Hearts pounding. Palms sweaty. It is not just fans that are anxiously watching the cascading carnage of today’s 3 p.m NHL trade deadline, but general managers also get caught up in the intense auction for players.

The Pittsburgh Penguins are on the hunt. Penguins GM Kyle Dubas has been scouring the league to add to his cadre of young players who could be part of the next era, post the championship core.

Egor Chinakhov, Ilya Solovyov, Arturs Silovs, and Sam Girard have already arrived.

The trade deadline and July 1 are the days that enthrall fans but have also wrecked a few managerial tenures, as emotions also shove GMs into mistakes. While some GMs look for the missing piece to immediately make their team a Stanley Cup contender, tossing away draft picks and prospects, Dubas has methodically and patiently flipped nearly half of the Penguins roster.

In fact, of the 18 players in uniform Thursday, 11 (if counting rookie Ben Kindel) were acquired by Dubas via free agency or trade since July 1.

Yet as the Penguins stumbled to a 5-1 loss Thursday, the inescapable fact was that the roster is dependent on the old lions who dominate the team’s fortunes. And so when forward Evgeni Malkin threw a stick-swinging temper tantrum, he not only changed the game but also cost the Penguins the game with his penalty and his absence.

By Dubas’s own words, he is looking for more trades in the Chinakhov mold: young, mid-20s with team control.

“I think the ideal acquisition for us will be a player that’s in their 20s, closer to their mid-20s, that has some team control,” said Dubas on his team-hosted radio show Wednesday. “Either they’re signed, or they are a pending restricted free agent, where they’re not a rental. That said, if we get closer to Friday and there’s a chance to add to the team with someone who is a rental, we could look at that, too.”

Dubas sacrificed merely a second and third-round pick for Chinakhov on Dec. 29, a belated Christmas present for Dubas, who chased Chinakhov for months.

However, Thursday’s game had to be a curveball that Dubas was not expecting. Losses happen, but the Penguins have not been able to win more than 40% of the faceoffs without Sidney Crosby in the lineup. And neither has Malkin looked like himself over the last few games as his push for a new contract remains rebuffed.

The scoring depth that was so prevalent as the Penguins charged upward in the standings now looks like filler.

As a result, the Columbus Blue Jackets have closed to within three points of the Penguins for a playoff spot. Moneypuck.com has dropped the Penguins from 91% to make the postseason to 78%.

But fans must remember the crucial tenet: Dubas is not chasing the playoffs this season; he is chasing the sturdy foundation by which to build a contender. So, despite the mounting faceoff losses and Malkin’s current discombobulation, it’s highly improbable the Penguins chase any player over 30 to patch a current need.

In compiling the list of potential Penguins trade targets, we removed one name Thursday when St. Louis Blues defenseman Colton Parayko rejected a trade to the Buffalo Sabres. The trade would have made former first-overall pick, defenseman Owen Power, expendable. However, if Buffalo adds another big-time defenseman, Power would be the quintessential Dubas target.

And the potential list of targets grew Thursday night when the Washington Capitals dealt franchise stalwart John Carlson to the Anaheim Ducks for their 2026 or ’27 first-round pick and a 2027 third-rounder.

Unintentionally, there are plenty of defensemen on the list, but that bodes well for the Penguins, whose blueline prospect pool is thin. Only Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke are within shouting distance of the big show, and both took a step back this season.

Also, make sure to check out Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s annual live trade deadline blog.

Potential Penguins Trade Targets

1. Mason McTavish, C

Dubas likes high hockey IQ players, and the Penguins are not afraid to take on players whose skating could improve. Hello, McTavish.

Anaheim and McTavish, 23, had quite the skirmish over a new contract last summer. The third-overall pick in 2021 has the skills, but his production has plummeted this season. After a 52-point campaign last season, he has just 13 goals and 32 points in 56 games this season.

McTavish is in the first-year of a six-year deal that carries a $7 million cap hit. If Anaheim GM Pat Verbeek is a little squeamish about that deal, the Penguins should be his first call.

The Penguins believe they can improve a player’s skating and have proven that on several occasions. A young center with years of team control and loads of talent is tailor-made for Dubas’s rebuild plan.

2. Pavel Mintyukov, LHD

Trade rumors exploded in November when Mintyukov was a healthy scratch for several games. He fell behind fellow young defensemen Olen Zellweger and Jackson LaCombe and publicly expressed his unhappiness.

Mintyukov, 22, is a Dubas-type guy all day. He was the Ducks’ first-round pick (10th overall) in 2022. He’s got top-pairing potential, a high hockey IQ, and speed and offensive instincts. But those offensive skills can get him into trouble as he gets too aggressive.

Anaheim acquired John Carlson early Friday morning. Carlson is a righty who won’t specifically make Mintyukov available. Still, Carlson is also an offensive defenseman, and the Ducks need more defensive D-men to balance their triple threat on the right side.

3. Shane Wright, C/RW

No one who saw it will ever forget Wright walking across the draft stage, glaring at the Montreal Canadiens table. Wright was the presumptive first-overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft, but fell to fourth and the Seattle Kraken.

Wright is not a top-end center. He’s a meat-and-potatoes player who could learn at the feet of Sidney Crosby how to convert a north-south game into more production.

Last season–his rookie year–Wright notched 19 goals and 44 points, but is behind that pace this season, with 11 goals and 23 points in 61 games. Seattle is in a playoff chase, but the feeling is that Wright could be available in the right deal.

4. Braden Schneider, RHD

It simply has not worked with the New York Rangers. The team’s 2020 first-round pick (19th overall) is in his fourth full season, but is not a prominent member of the Rangers’ blue line.

In 61 games, Schneider has two goals and 10 assists with a minus-10 rating, but offense is not his forte. Schneider is big and could be a shutdown D-man for a long time. At 6-foot-4, 213 pounds, he could quickly become a building block for the next Penguins era.

5. Simon Nemec, RHD

Nemec, 22, was the second-overall pick in 2022. The New Jersey Devils are scrambling to build around the Hughes brothers (Jack, Luke) and their talented core, but things have not gone well for Nemec, who has fallen in and out of favor.

Trade rumors surrounding Nemec are nothing new, but recent reports suggest he may finally be available for a price that makes it possible. The all-around defenseman is 6-foot-1, 190 pounds, and moves well.

This season, Nemec has nine goals and 21 points in a career high 48 games. New Jersey has needs at every level, and Dubas could circle Nemec as a player the Penguins can mold.

6. Cole Perfetti, LW

We have resisted tying Perfetti to the Penguins because teams don’t give up on potential top-line wingers, and the Winnipeg Jets are closer to rebuild territory than contender status.

However, part of rebuilding is acquiring talent. Perfetti has only inconsistently applied his skills, following up 19 and 18 goal seasons, respectively, with an eight-goal campaign thus far.

Perfetti, 24, has speed, vision, and can attack the offensive zone. He’s also good on the forecheck. He could be the perfect complement to Sidney Crosby’s line, but he still needs to learn to be better in the defensive zone.

The Penguins have prospects, including one from Winnipeg (Owen Pickering), who could make this a match. Just imagine Perfetti and Chinakhov as part of the Penguins’ top-six for years.

7. Owen Beck, C

Beck, 22, is a high-intensity, defensively responsible center who can win faceoffs, but could also have more to give in the offensive zone. He has played a couple of strong games against the Penguins, too.

Beck has just two points (1-1-2) in 27 NHL games over the last two seasons, but has been cast as a fourth-line center in Montreal while he fights to stick in the lineup.

Perhaps quite importantly for the woefully faceoff-inept Penguins, Beck wins draws. He has won 58% of his faceoffs this season. Beck plays with speed and high-compete level. He did score 34 goals in the OHL in 2023-24.

Keep Watching: Owen Power, RHD

Power, 23, is a 6-foot-6, 213-pound defender with good wheels, some offensive pedigree, and a D-man who slots as a third-pairing defenseman in Buffalo. One wonders if Jarmo Kekalainen is still hunting for a big-get, and if that upgrade on the Sabres’ roster is a defenseman, could Dubas be willing to part with what would be a significant package of assets to pounce?

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