Penguins Trade Rumors Forming Pattern

A pattern is emerging with all of the recent Pittsburgh Penguins trade rumors and activities.

Nov 30, 2024; Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, USA; Pittsburgh Penguins right wing Rickard Rakell (67) celebrates his goal with the Penguins bench against the Calgary Flames during the third period at PPG Paints Arena. Mandatory Credit: Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images / Charles LeClaire-Imagn Images

With the Pittsburgh Penguins in the middle of a three-game winning streak for the first time this season, the team is suddenly alive in the Metropolitan Division. Contenders, they are not, but there is a chance that they can move up the standings in a crowded division.

Regardless of the Penguins winning or losing, the team is establishing their intention to rebuild. While a full-on tear-down, start from scratch rebuild is off the table while Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin remain on the team. But everything else general manager Kyle Dubas can do in the meantime, he's already undertaking. And the trade chatter is forming a very clear pattern - the Pens are eager to take on young players and give them second chances with their organization.

It started this summer when the team acquired forward prospect Rutger McGroarty, giving the team a blue-chip forward prospect for the first time in years. McGroarty had fallen deeply out of favor with his former team, the Winnipeg Jets, and now gets a clean start in Pittsburgh.

The trend continued with the recent acquisition of forward Philip Tomasino. Another former first round pick, this time of the Nashville Predators, he had lost his top-nine forward spot over the last year and was relegated to part-time NHL player. The Pens pounced on the situation and sent a 2027 fourth-round pick to Nashville for him. In return, Tomasino has two goals in his first three games with the Penguins.

The latest rumors have the Pens tied to two more players in the same situation: Kirby Dach of the Montreal Canadiens and Nils Hoglander of the Vancouver Canucks. Dach has missed a majority of the last season and a half with an injury, and it's seriously harmed his standing with the Canadiens. Brought in to be the number two center behind captain Nick Suzuki, that's not quite what they're getting. Now that he's healthy, the rumors are swirling and Pittsburgh makes a ton of sense as a landing spot.

Something similar can be said of Hoglander and Vancouver. He may not be available for trade while the team deals with the absence of J.T. Miller, but with the Penguins looking to deal veteran defenseman Marcus Pettersson, the Canucks are interested and Hoglander could be the piece coming back.

Hoglander is a 23-year-old winger with lots of NHL experience, but hasn't been able to stay consistent through the start of his career. Despite having 24 goals last season, he has just two goals and five total points through the first 23 games. A change of scenery could be perfect timing and a long time coming for Hoglander, and again the Penguins make too much sense as the landing spot.

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