CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Kyle Dubas can see the end goal for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
The general manager envisions centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, and defenseman Kris Letang, again competing for the Stanley Cup, surrounded by a youth movement from a retooled prospect pool.
That's the idea. When it might happen, though, is just a guess.
"For me, I don't ever want to put a timeline on anything because our goal is based on the types of people that we have in the locker room and how much they've meant to the city and the franchise," Dubas said Saturday. "We want to operate as urgently as we can to return the team there. We don't want to buy patience or say, 'It's in X amount of years, (the) plan in Year X, we hope to be at different points.'"
On Friday, the Penguins took another step. They acquired a conditional first-round pick in the 2025 NHL Draft, 18-year-old forward prospect Melvin Fernstrom, forward Danton Heinen and defenseman Vincent Desharnais in a trade with the Vancouver Canucks for defenseman Marcus Pettersson and forward Drew O'Connor.
Heinen and Desharnais were both in the lineup Saturday when the Penguins hosted the Nashville Predators at PPG Paints Arena.
On Aug. 22, Rutger McGroarty, a first-round pick (No. 14) in the 2022 NHL Draft, was acquired from the Winnipeg Jets for forward prospect Brayden Yager, drafted 14th in 2023. McGroarty signed a three-year, entry-level contract, and started the season in the NHL for three games before being re-assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League.
"Our goal is to try to acquire the assets that we've laid out and then either turn those draft picks and develop them into players that can help the team quickly, but not expedite it to hinder the development of the player," Dubas said, "or use those assets to be in the mix when players that can make an impact are present and can help us."
March 7, 2024, might have been the clearest case. The Penguins traded first-line forward Jake Guentzel and defenseman Ty Smith to the Carolina Hurricanes for forward prospects Ville Koivunen, Vasily Ponomarev and Cruz Lucius, forward Michael Bunting and two draft picks in 2024.
"I think Kyle has done a good job at trying to help our group be competitive and, at the same time, try to get a little bit younger and add some prospects to our overall organization so that we can fill some of the depth," coach Mike Sullivan said. "Maybe some of the things that have been void here over the last little while, for obvious reasons. To a certain extent, I think it's the cost of winning."
The same day as the Guentzel trade, the Penguins lost 6-0 to the Washington Capitals. Then it was 5-1 to the Boston Bruins on March 9 and 4-0 to the Edmonton Oilers on March 10. They missed the Stanley Cup Playoffs for a second straight season.
There was a "malaise," Dubas said, one Pittsburgh (21-24-8) can't afford to repeat. Entering Saturday, they had lost seven of 10 games and were last in the Metropolitan Division, seven points behind the Tampa Bay Lightning for the second wild card in the East.
"This year is a little bit different," Dubas said. "Some of the teams over the last number of weeks have separated, very frankly. The Islanders have won six straight games. Columbus, they don't seem to be slowing down. So, we don't have the time, if we want to make a run for it like we did last year, we don't have the time to see these points slip away.
"So, I think we have to learn from [last year]. I think with young guys coming up from Wilkes-Barre, the hope is that will provide us with some energy, and we can learn from last year and propel ourselves to have a meaningful run through February, March and April."
But no matter the roster, Sullivan said, the focus will be the same.
"It's our job to compete every day," Sullivan said. "The coaching staff, the players, we're in this thing together. Our expectations haven't changed. We're in a fight for the playoffs. We're going to continue to fight to try to solidify a playoff spot.
"Our goal hasn't changed. We'll take the group we have here, we'll try to maximize the group. That's what our responsibility is to this."
