Pittsburgh Penguins stock up, stock down
The Pittsburgh Penguins missed the 2022-23 playoffs by a point, sitting out the postseason for the first time since 2005-06. But the team made several offseason moves—in the front office and on the ice—to get back in the dance.
Stock Up
Kyle Dubas, GM/president of hockey operations: Following the team’s disappointing finish, the Penguins ousted former general manager Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke. Fortunately for Pittsburgh, the Toronto Maple Leafs fired their general manager, Kyle Dubas, who landed in the Steel City.
Dubas is responsible for assembling a Maple Leafs core that topped 100 points in each of the past three 82-game seasons but only got out of the first round of the playoffs once.
But a team’s failures can’t rest on one front-office person. Dubas' ability to work within the confines of a tight salary cap will serve him well in Pittsburgh, as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Jake Guentzel take up 32.2% of the team’s budget, according to CapFriendly.
Erik Karlsson, defenseman: Dubas and the Penguins made the biggest move of the offseason on Sunday, bringing in Karlsson in a three-team trade. The former San Jose Shark is coming off a 100-point season and is the reigning Norris Trophy winner as the league’s best defenseman.
Karlsson is eighth among defensemen in points scored over the past five seasons and fifth in points per game (minimum 10 games played). His power-play prowess will also boost the Penguins, as he is 16th among defensemen in points with the man advantage over the same span.
Despite being considered injury-prone in recent years, Karlsson played 82 games this past season for the first time since 2015-16. The Penguins will be hoping he can replicate that and at least get close to his offensive output from 2022-23.
Stock Down
Tristan Jarry, goaltender: This past season was a down one for Jarry. His save percentage dropped by 10 points from .919 in 2021-22 to .909 in 2022-23. His goals-against average ballooned from 2.42 two seasons ago to 2.90 last season. Jarry made 47 starts for Pittsburgh and posted a 24-13-7 record for a winning percentage of just .511.
The Penguins and Dubas must believe in him, though, because they signed him to a new five-year contract with an average annual value of $5.375M on the second day of free agency. Plus, they included backup goalie Casey DeSmith in the Karlsson trade. They’ll need Jarry to bounce back to make the playoffs.
Age: The Penguins were the oldest team in the NHL at the end of last season. Adding the 33-year-old Karlsson does not make them any younger.
The core of this team has a lot of miles on it as well. According to NHL.com, among skaters since 2006-07, Crosby ranks fourth with 180 playoff games played and Malkin is fifth with 177. Letang is a bit further down at 149 games, but that is still good enough for 16th on that list.
The Karlsson trade is clearly a win-now move, but it makes sense. The core is not getting younger, and as long as you have multiple all-time greats, you must go for the Cup.
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