Former Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford was fairly open with his intentions.
He would publicly proclaim he needed a top-six winger, and two weeks later, Jason Zucker showed up via trade.
His successor, Ron Hextall, was far more ambiguous.
After expressing comfort with his roster, a trade would bring in the likes of forward Jeff Carter.
Current Penguins president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas, who also holds the general manager role, doesn’t take either approach.
Dubas has largely outright stated he will avoid giving specifics as to any plans he has with the team.
So any speculation as to the direction the Penguins will take Friday and Saturday during the NHL Draft — which largely serves as a market for executives to shop current players — as well as the first day of the free-agent signing period Monday is almost strictly that.
Speculation.
Dubas, whose public comments with independent media have been limited in his first year with the team, runs a tight ship and is pretty up-front about that practice.
But there are plenty of questions as the Penguins enter the most important weekend on the NHL calendar.
Who’s in goal?
In the days after the conclusion of 2023-24 season, Dubas and coach Mike Sullivan did just about everything to prop up confidence in Tristan Jarry, the team’s supposed top goaltender. Seemingly, the only thing they didn’t do was submit a lineup sheet for the season opener with Jarry listed in between the pipes.
Their endorsements came despite Jarry ceding the cage to backup Alex Nedeljkovic for the final 13 games of the regular season as the Penguins made a desperate push for a playoff spot.
(Note: At least one of those games came as Jarry was scratched because of illness.)
In addition to professing confidence in Jarry during his season-ending media availability April 19, Dubas largely pumped the brakes on any notion of Nedeljkovic returning as a pending unrestricted free agent while also expressing intrigue in promising prospect Joel Blomqvist.
Approximately two months later, the team signed Nedeljkovic to a two-year contract extension worth $2.5 million a season. Coupled with Jarry’s salary cap hit of $5.375 million — he has four years remaining on his contract — the Penguins have $7.875 million devoted to their goaltending.
It’s not a gaudy figure, but it does limit what they can spend this upcoming offseason. Per Cap Friendly, the Penguins are currently projected to have $10,745,658 of salary cap space when free agency opens Monday. That total is enough to patch up some holes but not necessarily make significant changes to a roster that missed the playoffs.
In recent days, established NHL goaltenders such as Joonas Korpisalo, Darcy Kuemper (a Stanley Cup champion), Jacob Markstrom and Linus Ullmark (a Vezina Trophy winner) have been dealt in trades.
Per Cap Friendly, Jarry has a modified no-trade clause that allows him to submit a list of 12 teams he won’t accept a trade to. That limits the market of teams Dubas could swing a deal with. But doesn’t make it impossible.
Chances are, the Penguins will return with a tandem Jarry and Nedeljkovic to open 2024-25. But management might not make a final determination on that before this weekend is through.
Wing men
After having a mostly reliable group of top-six forwards in 2022-23, that group was far less dependable in 2023-24.
Crosby, Bryan Rust and Jake Guentzel (who was traded March 7) were pretty reliable, but the rest of the group was hit or miss.
Much of that decline was because of newcomer Reilly Smith and incumbent Rickard Rakell falling well short of expectations.
The Penguins looted Smith off the Vegas Golden Knights, who were facing a salary cap crunch. After a quick start with second-line center Evgeni Malkin, Smith was largely inconsistent and finished the season on the third line.
As for Rakell, he never seemed to gain traction after a slow start, and as a result, Dubas grew somewhat disenchanted with him.
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Smith has one year remaining on his contract ($5 million salary cap hit) and an eight-team no-trade clause. Moving him would be easier than Rakell, who has four years left on a deal that also has an eight-team no-trade clause and an identical cap hit.
Regardless if they stay or if they are replaced, the Penguins need more from their top-six forwards as a whole.
The captain
Perhaps the biggest question for the Penguins roster and their future involves a player who is still under contract for another season.
On July 1, the Penguins can sign Crosby to a new contract extension, allowing him to finish his career with the only team he’s ever been employed with.
There is little to suggest Crosby — infamously intolerant of change to his surroundings — won’t sign an extension. But the main question is how long his presumed new contract will be. As he approaches his 37th birthday Aug. 7, there is little to suggest Crosby is slowing down.
Defenseman Marcus Pettersson is also entering the final year of his current contract. While certainly not as vital as Crosby, Pettersson’s progression in recent years has put the 28-year-old in a position to be a key component to the team’s future beyond the 2024-25 campaign.
The final details of potential contracts for both players could be ironed out this weekend.
Seth Rorabaugh is a TribLive reporter covering the Pittsburgh Penguins. A North Huntingdon native, he joined the Trib in 2019 and has covered the Penguins since 2007. He can be reached at srorabaugh@triblive.com.