Kyle Dubas Confirms Penguins Focused on Acquiring Young Talent

The Pittsburgh Penguins are in transition. General manager Kyle Dubas confirmed recently the Penguins have one goal this offseason - get younger.

Dubas caught up with Pierre LeBrun of TSN, and laid out what to expect out of Pittsburgh this summer:

The major focus for us is on right now acquiring as many young players, as many prospects, and as many draft picks as we can to try to infuse the team with really good young talent ... and then have that stocked up for the future as well and attempt to get us back into contention as quickly as we can.

After the Penguins refused to make the Stanley Cup Playoffs once again in 2023-24, Dubas has changed his tone. It was only last summer where the Penguins GM felt the team was close to contending and went out and acquired reigning Norris trophy winner Erik Karlsson. Now the focus is in young talent and not on paying veteran defensemen over $10 million against the cap.  

The Penguins enter the 2024 offseason with $13.2 million in cap space. They have several pending free-agents including Alex Nedeljkovic, Jansen Harkins, and pending restricted free-agent Pierre-Olivier Joseph. Dubas could also be involved in the trade market including moving out veteran forwards Reilly Smith and Rickard Rakell. Both players have failed to meet expectations as Penguins so far in their tenures. Bryan Rust is another veteran who could be involved in trade talks this summer.

Dubas also has Sidney Crosby's contract extension to worry about this summer as the Penguins great is eligible to sign a new deal after July 1. Dubas confirmed the negotiations will be kept as private as possible and don't expect to hear much until it's done. And it will, at some point, be done.

Photo credit: Charles LeClaire-USA TODAY Sports