How Kyle Dubas’ shrewd retooling sent the Penguins back to the playoffs

After a painful few years in Pittsburgh, the Penguins are back in the dance. 

There is no doubt a certain poetry in Kyle Dubas returning his new team to the Stanley Cup Playoffs in the same season that his former club drops out of the mix. And make no mistake, the Pens’ return to the post-season has Dubas’s fingerprints all over it.

For those who’ve paid only passing attention to the club, it might seem a familiar story — Sidney Crosby and his fellow veterans finding their vintage form and dragging the black-and-gold back up the standings. But in truth, it’s the opposite approach that’s revived the organization.

Over the past two years, Dubas and his staff have dramatically revamped this Penguins roster, turning over the entire lineup aside from a few veteran core players. And it’s the success of that supporting cast, perhaps even more than the familiar vets, that’s been key to the club finding relevance again.

The result is a Penguins team that sits second in the Metro, top-five in the East, and top-10 in the league -- this after finishing among the league’s 10 worst clubs just last season. Dubas’s bold swings have been central to that revival, the president and GM shuffling the deck at every position, while rebuilding the pipeline of young talent for the future, too. 

As the Penguins return to the playoffs for the first time since 2022, let’s take a closer look at how Dubas and his staff brought the organization back:

THE FORWARD CORPS

It takes only a cursory look at the Penguins’ forward corps to get a sense of just how deep the surgery has been on this roster. 

Every line the Pens send over the boards features at least one player who’s had a significant impact on this campaign — and who was acquired only in the past year or two.

Here’s a look at the lineup the Pens have been icing of late:

Egor Chinakhov — Sidney Crosby — Bryan Rust

Tommy Novak — Rickard Rakell — Evgeni Malkin

Anthony Mantha — Ben Kindel — Justin Brazeau

Elmer Soderblom — Connor Dewar — Noel Acciari

Only four forwards in the club’s starting lineup these days are longtime Pens — Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell. The rest? All new blood. 

Up top alongside Crosby and Rust is without a doubt Dubas’s most successful swing since taking the helm: Egor Chinakhov. Acquired from Columbus in December for Danton Heinen and a pair of picks, Chinakhov came in with some promise but few results at the big-league level. Since joining the Pens, he’s not only worked out — he’s been one of the club’s most vital contributors down the stretch. 

The 25-year-old has amassed 18 goals and 36 points in his 43 games in black and gold, third-most among all Pens forwards over that span. He’s tied for the most even-strength goals and points since joining the team, and is also tied for the most game winners on the squad. His immediate success has already led him to a career-best campaign in 2025-26, as the former Jacket’s become a central piece of the Pens’ attack.

Tommy Novak’s had a quieter, but still crucial, impact. The 28-year-old was brought in from Nashville in March 2025 as part of the deal that landed Pittsburgh Luke Schenn (soon after flipped to Winnipeg for picks) in exchange for Michael Bunting (acquired in the trade that sent Jake Guentzel to Carolina) and a draft pick. The versatile Novak has been a crucial Swiss Army knife for Pittsburgh, able to slot into any position in the top nine and link play, particularly alongside the club’s highly-skilled vets. 

Pittsburgh’s third line has been a GM’s dream — a teenager drafted last June, who’s far exceeded expectations, and two low-risk free-agent signings who’ve been clear home runs. Selected 11th overall by the Pens in the 2025 NHL Draft, Ben Kindel wasn’t expected to crack the lineup in 2025-26. But the 18-year-old has earned his place, attacking with poise and creativity from Day 1, and collecting a respectable 17 goals. Justin Brazeau, signed to a two-year, $3-million deal last summer, has seen his season upended by injuries some, but he’s still managed a career-best 17 goals himself. For frame of reference on the line’s overall impact, Brazeau and Kindel sit tied for the team lead with four game-winners apiece. 

But the true depth success that’s been driving Pittsburgh’s resurgence is no doubt the big man, Anthony Mantha. Inked to a one-year, $2.5-million contract in the summer after seeing his 2024-25 season cut short by injury in Calgary, Mantha has been a revelation for Dubas. The 31–year-old has put together a career-best year himself, returning to full health and putting up a team-leading 32 goals along with 62 points from the bottom six, building some dangerous chemistry with Brazeau and Kindel. The journeyman is now Pittsburgh’s second-best offensive weapon at even strength, behind only No. 87. 

The fourth line’s had an impact all their own. Built steadily over the course of Dubas’s tenure, the trio of Noel Acciari (signed soon after the team president’s arrival), Blake Lizotte (brought aboard in 2024) and Connor Dewar (acquired in March 2025 in a fairly one-sided deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs) have established themselves as a hard forechecking energy line that can chip in offensively when needed. When an injury forced Lizotte out of the lineup in March, Dubas swung again, acquiring six-foot-eight behemoth Elmer Soderblom from Detroit for a third-round pick. The 25-year-old's potted seven points in his past nine games.

And then, of course, there are the veterans. Injuries have limited Crosby, but he’s managed his 21st-straight point-per-game campaign. Malkin, in the final year of his deal and with his future in Pittsburgh uncertain, is playing his best hockey in years. Rust and Rakell — whose names have been churned through the rumour mill annually — have continued their banner form from last season. Rakell in particular has been on fire down the stretch, potting 14 goals since the start of March, the fourth-most in the league.

There were swings and misses too, dice-rolls that didn’t quite pan out — Emil Bemstrom, Phil Tomasino, Cody Glass, Kevin Hayes — but Dubas has shown a willingness to simply keep shuffling until finding a supporting cast that works. This season, it’s all clicked into place — the 2025-26 Pens have been one of the most prolific squads in the league, scoring the third-most goals per game (3.52) and managing the 10th-best goal differential (+27).

THE BLUE LINE

Much of that overall offensive dominance has been facilitated by one man on the back end — the oft-maligned Erik Karlsson, who’s found vintage form amid a resurgent campaign. 

Brought to town in the early days of Dubas’s tenure in a polarizing statement move, Karlsson’s waded through a tumultuous few years in black and gold. But the 35-year-old has looked elite once more this season, and the last few months specifically — as Crosby and Malkin both went down with injury — have seen No. 65 flirt with Norris form. Since Feb. 1, the veteran leads all NHL blue-liners with 32 points in his last 27 games. Since March 1, he’s been the fifth-highest scorer in the league bar none, his 30 points in 22 games behind only Jack Hughes, Nikita Kucherov, Nick Suzuki and Martin Necas.

But getting the rest of the blue line right has been a key part of stabilizing this lineup. Karlsson’s resurgence has been especially important as longtime Penguin Kris Letang has worked through a fairly tumultuous campaign. The Pens returned Ryan Shea (signed by Dubas in 2023) this season as well, and have seen him find a career year himself. The other half of the blue line? Rebuilt this season.

Parker Wotherspoon — Erik Karlsson

Sam Girard — Kris Letang

Ryan Shea — Connor Clifton

Parker Wotherspoon, brought in this summer on a two-year, $2-million deal, has found a place as a steadying presence alongside Karlsson, and is enjoying a career year, too. Stanley Cup champ Sam Girard was acquired in February from Colorado and, after an initial adjustment period, has rediscovered the dynamism in his own game of late. The Pens have rotated different names through that final spot, but the most frequent has been Connor Clifton (acquired from Buffalo in the summer), who’s been a steady third-pairing presence, while managing to chip in with some big moments himself.

All told, the back end has been a far more balanced group compared to the past few years’ iterations. The Penguins are allowing the 12th-fewest shots-against per game, and have the seventh-best penalty kill in the league this season — in 2024-25, they ranked 29th and 18th in those areas, respectively.

THE GOALTENDERS

The men in the cage are evidence of a central reason Dubas has found success in Pittsburgh — the manager has proven himself adept at pivoting, adapting his approach and undoing the swings that don’t pan out. 

Perhaps Dubas’s most criticized decision upon joining the Penguins was that of immediately re-signing Tristan Jarry to a five-year, $26.9-million extension in 2023. Fairly quickly, it became clear it wasn’t going to pan out. Jarry’s uneven form continued, and the Pens searched for other solutions — Alex Nedeljkovic started the most games for Pittsburgh in 2023-24, while young Joel Blomqvist was given a shot, too. 

This season, Dubas opted to shuffle the deck again, and bring in an entirely new duo. In the summer, the Pens acquired Arturs Silovs — fresh off leading Vancouver’s AHL club to a championship — for prospect Chase Stillman and a pick. In December, the Pens acquired Stuart Skinner — fresh off back-to-back trips to the Stanley Cup Final — along with Brett Kulak (later flipped for Girard), and a pick, in exchange for Jarry and prospect Sam Poulin.

Neither Skinner nor Silovs has been exceptional, but both have been solid enough, have found moments to step up and win games, and overall have given Pittsburgh enough stability in net to win on most nights. In all, it was a shrewd bit of business for Dubas and Co. — in Jarry and Nedeljkovic, the Pens seemed to have two netminders with plenty of skill, but a spotty track record in games where the pressure ramped up. In Skinner and Silovs, they’ve found a pair who, if nothing else, have proven they can rise to the moment when the lights are brightest.

THE COACH

Roster surgery aside, there is no question where Dubas’s most significant, and successful, dice-roll has come.

In April, the president and GM made the decision to dismiss head coach Mike Sullivan, the man who’d led Pittsburgh to two Stanley Cups, held his post for a decade, and become one of the most respected figures in franchise history. After three seasons without post-season hockey, the need for a new voice was clear.

Faced with the critical decision of who to bring in to guide the group forward — to find the coach who would perhaps lead the final era of Crosby’s career, who might determine whether the captain would remain in Pittsburgh at all, or whether the team would continue to bottom out — Dubas opted against the traditional path of hiring a safe, familiar name from the old guard. Instead, he brought in Dan Muse, a man likely unknown to the vast majority of the hockey world.

A former head coach with the USNTDP, with stints as an assistant coach with Nashville and New York, Muse was as off-the-board a choice as Pittsburgh could have made. But the 43-year-old, who’s among the youngest head coaches in the league, has put himself in the running for the Jack Adams, putting on display his ability to both develop young talent and connect with experienced vets.

It’s in the specific decisions Muse has made that the Penguins have found success. Finding the right combinations, giving each member of the squad an identity and a role, putting players in position to thrive. Some of those decisions have been bolder than others — Malkin has been moved the wing after two decades as an elite centreman. Still, it didn’t take long for the young bench boss to get the men in the room to buy in.

“We feel like we’re a good team right now,” Karlsson said back in November, to longtime Penguins beat writer Josh Yohe. “We have good individual players, and now we’re finally starting to feel good as a team. The roles are starting to slot in. You know what’s expected of you. You do the things you’re good at, and not the things that someone tells you to do, that you can’t do.”

Fast forward to March, and Muse’s approach has Pittsburgh on the verge of meaningful hockey once more.

“Just belief,” Karlsson told the NHL on TNT crew last month when asked what Muse has instilled in the group. “He has a way he wants this team to play, and I think it’s catered to the players that we have. I think he’s done a tremendous job, not only with myself but everyone, no matter where you play in the lineup. Our fourth line has probably been amongst the best in the league in that regard. They’re contributing not only defensively but they have a good feeling within themselves that they can contribute offensively as well. And when you feel good about your game, and the people around you let you know that, it goes a long way.

“Right from training camp, he did a good job coming in, not trying to demand things or telling us what to do. He gave us a base structure, he told us he believed in us, and we went from there. And now we’re sitting here in a pretty good spot.”