Penguins’ Rickard Rakell Expresses Desire To Stay With Franchise

The 2024-25 season was another disappointing campaign for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

While the club showed flashes of brilliance at times, the Penguins never truly got things going enough to become a serious contender and missed the playoffs for the third straight season. One player who stood out as a diamond in the rough was forward Rickard Rakell.

Rakell struggled badly last season. He tallied just 15 goals and 22 assists for 37 points in 70 games. This season was not the same for the Swedish right wing. He produced career highs with 35 goals and 70 points, consistently performing well throughout the season, while primarily playing on the top line alongside Sidney Crosby.

“It means a lot to me,” Rackell told reporters about his bounce-back campaign at the Penguins’ season-ending media availability on Friday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. “It was really tough after last year, and just for myself, bouncing back and having a good season.

“Even though I wish we were still playing right now, I’m still pretty excited to get back to work at home and then just try to do everything I can to try to be even better next year.”

President of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas obviously felt Rakell’s value to the Penguins trumped whatever the team could get for him ahead of the NHL trade deadline in March, and the 13-year veteran expressed his desire to stay with Pittsburgh for the foreseeable future.

“Yeah, I think already at the trade deadline I said I wanted to stay, I want to be part of this team,” Rakell said. “I want to be part of it, being back in the playoffs and trying to win something here. I love my teammates here and yeah, I really want to stay.”

Rakell is signed through the 2027-28 season with a $5 million annual cap hit. He could be in high demand, but the Penguins have publicly stated they are committed to building a roster around their star core players like Crosby, Rakell, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson.

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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