It’s a sight many in the Steel City thought they’d never see: the Pittsburgh Penguins staring down the barrel of true organizational upheaval. After two straight springs spent on the outside looking in, playoff hopes dashed earlier than the snow melted, all that remains are sobering statistics—and a dynasty aging not just in years but in relevance. A franchise that seemed immortal when claiming back-to-back Stanley Cups just shy of a decade ago yielded to the implacable drag of the salary cap and the unbeatable Father Time.
The Rebuild Begins
For General Manager Kyle Dubas, the message is unambiguous, and the actions are even more so. Forget a fairy tale quick fix. At the 2025 deadline, the boss stripped the roster like an architect demolishing an old house to save the foundation: Anthony Beauvillier turned into a coveted second-rounder; Luke Schenn fetched futures from Winnipeg; Michael Bunting was sent packing for yet more draft capital. The names coming in—Matt Dumba and Arturs Silovs—serve a dual purpose: insulating the room with NHL competence while refusing to block the view of a still-distant youth movement.
Penguins officials bristle at the word rebuild, but parse the language, and all signs point in one direction. Online NHL odds providers are also in agreement. The latest NHL lines make Pittsburgh a mighty +20000 outsider for the Stanley Cup in 2025/26, the second-longest odds of anybody, something unthinkable when they claimed the second of those consecutive titles some nine years ago.
With those odds suggesting that a complete teardown is just around the corner, Dubas could decide it’s time to raze the remnants of the old order. Three names—each inked in Penguins history—could headline the auction of a generation.
Sidney Crosby
There is no separating Sidney Crosby from Pittsburgh’s hockey identity. For nearly two decades, the narrative has been simple: as goes Sid the Kid, so go the Penguins. At first glance, the idea of trading number 87 borders on sacrilege.
Yet hockey, for all its sentiment, yields first to arithmetic. Even at 38, Crosby is still defying gravity—91 points in 80 contests at 38, a sixth consecutive nod from his peers as the league’s most complete player. But for all his competitive fire and meticulous routine, even the Canadian all-time great cannot defeat time alone. The raw numbers—declining even-strength numbers, rising average age, a farm pipeline depleted—render the Penguins’ “next chapter” less a choice than an imperative.
Please make no mistake: any decision to leave the Steel City remains Crosby’s; his full no-movement clause ensures that. But around the league, the whispers grow louder. Could he leave and chase history—and a fourth Cup—elsewhere, sparking the most significant asset influx in franchise history?
Montreal’s hockey-mad faithful have long painted a romance about their prodigal francophone son coming home, a trade that would likely return a bounty of blue-chip prospects and high picks. Imagine a trade that sets up Pittsburgh for the Gavin McKenna sweepstakes in 2026 while granting its captain a last, electrifying shot at glory.
Evgeni Malkin
Fifty points in 68 games say Evgeni Malkin is declining, especially at 39. Yet his ability to conjure playoff magic from chaos is undiminished. In Pittsburgh, those postseason heroics are a million miles away, so is the time nigh for the Russian to seek pastures new in a bid for another crack at the biggest prize in the game.
It is no coincidence that there have been no extension talks. Dubas knows the danger of overextending nostalgia; Malkin, a pending free agent, is both the ultimate deadline rental and a multi-team bidding war incarnate. Imagine the Montreal Canadiens, aching for a centerpiece who can tilt the ice; the Lightning or Panthers seeking one more ride on the carousel of Cup contention, hoping Malkin’s big-moment magic swings a series.
For Pittsburgh, the calculus is cold: clear Malkin’s hit, accelerate the introduction of hungry prospects like Rutger McGroarty, and net a first-round pick or a high-value prospect from a contender. Every Malkin shift in 2025 may be scored for goals and what it brings in return. This is legacy trading at its most ruthless.
Rickard Rakell
Of all the trade chips in Pittsburgh, Rickard Rakell may be best suited for modern playoff hockey: hands soft as silk, tenacity at the netfront, a projection near career highs. His chemistry with Crosby is a coach’s dream—but dreams don’t always outlast the salary cap.
Rakell, 32, holds a contract more movable than ever—his softened no-trade clause opens him up to full-on bidding. The Lightning, always lurking in pursuit of depth scoring and netfront muscle, have the need and the means. For the Penguins, the return is more than simple math. Dealing with the Swedish winger also creates an audition for Benjamin Kindel, whose ceiling could be far higher than Rakell’s present.
In return? Pile on the picks, target a nearly NHL-ready player, and dare to embrace the volatility of a full-scale rebuild. The architect with the vision—and courage—to trade a top-six stalwart at high value is rarely forgotten, especially if that move seeds the next era’s names in gold.
