The Pittsburgh Penguins lost in the primary round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs to the Philadelphia Flyers in six games. We saw the Flyers make the Penguins look old and slow for nearly all of the series. But for a Penguins team that was speculated to be tanking and going for Gavin McKenna, Pittsburgh overachieved.
Will Evgeni Malkin be Back, or Will the Pittsburgh Penguins go One other Direction?
But there are questions surrounding this roster and what direction GM Kyle Dubas will take. We all know previous administrations were hampered by ownership’s vision of winning with Sidney Crosby, Kris Letang, and Evgeni Malkin. Despite the fact that Crosby signed an extension and said he desired to stay, rumours swirled that he was going to be traded.
Malkin’s name began to swirl as he was a pending unrestricted free agent, and contract talks were placed on hold until after the season. Dubas was retooling the roster on the fly to maintain this team competitive. But this continues to be a rebuilding team. And now cue the Malkin and Crosby rumors again.
Jim Biringer of NHLRumors.com and Full Press Media joined TSN Radio in Montreal last Friday and was asked concerning the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster and whether they are going to bring back the identical team next season.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Host: “Just desired to wind up with that series. They’ve the 4, at one point, superstars on this league, Malkin, Crosby, Letang and Karlsson, like, how different does this club look in October?”
Jim Biringer: “I believe it’s going to be different. I believe they’ve lots of decisions to make. Kyle Dubas has lots of decisions to make. Like, look we Crosby’s still there, however the talk goes to be about is he going to remain? Is he going to maintain playing? One other extension possible? Is he gonna get traded again?
Malkin? Are they gonna bring him back? I do know he wants to return back, but is it a one-year deal? Is a two-year deal. Kris Letang, I do know he’s still got a while left on his deal, same with Karlsson, but Letang just doesn’t appear like he has it anymore, and it’s just my opinion. He could come back and have a fantastic offseason, but it surely just appears like that is the top for that core of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and this team goes to look different.
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And what number of guys are going to have profession seasons again next 12 months for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Like (Connor) Dewar and Anthony Mantha. They’ve lots of contracts that they should sign and determine. And again, goaltending, who’s going to be there? Is it Artur Silovs and Stuart Skinner? Are they bringing him back?
There are lots of query marks for Kyle Dubas. That is going to be a different-looking Penguins team next season.”
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