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NHL Notebook: Penguins acquire Matt Dumba from Stars in cap dump

Originally posted on Oilersnation | By Zach Laing | Last updated Jul 10, 2025 6:00 PM ET

As the Pittsburgh Penguins’ rebuild continues, the team acquired defenceman Matt Dumba and a 2028 second-round pick from the Dallas Stars on Thursday.

The deal will see the Penguins send back to Dallas 24-year-old defenceman Vladislav Kolyachonok, while taking on the full $3.75-million cap hit Dumba carries.

The Penguins have acquired defenseman Matt Dumba and a 2028 second-round draft pick from the Dallas Stars in exchange for defenseman Vladislav Kolyachonok.

Details: https://t.co/PnehxGBkBI pic.twitter.com/pTzTwxqluL

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) July 10, 2025

The Penguins have been stockpiling picks in recent years, having three first-round selections this year they used to select forwards Benjamin Kindel, Bill Zonnon and Will Horcoff. According to PuckPedia, the Penguins have their own first round pick in each of the next three drafts, three seconds and two thirds in 2026, two seconds and three thirds in 2027, as well as two seconds and two thirds in 2028.

In moving out Dumba, the Stars are now cap compliant, sitting with $1.95-million in cap space, according to PuckPedia.

Kolyachonok was drafted by the Florida Panthers in the second round of the 2019 draft, and over the last five years, has played 107 NHL games scoring 156 goals and 63 points, adding 13 goals and 48 points across 150 AHL games. He joined the Penguins in February when he was claimed on waivers from the Utah Hockey Club.

Other news and notes…

The Colorado Avalanche signed defenceman Josh Manson to a two-year, $3.95-million AAV contract extension, the club announced Thursday. The 33-year-old is entering the final year of a four-year, $4.5-million AAV deal he signed in July 2022. Drafted by the Anaheim Ducks in the sixth round of the 2011 draft, Manson has played 626 NHL games between the Ducks and Avalanche since he broke into the league in 2014-15, scoring 39 goals and 170 points.
Projected first overall pick in the 2026 NHL draft Gavin McKenna committed to the University of Penn State earlier this week. The 17-year-old just finished his second full season in the Western Hockey League league where he scored 41 goals and 129 points in 56 games, which followed a 2023-24 season in which he racked up 34 goals and 97 points in 61 games. McKenna will arrived at Penn State to play this fall, joining a Nittany Lion program that made it to the Frozen Four for the first time in program history this past season.