When hockey’s barn doors figuratively swing open at noon on July 1, the Pittsburgh Penguins will not be among the galloping stallions. As general managers prepare to throw a billion dollars toward players over the next 24 hours, the Penguins and general manager Kyle Dubas will be carefully watching the losers of that horse race.

The Penguins have veterans who can score, a veteran defenseman whose only remaining mission is to win a Stanley Cup, and some scrappy spare parts that are useful to GMs putting the finishing touches on complete teams hungry for a run at dethroning the Florida Panthers and winning the Stanley Cup.

The teams that do not fill their needs on the free agent market are the teams that Dubas is patiently waiting for. He knows it. They know it, too.

“I know more about the free agent market because of the calls we get on our veteran guys–teams are saying, ‘the market is nuts, we might have more interest in doing a deal or a trade.’ So we’re gonna evaluate everything,” said Dubas. “We’re going to do what’s best for the Penguins.”

The first big name is already off the free agency board as the Vegas Golden Knights finally wrapped up their sign-and-trade for Mitch Marner. There were multiple teams interested in Marner, but now Nikolaj Ehlers likely becomes the next prize on the market.

There’s only one, and the losers might very well begin to look longingly at Penguins winger Rickard Rakell, who netted a career high 35 goals this season and career high 70 points. Rakell is a talented winger with a slick, creative game and a hint of grit.

One option a lot of teams like is also Penguins winger Bryan Rust, but Dubas threw down the public gauntlet Monday when he made Rust available but only on the Penguins’ terms.

“He’s a great player, he’s signed, but he’s also a massive member of the Penguins. We’ll continue to be open for business, but the price will be very high,” Dubas asserted.

The opposite is likely true of defenseman Erik Karlsson, who no longer fits the Penguins’ direction. However, Dubas has held his cards this long, and he may be rewarded when other teams realize they didn’t get the talented players they needed to elevate their Cup chase. At which point, a rival GM very well may remember how good Karlsson was during the Four Nations tournament and forget how bad he was for much of last season, thus giving Dubas a solid return rather than a courtesy pittance.

Karlsson will unlikely bring back a haul, but a solid asset would ease the pain of going big to acquire him on Aug. 6, 2023, and never getting the badly desired payoff.

Evgeni Malkin

Pittsburgh Hockey Now was the first to report that no decisions were made on Evgeni Malkin’s future. With inside sources on both sides of the story, we confirmed that Malkin would play with the Penguins in 2025-26 and that nothing had been decided positive or negative beyond that. In fact, recent reports may have served as a blessing as they forced the Penguins management team to pick up the phone and explain their open position, and Malkin’s camp did the same.

Read More: Malkin’s Penguins Future Beyond Next Season Remains…Undecided

Dubas affirmed for everyone Monday, almost verbatim, that Malkin’s situation is to be decided, but not anytime soon. To further get ahead of any chatter, Dubas also laid out the timeline for the conversations that are yet to come.

“I talked to Geno at the end of the year in the exit meeting and then followed up with him after the (report). I get it, he’s in his last year of his contract, and it’s been a topic of discussion,” said Dubas. “But the way that we’re going to approach it is we’re gonna go into the year and then, as I told Geno in his exit meeting, and then (his agent) J.P. Barry, when this started to gather some steam, we’ll meet at the Olympic break. We’ll see where Geno is at, and then meet after the year.

“But yeah, there’s, I think it’s, it’s strange, he’s gonna be 39, at the end of July, and he’s still playing at a very high level for a player of that age, and obviously means a great deal to the community. So our major focus is on treating him right, pushing him to continue to be at his best this year, and doing right by him by continuing to communicate with him on where he stands and handling it the right way as an organization.”

Malkin’s offensive totals dipped last season, but there were a myriad of factors beyond turning 38 that contributed to the slide, not the least of which was a revolving door of wingers not up to a top-six role. In fact, the Penguins non-tendered Philip Tomasino Monday rather than give him an affordable qualifying offer. Cody Glass was traded for a third-round pick. Anthony Beauvillier was a complete player who eventually fetched a second-round pick but isn’t necessarily known for offensive production. Jesse Puljujarvi, Danton Heinen, and Kevin Hayes were other wingers who slotted beside him.

Puljujarvi finished the year with the Charlotte Checkers of the AHL, and the others joined him with a lack of success.

Malkin’s numbers were as much a result of his game, the team’s struggles, as they were the wingers who surrounded him–at least until the end of the season when the light at the end of the Penguins’ rebuilding tunnel made its first appearance in the sweaters of Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen.

In other words, check back in February for a better idea if this season will become Malkin’s last.