When the NHL’s free-agent market opened Monday, Kyle Dubas and his staff executed the strategy he had laid out before the draft: Get established players on short-term contracts who can come in and try to help, and pick up future assets.
The Penguins’ president of hockey operations and general manager believes that’s what will get the Penguins back in contention as soon as possible, whether it’s this season or next. “It’s hard to put a time frame on it, but obviously it’s not a situation where it’s all about cleats,” Dubas said.
“The people in the room are too good for that. We’re trying to use every avenue possible to acquire future assets that we can then bring into the organization through the draft or young players through free agency, or through trades or waivers that can bolster the core group that’s here.
“We’re not going to get into quick fixes for free agents like some of the long-term things we saw today. If we were in a situation where we were a playoff team and close to being a contender, we would have done that. But I think the goal here is to try to get the team back in contention for the big guys that have been here for so long.”
Instead, the Penguins have made the following key moves in recent days:
* Signing of a one-year contract with forward Anthony Beauvillier, 27,
* Signed 30-year-old defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to a one-year contract
* Blake Lizotte, 26, was the only player signed for more than a year – the forward signed for two
* Acquired forward Kevin Hayes, 32, and a second-round pick in the 2025 draft from St. Louis – Philadelphia retaining 50% of his $7,142,857 salary from a previous trade
* Re-signed Emil Bemstrom, 25, to a one-year contract
* Signing of a one-year contract with the striker Boko Imama, 27 years old
* Acquired a 2027 second-round pick and a 2025 fifth-round pick from the New York Rangers in exchange for forward Reilly Smith
* Renewed the one-year contract of defenseman Ryan Shea, 27, and added two right-handed depth defenders, Nathan Clurman and Mac Hollowell.
“(Today) was a lot different than the last few years,” Dubas said. “But it’s still exciting because (director of pro personnel) Andy Saucier, the pro scouting staff and our group have done a lot of work. We’re excited about the players we’ve signed, all for different reasons, and we think they all have a chance to make a big impact on the Penguins.”
At this point, the Penguins have a fair amount of cap space. And while team owner Fenway Sports Group has approved spending up to the limit, Dubas wants to be patient and flexible in case opportunities arise over the summer. “We’re hoping it pays off,” he said. Here’s some additional information from Dubas on the team’s movements.
They hope Hayes can bounce back from a tough season in St. Louis and return to being the impactful player he was in New York and Philadelphia, and they look forward to working with him. Head coach Mike Sullivan will decide where he fits into the lineup, but Hayes will definitely start at centre. “I think it gives us another option there,” Dubas said. “He can start in the defensive zone and move the play up the ice, which gives us another option to give Sid and Geno a reprieve. You’ve got them, Hayes, Lars (Eller), Blake Lizotte… We’ve got a lot of guys in that area, (including) Vasily Ponomarev and Sam Poulin coming in. It’s exciting for us to have that competition, especially with some of those guys I mentioned being on the older side.” Dubas said they could move Noel Acciari to the wing, saying he’s probably a little more comfortable there.
That feeling is the same for Beauvillier, who has started to emerge as a bit of a bounce-back player after spending the first seven seasons of his career with the New York Islanders.“But when you watch the film and start to get into it, you realize that this player that was so effective for the Islanders and has continued to improve since his draft year is still here,” Dubas said of the forward, who scored a career-best 21 goals in 2017-18 and 18 goals over the next two seasons. “We just have to provide him with the environment to be able to show that again. So I think he was willing to bet on himself by signing a very low one-year deal for the opportunity to come here and try to earn a roster spot.”
Even though the Penguins brought Matt Grzelcyk — who spent parts of the last eight seasons with Boston — and was not designated a restricted free agent PO Joseph, meaning he is now an unrestricted free agent, Dubas said the door is still open for the defenseman to sign with Pittsburgh: “It’s quite complex because when a player is eligible for arbitration, the other players who don’t get QOs impact the arbitration file. If a certain number of players in that group don’t qualify, you’re putting yourself at a higher risk. When we got that information yesterday, we had (director of hockey operations Vukie Mpofu) in constant discussion with his representative. We said, ‘This is what we would do.’ Otherwise, we probably wouldn’t qualify. They chose to take him. They could test the market. At first, with the number of similar players, I thought it would be a no-brainer to qualify. But as the situation has changed, you always have to be aware of that. We had to change course and use some of that money for Grzelcyk this afternoon.
Grzelcyk joins a group that includes Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, Marcus Pettersson, Ryan Graves and the third pair Pittsburgh ended last season with: Jack St. Ivany and Shea, both re-signed this summer. The Penguins are particularly excited about St. Ivany, who has shown plenty of promise with his poise.
The Penguins had several discussions at the trade deadline about Smith, acquired from Vegas last summer in exchange for a third-round pick, but chose not to do so. After he finished the season with 13 goals in 76 games while moving around the lineup, Pittsburgh decided to accept the Rangers’ trade offer. “That was for the second and fifth, that was basically the price to pay for retention,” Dubas said, with Pittsburgh paying 25 percent of Smith’s $3.75 million salary cap hit that lasts through next season. “You get to the trade deadline and you look at that, if you’re going to move them at that time, you’re just going to get the pick and retention is expected unless you’re a third-party trader. So that was the decision to move him across the line. (Now) we have the cap space, and getting both assets back after giving up the third was just a matter of asset management.”
When asked about his comfort level outside of Pittsburgh’s core group of Crosby, Malkin, Letang and Karlsson, Dubas mentioned both Drew O’Connor and Rickard Rakell. He hailed O’Connor’s year as an impressive chapter in his great history and said they expect the 25-year-old forward to make even more progress this season. As for Rakell, who is coming off an up-and-down season and a rough start, Dubas said the five-time 20-goal scorer is too good a player not to bounce back. “I’m confident he will. I’m looking forward to it,” Dubas said. “I can only go by the reports from Marty Lauzon (director of high performance) and the performance staff that he’s had a great summer so far, which is what we challenged him to do when he left. He’s a great professional.”
Finally, Dubas said he is in constant communication with Crosby about the direction of the team. “He obviously has a very special place here, so it would be foolish of me not to stay in constant contact with him and let him know what we’re thinking,” Dubas said. “As soon as we make a hire, we let him know. He reaches out directly to draft picks. He reached out to the guys here today. To me, it’s important for him in particular … when we’re going through something that’s a little bit different than what everybody’s been used to since he got here in 2005, the key is to have clear communication and be very open and transparent about it. It would be foolish of me not to. That’s what we’re doing. So far, so good.”