Penguins’ Kyle Dubas does it his way – patience required

CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — With all due respect to Blake Lizotte and Matt Grzelcyk, there was a somber atmosphere at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Monday.

The Pittsburgh Penguins, after many years at the top of the NHL mountain — and many more years of trying desperately to get there — are finally, after 18 years of aggressive championship pursuit, a team in transition. You can read it in Kyle Dubas’ words, you can hear it in his tone.

When asked to share his vision for the Penguins’ on-ice product going forward, the Penguins’ president/general manager was pretty blunt. He wants to win. But he doesn’t just want a team that squeaks into the postseason and catches lightning in a bottle. Dubas wants to build a machine, a team that has the potential to be great every season.

That doesn’t necessarily require a five-year reconstruction plan, but it probably won’t happen overnight either.

“It’s not like we’re going to reduce it to the studs situation here,” Dubas said. “We’re trying to use every possible method to acquire future assets.”

Dubas sees the ridiculously expensive deals being signed around the league, and he knows that strategy isn’t right for this team. He’s right.

And he is very transparent about it.

“What we’re not going to do is the quick fixes for free agents, like some of the long-term solutions we saw today,” he explained calmly.

Dubas is almost apologetic when he talks about it. He realizes that there is a generation of Penguins fans who have only ever won, and are buyers at the NHL trade deadline, and are annual Cup contenders.

But he knows this is the only way.

Dubas says he doesn’t know how long it will take. Maybe a year, maybe two. Maybe more.

It’s about time the Penguins changed their ways. It will make Dubas temporarily unpopular in some circles. That doesn’t mean he’s wrong.

Ten observations

• It will take some getting used to.

It’s not like the Penguins are going into rebuild mode. They’re not, at least not in the conventional sense. I’d call it a mini-rebuild. Don’t expect the Penguins to get any help at the trade deadline this season. They’ll go all the way to the salary cap. Dubas confirmed as much today. But their days of casually giving up picks and prospects like they were dollar bills are long gone.

Think about what we saw from Penguins general managers in the Sidney Crosby era. Ray Shero doesn’t get remembered enough for the gunslinger he was. Jim Rutherford made 50 trades in his first 50 months as Penguins GM. Seriously. Even Ron Hextall was a little more aggressive than he gets credit for.

Dubas, two months into the job, had already brought in Erik Karlsson, Reilly Smith, Lars Eller, Ryan Graves, Noel Acciari and others. It was like he was doing his best Rutherford impression. He was trying to give the mighty Penguins of old one one last chance to make a championship run. Dubas wasn’t perfect, but in the end, his team let him down. The Penguins were no longer up to par.

So the change. It’s the only way right now. The Penguins are not going to compete for a championship until a new wave of players comes in.

• Don’t worry about Sidney Crosby’s contract. There’s no reason to believe it won’t get done.

Is he unhappy with the direction of the team? Maybe. I haven’t talked to him in a couple of weeks and I don’t know what he thinks about this team. Crosby always thinks the Penguins can win and always takes optimism. So I would imagine he wants Dubas to be more aggressive. But I also think he’ll sign a deal this summer and I think he’ll convince himself, rightly or wrongly, that this team can win when October rolls around.

• Down with Reilly Smith.

Smith made it clear from the start that he never wanted to be in Pittsburgh. He would never run through a wall for the Penguins.

He’s a wildly popular guy in Vegas, a misfit original. There’s no denying that. He never fit in Pittsburgh, on or off the ice.

Dubas has done a great job of securing a fifth-round pick next year and a second-round pick in the 2027 NHL Draft. That’s a good piece of business.

• The Penguins would still like to find a left winger for Crosby, but with little salary cap space left, it wouldn’t be a sexy name.

It could easily be Drew O’Connor.

The Penguins better hope the man who showed up in March and April of last season was the real O’Connor. He was impressive.

• I think the signing of Blake Lizette is great. Really good, under the radar player.

He has 37 career goals in 320 games and is considered an above average fourth line center. He is undersized but has a lot of skill. Lizette is also only 26. He will make $1.85 million each of the next two seasons and I think he will improve the Penguins bottom six.

• I can’t recall ever seeing a roster with more quality fourth-line centers than the Penguins’ current lineup.

Lizette, Eller, Acciari and Kevin Hayes are all solid fourth-line centers on a good team.

Dubas has already indicated that Acciari will probably move to the right wing. Someone else will also have to move to the wing, unless there is another swap.

• Dubas and coach Mike Sullivan are always quick to mention Sam Poulin when discussing players who could make a dent in the lineup next season. He’s a center, and certainly not one of the top six.

Where on earth does he fit into this lineup? I just don’t see it.

• Anthony Beauvillier signed a one-year contract worth $1.25 million. The Penguins are very familiar with him. He always played well against them when he was a member of the Islanders.

Since he left New York, his value has dropped significantly. If the Penguins get the guy who played for the Islanders, it’s a steal. If they don’t, it’s not like they spent a lot of money to get him.

• Grzelcyk will likely replace PO Joseph in the lineup. He was given a one-year, $2.75 million contract. Many fans grumbled about the move and make no mistake, he wasn’t very good in Boston last season.

But again, like so many of the other contracts Dubas signed Monday, there’s not much risk here. The Penguins probably won’t be a playoff team next year. Either way, Grzelcyk probably won’t make or break them.

While Joseph certainly played better towards the end of last season, he was disappointing for the Penguins.

• What does it all mean?

Dubas plans for the future. I’ve heard many people say that Crosby should be furious about Dubas’ preference for future assets and that the GM should do everything he can to help Crosby win the Cup again.

Here’s the thing: That’s what Dubas is doing. This team is nowhere near a contender, and no amount of spending in free agency is going to change that.

Dubas wants to create a wave of talent that comes to Pittsburgh in the next two or three years so that Crosby can take the lead and make one last run or two before he leaves the game. That’s absolutely the right approach.

It’s going to take some patience from a fanbase that was never asked to show it. That doesn’t mean it’s the wrong decision.

The Penguins won’t be terrible this season, but they probably won’t be a playoff team. They’ll probably take baby steps along the way to become a championship contender again, even if it’s not obvious to the naked eye.

This organization has always judged itself on championships and nothing else, and in that way Dubas makes the right choice.

(Photo: Joe Hrycych/NHLI via Getty Images)