The Pittsburgh Penguins find themselves outside of the playoff picture for the third year in a row. This is uncommon for a Sidney Crosby hockey club. To make matters worse, they’re a team in decline. General manager Kyle Dubas appears to have a heavy lift in front of him.

The Penguins will be looking to reset on the fly here. Crosby has two years remaining on his contract and they won’t want to waste those few years. That sets them up as a candidate willing to make a hockey trade that could also be interested in the young talent on the Sabres roster.

Penguins Offseason Outlook

2025 Projected Cap Space (per Puck Pedia): $23.8 million

Key Restricted Free Agents: Conor Timmins, Pierre-Olivier Joseph, Connor Dewar, and Philip Tomasino

Key Unrestricted Free Agents: Matt Nieto and Matt Grzelcyk

Rickard Rakell

I kicked around the idea of Rakell a lot during the trade deadline. It was always more likely the veteran winger would be moved in the offseason if that’s the path the Penguins wanted to explore.

The 31-year-old forward will finish the season with over 30 goals and 30 assists. It’ll be the second time in three years he’ll have over 25 goals and 30 assists. Three more years are remaining on his contract with a $5 million cap hit.

The Sabres need a middle-six winger this offseason who can be responsible defensively and provide offensive upside beyond finishing. Rakell provides those things, as well as the ability to be impactful on the power play.

The question is how many more years does he have playing at this level? He’ll turn 32 years old in May, but there are currently no signs of decline at this point. I think if he can give the Sabres at least two years of this level of play, it would be worth acquiring him.

The cost for Rakell isn’t going to be cheap and they’d be competing against a handful of suitors. I’d have to kick it around more, but if the Sabres are exploring moving JJ Peterka, this could be a landing spot. Younger non-NHL players such as Noah Ostlund or Konsta Helenius may be two others the Penguins would consider.

It should be mentioned that Rakell carries an eight-team no-trade clause in his contract.

Bryan Rust

Bryan Rust is another veteran forward who could be moved by the Penguins this summer, but he’s a different type of forward than Rakell.

He brings more grit to his game and does his damage around the net. They need that type of forward that’s willing to go to the “dirty areas” on the ice. His defensive game isn’t as good as Rakell has been throughout his career. Kevyn Adams and Lindy Ruff have both discussed the need to improve their team defense. I’m not sure adding Rust would do that.

He’s also not a proficient passer in the offensive zone based on his microstats from All Three Zones. This becomes a roster-building decision. They can add Rust to improve in one area of the game offensively and work on their team defense improving in other acquisitions.

Rust also has three years remaining on his contract. However, his cap hit over those three years is $5.125 million. His actual cash owed is less than the cap hit annually. Next season his salary is $5.13 million and then it drops to $3.66 million in each of the final two years of the deal.

The other interesting part here is that Rust has no trade protection remaining when the new league year begins on July 1st.

Tristan Jarry

Tristan Jarry had a terrible 2024-25 season with the Penguins. It saw him on waivers multiple times and starting a handful of AHL games. The Sabres have their own questions in goal with Ukko-Pekka Luukkonen having a down season.

This would be a trade in which the Sabres are betting on Jarry rebounding in a different situation and buying at a low cost. He has finished in the top 25 in goals saved above expected in Evolving Hockey’s model in two of the last three years. It has been an up-and-down roller coaster for him over the last four seasons.

The only way that the Sabres should consider this as an option to have a buffer in place behind Luukkonen is if the Penguins retain on his contract. He has three years remaining with a $5.375 million cap hit. If they retained 33% of that deal, the cap hit would only be $3.6 million.

That’s a more palatable price to play for a goaltender you would utilize as a 1B option at best. Where it gets messy is if the Sabres were to acquire Jarry they’d have two goaltenders with three years or longer remaining on their deals. What would that mean for Devon Levi?

Of course, they could eventually move one to create room for Levi. It’s not something that I would concern myself with this offseason to improve an area of need.

The Sabres and Penguins seem like logical trade partners based on the needs of each club. We’ll see if something comes together this summer between the two.

Data via: Evolving Hockey, Puck Pedia, and All Three Zones

Photo Credit: USA Today Sports