The Sidney Crosby era has been a good one for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Three Stanley Cups and a consistently dangerous team for the last two decades. Kyle Dubas was able to squeeze a little more juice out of the tail end of the era this season with the Penguins getting back to the playoffs.
It’s not a question of if the Crosby era is winding down, but when. He’s under contract for another season and the Penguins signed running mate Evgeni Malkin to a one year extension this week. The duo can still contribute and it seems to be a balance between staying competitive through the end of an era and maximizing what comes next in Pittsburgh.
Kyle Dubas has supplemented the Pens veterans with some prime aged help since he arrived in Pittsburgh. Players like Yegor Chinakhov, Tommy Novak, Elmer Soderblom and Sam Girard have provided enough support to buoy the Penguins back into the playoff picture. There’s still a sizable veteran group in between Crosby and the prime aged cohort though that threatens to add to the collective decline of the roster.
What Dubas hasn’t done, is commit to anyone for the long haul. The Penguins roster is primed for some major turnover in the next couple of years without a single contract longer than the next three seasons. There’s a lot of room to maneuver as the Penguins prepare to navigate into the post-Crosby era.
The Penguins have also been building up draft capital of late, starting with the 2025 draft. We’ve already seen one player from the 2025 draft, 11th OA Ben Kindell, arrive in the NHL. The Penguins appear to be preparing for life after Crosby while they claw out a few last competitive seasons before that time comes.
Will the Penguins be able to transition into a new era without a major rebuild? Time will tell, but they certainly appear to be preparing to make the transition as smooth as possible.
