Significant issue emerges in Pittsburgh amidst trade rumours
GM Kyle Dubas faces a tough situation halfway through the season…
HockeyFeed
To sell or not to sell: that’s the question the Pittsburgh Penguins and general manager Kyle Dubas have to be asking themselves. Earlier this month, it was revealed that Dubas was going to decide if he was buying or selling by the time the team’s off on the All-Star weekend. However, thanks to Chris Johnston’s latest update, which came during last night’s edition of Insider Trading on TSN, it sounds like the Pens general manager needs more time to make a very tough decision. This is how Johnston explained it:
“Arguably the most interesting of those bubble teams is the Pittsburgh Penguins, notably having Jake Guentzel as a UFA on their roster. And some might remember that Kyle Dubas earlier this season said that he was going to wait until the All-Star Break to evaluate what direction he would go with the team. In reaching out to him on this day it sounds as though that wasn’t a hard deadline. It wasn’t as though on Jan. 27 he would know that direction. And so Dubas, even after the two games to end the first half of the season for the Penguins this week, he’s going to keep watching beyond that points. He insists that his team will make decisions for him in terms of their performance and so with six week still to that trade deadline, I don’t think in Pittsburgh they’re going to have clarity on the direction in the next week or two here.”
The Canucks have been linked to Guetzel, is slated to become a UFA on July 1 unless he and Dubas agree to a contract extension. Vancouver has reportedly been seeking a top-six forward as the Canucks currently sit in top place of the Pacific division.
However for now, it sounds plausible that the Penguins want to wait longer as they remain in the hunt for wild-card berths. Pittsburgh needs to start winning though as they are currently five points out of the last Wild card playoff spot in the Eastern conference.
If a trade takes place ahead of the deadline Dubas could be seeking young players with potential or draft picks to restock the Penguins’ depleted prospect pool.
One thing is clear, Dubas isn’t likely to make a decision ahead of the All-Star Break and could start selling on Deadline Day only… This will be interesting.
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