The Pittsburgh Penguins lost in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games. We saw the Flyers make the Penguins look old and slow for the majority of the series. But for a Penguins team that was supposed to be tanking and going for Gavin McKenna, Pittsburgh overachieved.
But there are questions surrounding this roster and what direction GM Kyle Dubas will take. We know previous administrations were hampered by ownership’s vision of winning with Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin. Even though Crosby signed an extension and said he wanted to stay, rumours swirled that he was going to be traded.
Malkin’s name began to swirl as he was a pending unrestricted free agent, and contract talks were put on hold until after the season. Dubas was retooling the roster on the fly to keep this team competitive. But this is still a rebuilding team. And now cue the Malkin and Crosby rumors again.
Jim Biringer of NHLRumors.com and Full Press Media joined TSN Radio in Montreal last Friday and was asked about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster and whether they will bring back the same team next season.
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NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
Host: “Just wanted to finish up with that series. They have the four, at one point, superstars in this league, Malkin, Crosby, Letang and Karlsson, like, how different does this club look in October?”
Jim Biringer: “I think it’s going to be different. I think they have a lot of decisions to make. Kyle Dubas has a lot of decisions to make. Like, look, Crosby’s still there, but the talk is going to be about, is he going to stay? Is he going to keep playing? Another extension possible? Is he gonna get traded again?
Malkin? Are they gonna bring him back? I know he wants to come back, but is it a one-year deal? Is a two-year deal. Kris Letang, I know he’s still got some time left on his deal, same with Karlsson, but Letang just doesn’t look like he has it anymore, and it’s just my opinion. He could come back and have a great offseason, but it just feels like this is the end for that core of the Pittsburgh Penguins and this team is going to look different.
And how many guys are going to have career seasons again next year for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Like (Connor) Dewar and Anthony Mantha. They have a lot of contracts that they need to sign and figure out. And again, goaltending: who’s going to be there? Is it Arturs Silovs and Stuart Skinner? Are they bringing him back?
Will Evgeni Malkin be back, or will the Pittsburgh Penguins go another direction?
There are a lot of question marks for Kyle Dubas. This is going to be a different-looking Penguins team next season.”
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