PITTSBURGH — Much is still to be learned about new president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas and his long-term vision for the Penguins, and we will need more than one month before we can draw conclusions about his tenure. But one thing was apparent in recent days. The man sure is an elite multi-tasker, isn't he?
In terms of total transactions, Saturday was one of the busiest days in franchise history. Per Penguins historian Bob Grove, the eight new contracts Dubas handed out was the most signings the team had ever made in one day.
The long-term deals given to No. 1 goalie Tristan Jarry and new defenseman Ryan Graves were two of the most expensive signings of NHL free agency.
On Sunday, they added forwards Radim Zohorna and Marc Johnstone and goalie Magnus Hellberg, all expected to go to the American Hockey League.
Factor in their pre-draft trade for winger Reilly Smith and the Penguins are currently projected to plug at least five newcomers into their 2023-24 lineup.
Even after that flurry of activity, Dubas suggested Saturday that his maneuvering might not yet be done. The possibility of a player-for-player trade remains. But until one materializes, we are left to assess what he has done so far.
The Penguins certainly were busy. But have they actually gotten any better?
They do appear to be improved. Smith was a nice pickup. Graves is a good bet to be a significant upgrade over Brian Dumoulin. Hopefully, Lars Eller or Noel Acciari is a serviceable third-line center. There is finally a clear pathway for prospects such as Drew O'Connor or Sam Poulin to grab regular NHL roles.
Jarry is an X-factor. Dubas and the Penguins have gambled that he will shrug off his injuries and can reach or maybe even exceed his previous All-Star form. In a sense, the term on his five-year pact is irrelevant. All that matters is what he does in the next two to three years, before the inevitable rebuild begins.
Unless Jarry ascends into the upper echelon of NHL goalies, it is once again up to Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang to do the heavy lifting.
Sadly, the Big Three won't be able to do that forever. Malkin will be 37, Crosby and Letang 36. Letang missed 18 games last season, but for the first time ever Crosby and Malkin both played all 82. That is not likely happen again, nor can the Penguins bank on both pivots producing more than a point per game.
So this new supporting cast needs to be markedly better if the Penguins are to get back into the playoffs, let alone come close to sniffing the Stanley Cup.
When Dubas was hired on June 1, one of the goals he stated at his introductory conference was to make the Penguins younger. But with a projected average age of 30.9, the league's oldest team a season ago just got older.
That doesn't necessarily mean they just got worse. But, yeah, it's not ideal.
Graves is the biggest pickup, at least in terms of stature. At 6-5 and 220 pounds, he's the largest blue-liner they have employed since Erik Gudbranson.
He is hardly an enforcer and topped 100 hits only once, but he is someone who is not easily pushed around. He moves pretty well at his size, can really shoot it and is OK at breakout passes. He thrived alongside more offensive-minded partners in Colorado's Cale Makar and New Jersey's Dougie Hamilton.
Best-case scenario? Graves performs similarly to how Dumoulin did in his prime, Letang bounces back next to him and the rest of this group falls in line. Marcus Pettersson and Jeff Petry were a solid duo last season. Ty Smith and Pierre-Olivier Joseph will duke it out again to see who plays with Jan Rutta.
Up front, Smith is comparable in terms of overall value to Jason Zucker, who was allowed to leave in free agency. Smith might not be as spunky. Not too many NHL players are. But he has a more rounded offensive game, can man either wing and comes with less injury concern. He will likely play with Malkin.
As promised, Dubas made "more subtle bets" to shake up their bottom six.
Eller is long in the tooth and has never hit 40 points. But he is reliable defensively, quite good on the penalty kill and won 53.7% of his draws last season.
Acciari is a gritty center or right winger who has 100 points in his 384 career games. He threw 244 hits in 2022-23. Dubas raved about his shot blocking.
Matt Nieto, if he makes the team, will provide speed and a low-event game.
Those three will all be in the mix with Mikael Granlund, Jeff Carter, Alex Nylander, O'Connor and possibly Poulin or Valtteri Puustinen. None of them may hit 15 goals. But it won't take all that much to outperform last season's bottom six, which rarely changed games with big hits, grinding cycles or urgent effort.
In the crease, backup goalie Casey DeSmith remains on the roster. But Dubas did well to bring in a credible threat to supplant him in Alex Nedeljkovic.
Add all that up and it looks as if Dubas made the Penguins better right now without sacrificing too much in terms of long-term flexibility. But it's difficult to envision the upcoming season playing out that differently than the previous six.
That's why it is imperative that Dubas continues to pursue a trade for Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson (or any other available player of similar stature).
Karlsson, 32, is an excellent skater, a magician with the puck and just became the first defenseman in three decades to eclipse 100 points in a season. His breakout passing and playmaking would turbocharge their transition game. And his prowess on the power play could make that a top-five unit again.
His defense rightfully gets criticized, but just picture what having one of Karlsson and Letang on the ice for 48 minutes a night could do for the Penguins.
Pulling off a trade for Karlsson and his $11.5 million salary will be difficult now that Dubas has the Penguins right up against the salary cap ceiling. But it's still doable, maybe only if a third-party broker gets involved. One can't help but notice that the salaries of Petry and Granlund match that almost perfectly.
Those two vets won't have much appeal to the rebuilding San Jose Sharks. But at worst their salaries would come off the books after two seasons whereas Karlsson has four more years on his deal. That should have some appeal. Add future assets, maybe just a high 2024 draft pick, and that may be enough.
Reading between the lines of his comments Saturday afternoon, it sure sounded as if Dubas planned to keep working at it. And why not? Such a move comes with some risk. But it has the potential to take this offseason from solid to spectacular and maybe give us one more fun run from Crosby, Malkin and Letang.
