Reviewing Pittsburgh Penguins Forward Group Heading into Offseason

Following another playoff miss for the Pittsburgh Penguins, the organization faces a pivotal offseason in shaping its forwards. General manager Kyle Dubas has the tall task of balancing the twilight years of franchise icons Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang with an infusion of younger talent. The team has a mix of seasoned veterans and youth upfront. Dubas will need to blend together the future and the past to put together an acceptable roster for the present.

Roster at the Start of the 2024-25 Season

The Penguins started out the 2024-25 season with a patchwork roster of players. Forwards looking to raise their stock either with Pittsburgh Penguins or on contending teams they’d get dealt for. New additions to the roster included Blake Lizotte, Kevin Hayes, Cody Glass, and Anthony Beauvillier. All of these players were brought in on either one or two year deals, highlighting the in-between period the organization finds itself in, unsure if it’s a contender or lottery team. In addition to the newly signed contracts and trades, Pittsburgh found itself with new prospects as well. The Pittsburgh Penguins dealt first-round pick Brayden Yager to the Winnipeg Jets in exchange for disgruntled forward Rutger McGroarty. Meanwhile, prospects new to the system in Ville Koivunen and Vasily Ponomarev from the Jake Guentzel trade made the year prior, also looked to prove their skills in a new organization.

With a healthy amount of NHL-calibre talent, the Penguins had a competitive training camp, where players like Glass and Beauvillier quickly found themselves making an impact. However, the team as a whole struggled to find its footing. Apart from a few hot-streaks, was unable to lockdown a playoff spot for any extended amount of time. Due to the disappointing results overall, many of the new forwards on the team found themselves on the trade block throughout the season.

A Litany of In-Season Moves to Tweak the Roster

The struggling Pittsburgh team wasted no time in pivoting away from contention to a more process-oriented team. Centre Lars Eller was the first to go, traded to the Washington Capitals for a third and fifth-round pick on November 13^th, 2024. Eller marked the first in a series of trades where Kyle Dubas was able to translate a useful but not impactful player into assets for the future. The next of such moves came in January of this season. Drew O’Connor was a piece in the trade that sent Marcus Pettersson to the Vancouver Canucks for a package involving a first-round pick and the return of forward Danton Heinen. Dubas also converted off-season signing Beauvillier into a second round pick from the Washington Capitals in March alongside a trade where Cody Glass was moved to the New Jersey Devils for a third-round selection. Notably, Dubas bought low on young forward Philip Tomasino in November as well. The Penguins paid the Nashville Predators a fourth-round pick for the young forward. The move for him and forward Connor Dewar worked to bring in NHL-calibre forward talent. However, the overall trend was to sell useful players for future pieces.

Forward Group Entering the 2025 Offseason

Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin continue to anchor the forwards group heading into the off-season. Crosby scored over 90 points, while Malkin looked solid with 50 points in 68 games. The story of the forwards group revolves around Rickard Rakell. The top-six sniper surpassed a career high in goals and points this season. He had 35 goals and 35 assists for 70 points in 81 games. The 32-year-old has just three years remaining on an extremely cost-effective $5,000,000 average annual value contract. As such, he’ll be a significant name to watch with the salary cap jumping up starting this off-season. Contending teams may be looking to offset future assets for a player of Rakell’s calibre for scoring help. Other names to look for in potential trade scenarios include Danton Heinen, Kevin Hayes, and Tommy Novak. Contending teams could see value in all three.

There are many young players looking to cement spots in the line-up as well. Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen are significant names to watch in this regard. McGroarty had two stints with the team this season. The forward failed to score any points through three games to start the NHL season. After a successful debut season in the AHL, McGroarty was recalled to the Penguins. He scored a goal and three points through five games in his second stint. Similarly, Ville Koivunen made his NHL debut this season with the Penguins. Koivunen scored seven points, all assists, in eight games with the big club. The pair of forwards join Tomasino, who scored 11 goals and 23 points through 50 games with the Penguins, as the youth movement of the team. These younger forward talent are looking to make an impact and cement permanent spots on the NHL roster.

Strategic Decisions Ahead for the Pittsburgh Penguins Forwards

The Penguins finished this season ninth-last in the NHL. They fell to the 11^th overall pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft courtesy of the NHL lottery draft. With their highest pick in over a decade, Pittsburgh could be looking at bringing in a significant talent to the team. The Penguins will need to provide strong support for stars Crosby, Malkin, Rakell, and Bryan Rust if they hope to make any noise next season. The team has amassed a group of young forwards that could develop into impactful talent, but overall, the team is still in a kind of purgatory, with many veterans on the roster that don’t figure into the teams long-term plans. Look for the forwards group to shed older players such as Hayes and Heinen, while young talent like McGroarty and Koivunen establish themselves as the next wave of Penguins offence.