At 3:01 p.m. Friday afternoon, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is going to look good. Well, at least in terms of how he handles winger Rickard Rakell.
It’s going to be hard to screw this one up.
Again, by 3:01 p.m., anyway.
This is a rare situation for a GM as Friday’s trade deadline approaches. Dubas has a highly sought-after trade chip on a last-place roster. As a result, his team’s fans and the media that cover it have opinions on what should be done.
But at least in my assessment of fan interactions on the matter, I’m getting the impression that the split camps can see where the other side is coming from.
That’s uncommon in sports these days.
In all areas of life, come to think of it.
Dubas can sell off Rakell to the highest bidder from a seemingly ravenous pool of teams willing to overpay to acquire scoring talent. Or he can hold on to him during a career year with three seasons remaining on what has suddenly become a very team-friendly $5 million per year contract.
By Friday night, there won’t be a wrong decision between those two options unless Dubas pawns off Rakell for a substandard return.
By all accounts, that sounds like it’s going to be nearly impossible to do. Given the number of teams that apparently would want Rakell, whatever package the Penguins get back in return is going to look fantastic on paper.
He’s just got to do a good job of evaluating the prospects the team will be getting in return and do a good job drafting with the selections they get.
We won’t truly evaluate that for years to come.
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Meanwhile, if Dubas holds Rakell, he’ll be keeping many of his fans happy by retaining the club’s leading goal scorer on an affordable deal as he helps Sidney Crosby perhaps maintain his streak of averaging at least a point per game in every season of his career.
For an NHL GM there’s no such thing as a “no-lose situation.” But this one is pretty close.
At least until none of the prospects or draft picks work out.
Or at least until Rakell gets injured, or never replicates this kind of production again, or yields much less of a return if the team stinks again next year and they decide to trade him at some point in 2026.
Obviously, there’s a risk that whatever decision Dubas makes will blow up in his face. But the logic surrounding whatever decision he eventually makes will be sound and can be easily defended.
Even a person like me who is firmly in the “Trade Rakell Now” bucket can appreciate the other point of view.
As the team rebuilds, I’d rather that it acquire multiple talented young players as opposed to retaining one decent 31-year-old. I think this is probably as good as it is going to get for Rakell in Pittsburgh. His value will never be higher. I think the Pens are still going to be a lower-tier team next year anyway. I wouldn’t value Crosby’s points-per-game streak compared to stocking the pipeline of the system. That feels like a baseball stat to me, anyway.
Yeah, so, trade him. Just don’t screw it up.
Under these circumstances, it feels like that should be pretty hard to do.
If Dubas keeps him, though, he’s not going to have to twist my arm or anyone else’s to explain why.
So, enjoy Friday, Kyle. You are likely to hear more cheers than jeers, regardless of what you do with Rakell.
Now, see if you can unload Erik Karlsson for a bag of pucks, and you’ll get a parade down Grant Street.