Penguins Rumors: All Non-Core Players On The Trade Block

The Pittsburgh Penguins are underperforming this season and are having a tough time keeping up in the playoff race. There are four teams between them and the final playoff spot and the team is behind eight points with only two games in hand. The Penguins have also only won three of their previous 10 games, so something big seems to be in the works.

According to Pierre LeBrun, general manager Kyle Dubas is listening to offers on all Penguins' non-core players. This could mean that we get an answer on whether the Penguins are going to trade Jake Guentzel this season or not. Since he is a core player and plays alongside Sidney Crosby on the top line when healthy, this speculation may mean the Penguins are really hoping to sign him long-term and want to still give this core a chance to win in the next few seasons.

Others that should be considered part of the core include Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Erik Karlsson, and Tristan Jarry. This means that players like Reilly Smith will start to get a lot of attention as he is a UFA at the end of next season and a strong target for contenders to look at. I would consider Ryan Graves, Bryan Rust, and Rickard Rakell fringe core players because of their impact and length of contracts. Unless something big lands on the Penguins' laps, I think all of them are safe as they are all signed through 2028.

Smith, along with players like Alex Nedeljkovic, Lars Eller, and Marcus Pettersson could draw some serious attention as the extra year on the contract helps. Nedeljkovic is the only one of those four who is a UFA at the end of the season and he has impressed in 2023-24, posting a .915 SV% thus far. He could be a great cheap backup option for a contender. The Penguins aren't out of the race just yet, but it doesn't look great. This will be Dubas' first big test as the Penguins' general manager.