Kyle Dubas took over as the President of Hockey Operations of the Pittsburgh Penguins in June 2023. He named himself as the General Manager of the club in August 2023. After a departure from the Toronto Maple Leafs, Dubas took over a Penguins team that had some older elite talent that had missed the playoffs a few years in a row.

Dubas’ first year wasn’t much of a success. He tried to give this older Penguins core one more shot of making the playoffs. He dealt futures for Erik Karlsson and Reilly Smith. The Karlsson trade doesn’t look particularly great, as the San Jose Sharks netted defenceman Sam Dickinson with the first-rounder that Pittsburgh sent San Jose’s way. They sent Mikael Granlund as a cap dump to the Sharks, who flipped him and Cody Ceci to the Dallas Stars for a first and a fourth rounder. So, Dubas helped the Sharks land two extra firsts with the Karlsson move.

However, Dubas had a great second year as GM. He used almost everything at his disposal to add tons of draft capital and younger, cost-controlled players. One of the ways he was able to effectively add draft capital was taking on contracts that other teams viewed as undesirable.

Taking on undesirable contracts

At the draft, Dubas took on Kevin Hayes and his $3.57M cap hit for this year and next from the St. Louis Blues in exchange for a 2025 second. Dubas then traded this second back to the Blues in exchange for a second and a third, so the Blues could get their own pick to offersheet Dylan Holloway and Philip Broberg.

Dubas took on Cody Glass and his $2.5M cap hit in exchange for a third- and a sixth-round pick. Dubas then flipped Glass to the New Jersey Devils at the deadline and received another third round draft pick (this deal also featured some AHL players). The Nashville Predators had a cap crunch after committing to a bunch of older free agents, so they needed to make some cap room. Dubas took advantage of that situation and then flipped Glass at the deadline for another third.

With these two moves, Dubas added a second-round pick, three third rounders, and a sixth rounder.

I would also add the additions of Connor Dewar and Connor Timmins here. I wouldn’t call either player’s contract undesirable, but Dubas was able to grab them from Toronto for cheap. The Leafs had a busy deadline, adding Scott Laughton and Brandon Carlo. They needed to shed some cap space, and Dewar and Timmins making $500K over league minimum were easy to shed. Adding two RFAs for the price of a fifth is tidy business. Dewar and Timmins have both gotten off to a hot start with three points each in four games.

Taking advantage of a seller’s market

With so many teams in the mix, there were few sellers at this year’s deadline. That means it was a seller’s market. Teams that did sell got much higher returns than expected. Take Anthony Beauvillier, for example. Beauvillier has been traded many times in his NHL career. First, he was included to make the cap work in the Bo Horvat deal. Then the Vancouver Canucks flipped him to the Chicago Blackhawks for a fifth rounder. The Blackhawks sent him to the Nashville Predators for a fifth at last year’s deadline. This year, the Penguins traded Beauvillier to the Washington Capitals for a second rounder.

A year of change

IN:

OUT:

Just in picks, Dubas has added:

• one first rounder
• four second rounders
• four third rounders

Dubas downgraded his roster, but it was a roster that hasn’t made the playoffs in three years. After years of the Penguins organization going all-in, Dubas has finally guided them in a new direction with a couple draft classes of high picks. They still have a core of older veterans to lead them forward.