Penguins Aren't Bad Enough Yet

The Pittsburgh Penguins are one of the few teams expected to be at the bottom of the standings come the end of the 2025-26 season with visions of Gavin McKenna in mind. It wasn’t deep into the offseason when it was widely agreed that the Penguins aren’t really trying to get better.

The Penguins aren’t openly tanking for the best chance of selecting McKenna first overall at the 2026 NHL Draft, but they haven’t done much to improve the lineup. At the same time, however, they haven’t done enough to be among the bottom few teams in the league.

Trade rumors have spread around Erik Karlsson, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell, but they are all still on the roster. Those three around, plus likely more great production from Sidney Crosby, and the Penguins don’t look like a bottom five team.

President and general manager Kyle Dubas will have to shed more talent like Karlsson, Rust or Rakell. The Penguins are just too good with them on the roster. By no means are they a playoff team, but not bad enough to put a ton of faith into the draft lottery.

As it stands, the Penguins current top six forward feature Crosby, Rust, Rakell, a final season of Evgeni Malkin and rookies like Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty. Each of those names can produce and could lead the Penguins to quite a few victories.