Penguins Focused On Building Roster Around Core Players

After missing the postseason for the third straight season, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan said the storied organization is committed to building its roster around their star core players.

When one of those core players is Sidney Crosby, who just happens to be one of the best players on the planet, it would make sense for Penguins president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas to look for free agents and trade targets to complement Pittsburgh’s star captain.

“Obviously, we would like to return this team to contention when that window still exists, when we have, in particular, our captain, still playing at such an elite level,” Sullivan said at the Penguins’ breakup day at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Friday, per the club. “I know those are Kyle’s intentions. Those are certainly his aspirations. And our hope is that we’re on that road.”

Dubas began ramping up the roster when he traded forward Jake Guentzel and acquired Ville Koivunen, who ended the season with a five-game point streak, and rookie Rutger McGroarty.

“I think the team is postured right now to try to take that next step towards becoming more competitive,” Sullivan added, per the Penguins. “I believe that there’s a core group here that’s worthy of building around, and that’s our challenge. That’s the process that we’re going through right now.”

Crosby is signed through the end of the 2026-27 season, and forwards Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell are locked up through the end of the 2027-28 campaign. And on the blue line, the Penguins have Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang and Ryan Graves signed for several more seasons. It’s up to Dubas to find the right players, and no other NHL team has more draft picks or selections in the first three rounds over the next three NHL drafts than the Penguins.

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