Kyle Dubas said he doesn't "kid myself" with the reality of how close the Penguins are to being a contender.
"We have a long way to go," he said in his season-ending press conference on Tuesday. "In the end, it's on me to continue to make the moves, both with the development model for our younger players to continue to take greater steps than they did this year, but also to continue to make smart acquisitions and utilize our assets and our cap space in the ways that best push the team back to being a contender."
In terms of an actual path toward being a contender, though, Dubas made one thing pretty clear: They aren't about to blow it all up and rebuild. They took steps forward this season, and Dubas wants to continue on that path.
Dubas cited the existing group of veterans as one that "set the tone," and he thinks they have the "beginnings" of the young players they need to fill out the roster.
What the Penguins need, Dubas believes, is the "bridge" between that veteran core and the young players in their teens and early 20s. The goal this summer and into next season is to go out and acquire "impact" players in their mid- to late-20s to fill out the rest of the roster.
After pointing that out, Dubas made a clear pitch to sell the Penguins to those players.
"I think if you're one of those players that's a free agent or your situation in your spot is not going well, and you have some control, you could look at us and see very clearly you're going to be supported by a great coaching staff that gets the most out of players," Dubas said. "But you also have young players that are going to push from behind and older players that are going to set the tone. Pittsburgh, as a city, as a sports city, is a great place to play, a great place to grow and have a family. But also, I think for us on the hockey side, it should be one of, if not the most, appealing places to any player that has a choice in those matters."
Dubas will have to get creative in actually finding those players. The unrestricted free agent market isn't great. And by the entire nature of unrestricted free agency, those players are going to be older, not in their mid-20s. Dubas stressed patience, and cautioned against expecting as "big of a July as everyone wants" for free agency, because the long-term success of the team matters too, not just next season.
"It becomes a bit of a false flag when you say the team has this much in cap space, and we're going to use it, we're going to become better by whatever we have, 40 million in space," Dubas explained. "Part of it is getting the timing right of when we utilize that space, you know? And so is that going to be this summer? Is it going to be next year? During the year? What I don't want to do is burn the space long term, and then look back in a year or two or three and say, geez, now we're costing ourselves with these deals that we overpaid for in the summer of 2026 because we had it."
It's shaping up to be an interesting summer -- maybe not an exciting free agency period, but perhaps some big moves in trades or targeting of restricted free agents to go out and get those "bridge" players between the veteran core and the young rookies.
THE ASYLUM
Dubas: 'We have a long way to go'
Kyle Dubas said he doesn't "kid myself" with the reality of how close the Penguins are to being a contender.
"We have a long way to go," he said in his season-ending press conference on Tuesday. "In the end, it's on me to continue to make the moves, both with the development model for our younger players to continue to take greater steps than they did this year, but also to continue to make smart acquisitions and utilize our assets and our cap space in the ways that best push the team back to being a contender."
In terms of an actual path toward being a contender, though, Dubas made one thing pretty clear: They aren't about to blow it all up and rebuild. They took steps forward this season, and Dubas wants to continue on that path.
Dubas cited the existing group of veterans as one that "set the tone," and he thinks they have the "beginnings" of the young players they need to fill out the roster.
What the Penguins need, Dubas believes, is the "bridge" between that veteran core and the young players in their teens and early 20s. The goal this summer and into next season is to go out and acquire "impact" players in their mid- to late-20s to fill out the rest of the roster.
After pointing that out, Dubas made a clear pitch to sell the Penguins to those players.
"I think if you're one of those players that's a free agent or your situation in your spot is not going well, and you have some control, you could look at us and see very clearly you're going to be supported by a great coaching staff that gets the most out of players," Dubas said. "But you also have young players that are going to push from behind and older players that are going to set the tone. Pittsburgh, as a city, as a sports city, is a great place to play, a great place to grow and have a family. But also, I think for us on the hockey side, it should be one of, if not the most, appealing places to any player that has a choice in those matters."
Dubas will have to get creative in actually finding those players. The unrestricted free agent market isn't great. And by the entire nature of unrestricted free agency, those players are going to be older, not in their mid-20s. Dubas stressed patience, and cautioned against expecting as "big of a July as everyone wants" for free agency, because the long-term success of the team matters too, not just next season.
"It becomes a bit of a false flag when you say the team has this much in cap space, and we're going to use it, we're going to become better by whatever we have, 40 million in space," Dubas explained. "Part of it is getting the timing right of when we utilize that space, you know? And so is that going to be this summer? Is it going to be next year? During the year? What I don't want to do is burn the space long term, and then look back in a year or two or three and say, geez, now we're costing ourselves with these deals that we overpaid for in the summer of 2026 because we had it."
It's shaping up to be an interesting summer -- maybe not an exciting free agency period, but perhaps some big moves in trades or targeting of restricted free agents to go out and get those "bridge" players between the veteran core and the young rookies.
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