mike Sullivan is coaching the New York Rangers. Both Dubas and Sullivan, who had a very long run with the Penguins, mutually agreed to part company, leaving the door open for Dan Muse. Muse has never been a head coach but has been an assistant both with the Rangers and the Predators. The new voice and breath of fresh air could have a positive impact on Pittsburgh as Muse is sure to bring in some different ideas and concepts to get the most out of the aging lineup.
Are they better or worse right now than when they started the offseason?
Looking at the team on paper, the additions of Tomasino and Mantha should provide a bit of help up front, while Brazeau could give the back end obviously more youth and stability. Yet the facts are evident: this is still an old team (the oldest in the league at 31.6 years, 0.5 years older than Edmonton). And generally older teams, particularly those whose core is in the twilight of their careers, don’t have fairytale endings. However, they’re going to have to miss Bryan Rust for two weeks as he suffered a lower-body injury near the homestretch of training camp. And defenseman Jack St. Ivany is out six weeks with a lower-body injury late in the exhibition schedule. These injuries don’t help at all.
The Penguins might be marginally better than they were entering the offseason. It’s all relative though, as better means possibly staying in the hunt for a wildcard spot longer than some anticipate. A playoff run of any significance seems next to impossible.
The long-term outlook
The Pittsburgh Penguins are in a state of flux from top to bottom right now. The team appears to be up for sale with former Penguins great Mario Lemieux part of a group to buy the team back from Fenway Sports Group. But Lemieux’s group reportedly doesn’t have the cash to match the approximately $1.7 to $1.8 billion asking price. As a result, the team is perhaps hesitant to start stripping the roster down to the studs and trade its icon Sidney Crosby (if he wants to be traded) to another team for a package of prospects and picks.
Trading any of the current big four (Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Karlsson) is probably a non-starter as all four have No Movement Clauses. As well, Dubas has somehow given modified No Trade Clauses to the following: Kevin Hayes, Rickard Rakell, Danton Heinen, Noel Acciari, Ryan Graves, and Tristan Jarry. Granted some of these contracts end following this season. But it demonstrates just how much Dubas has done to tie his own hands.
So as the Penguins go forward this season spinning the storyline that Crosby can still lead this team alone to glory, they’re essentially spinning their tires into the mud. A glut of draft picks in the coming years is selling hope for the future, yet the next three years they only have three first-round picks (with 14 picks combined in rounds two and three). How the team moves forward without falling off a cliff sooner than later is anyone’s guess. What is known is that the Penguins once went 0-39-3 against the Flyers when playing them in the Spectrum, finally breaking the streak that started in 1974 in 1989. The Penguins of 2025-26 aren’t quite as futile as those teams, but they’re closer to that nadir now than they are back-to-back Stanley Cup champions.
