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The 2025-26 season for the Pittsburgh Penguins, while coming to a disappointing close within the Stanley Cup Playoffs against the in-state rival Philadelphia Flyers, can be considered successful by most measures.<\/p>\n
The Penguins entered the season tabbed by most insiders and fans as nowhere near a Stanley Cup Playoff team, given they hadn’t advanced past the 82nd game of the regular season since 2022 and hired a brand recent head coach in Dan Muse following the dismissal of Mike Sullivan. Moreover, longtime franchise mainstays Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Bryan Rust were all a yr older.<\/p>\n
Nonetheless, the Penguins got solid contributions from up and down their lineup, including a 30-goal season from first-year Pittsburgh forward Anthony Mantha. Within the postseason, the Penguins fell behind three games to none before making life extremely uncomfortable for the Flyers by winning twice in a row, and coming inside a single goal of forcing Game 7.<\/p>\n
Cam York’s seeing-eye shot in additional time of Game 6 in some way eluded goaltender Arturs Silovs, who had replaced the struggling Stuart Skinner following Game 3.<\/p>\n
There will likely be loads of attention given to the situation with Malkin, considering he just accomplished the ultimate yr of his contract and, despite saying he has no real interest in playing for an additional team apart from the Penguins, could thoroughly either retire or play another yr with a distinct organization.<\/p>\n
That being said, who’re just a few names that Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas could consider targeting on the trade market in the approaching weeks and months?<\/p>\n
Once considered the goaltender of the longer term for the Montreal Canadiens, Sam Montembeault as an alternative has been replaced by Jakub Dobes, who not only earned his first Stanley Cup Playoff motion last spring but was named Montreal’s starter this season within the postseason. Dobes led the Canadiens to a seven-game series upset over the Tampa Bay Lightning within the Eastern Conference Quarterfinal and has his sights set on leading his team to the third round for what can be the primary time since 2021.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Montembeault has had to look at this all from the bench, knowing that Dobes is the brand new starter on the town. He has a single yr left on his contract with an inexpensive $3.15 million salary cap hit, and a trade to the Penguins would enable him to battle for the starting position with Silovs.<\/p>\n
There is anticipated to be a gap within the Pittsburgh net this summer, as Dubas just isn’t expected to bring back Skinner, a pending unrestricted free agent. Skinner had been acquired from the Edmonton Oilers in mid-December in a blockbuster deal involving Tristan Jarry, who, like Skinner, struggled.<\/p>\n
Despite signing a lengthy extension to stick with the Wild, goaltender Filip Gustavsson has found himself supplanted by teammate Jesper Wallstedt, who was named the starter for Minnesota for the beginning of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. Not only did Wallstedt help his team to a first-round victory over the Dallas Stars, but he has since rebounded from what was a tricky outing in Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinal series against the Colorado Avalanche to win Game 3 in Minnesota, helping his club cut Colorado’s series lead in half and breathe recent life into the team.<\/p>\n