Although the Pittsburgh Penguins have improved after a ghastly start to the 2024-25 National Hockey League campaign, the team is again mired in a brutal stretch of seven losses in eight games.
And the plan remains for general manager Kyle Dubas to sell ahead of the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline, The Athletic's Josh Yohe reported earlier this week.
“Make no mistake, trades are coming,” Yohe wrote on Tuesday. “The Penguins have played at a 100-point pace since Thanksgiving and have put themselves in playoff contention. The improved results have not changed Dubas’ mindset. He’s going to sell.”
The hockey insider continued: “League sources expect the Penguins to make multiple deals. Marcus Pettersson is as good as gone, but don’t be shocked if other veterans are included. A league source said ‘no one is safe' on the Penguins, except players with full no-trade clauses, such as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.”
As of Friday, the Penguins are 18-20-8 through 46 games, good for second last in the Metropolitan Division and five points back of the final wildcard berth in the Eastern Conference.
Dubas continues to try and make the team younger while icing a competitive roster alongside Crosby and Malkin, wrote Yohe. That means a ton of roster players could be on the move ahead of the deadline, including Matt Nieto, Matt Grzelcyk, Blake Lizotte, Michael Bunting, Noel Acciari, Drew O'Connor, Jesse Puljujarvi, Anthony Beauvillier and Cody Glass.
Yohe did speculate that Rickard Rakell would play out the rest of the season in Pittsburgh, but confirmed that Dubas wouldn't be hesitant to move anyone outside the core if the right offer came along.
“The Penguins are likely to retain Rickard Rakell for the rest of this season,” Yohe wrote. “They feel no rush to move him. Then again, everyone has a price. From what I’ve been told, we should expect an aggressive approach from Dubas.”
Penguins struggling to remain in playoff positioning

Although there's a world where the Penguins go on a second-half run and advance to the 2025 Stanley Cup Playoffs, the more likely outcome is that it will be back-to-back-to-back missed postseasons in Pennsylvania.
Pittsburgh has lost three games in a row and seven of eight dating back to New Year's Eve. The wheels have completely fallen off for a club that was once 17-16-5 and in a playoff spot near the end of December. This prolonged stretch of futility has probably convinced Dubas that the best way forward is a fire sale, and considering the logjam in the Eastern Conference, it makes sense.
Most glaringly, both Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic have had a real tough time between the pipes. Neither goaltender has provided any kind of stability, and it's one of the main reasons Mike Sullivan's team keeps on losing.
Something is going to have to give — and that means a plethora of players will likely be getting a change of scenery between now and March 7. The Penguins are back in action in Buffalo to play the Sabres at KeyBank Center on Friday night.