{"id":492031,"date":"2026-06-18T07:35:32","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T11:35:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/?p=492031"},"modified":"2026-06-17T20:28:50","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T00:28:50","slug":"nhl-rumours-pittsburgh-penguins-trade-star-forwards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/2026\/06\/18\/nhl-rumours-pittsburgh-penguins-trade-star-forwards\/","title":{"rendered":"NHL Rumours: The Pittsburgh Penguins Could Trade One of Their Star Forwards"},"content":{"rendered":"

It has been a relatively quiet post-Stanley Cup Playoff period for President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas and his Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> so far, with a lack of trades, but we are here with some NHL Rumours. Since being eliminated by rival Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Pittsburgh has done just a bit of housekeeping in the ensuing weeks. Among these moves have been the extensions given to fourth-line forward Connor Dewar, minor-league back-up Taylor Gauthier, and franchise legend Evgeni Malkin<\/a>.<\/p>\n

NHL Rumours and the Situation in Pittsburgh<\/h2>\n

Rumour: According to a recent report<\/a> from The Athletic’s Josh Yohe, the Pittsburgh Penguins could be looking to trade either one of Rickard Rakell<\/a> or Bryan Rust<\/a> this offseason.<\/em><\/p>\n

Analysis: A popular pick for the bottom of the standings for the 2025-26 season, the Pittsburgh Penguins finished second in the Metropolitan Division in convincing fashion. As a result, it no longer makes sense for the organization to completely strip the team for future assets. Instead, Kyle Dubas and his team must look at ways to make subtle changes to the roster in ways that can move the needle further than expected.<\/strong><\/p>\n

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Credit Image: \u00a9 Anthony Nesmith\/Cal Sport Media<\/span><\/p>\n

Holding picks #22 and #39 in the first two rounds of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft<\/a>, Pittsburgh finds itself in an interesting spot. Having unexpectedly made the playoffs off the contributions of veterans and younger players alike, the Penguins may be moving away from the idea of doing a complete rebuild, as was the plan last summer.<\/p>\n

Dubas has experience with this already, as mid-season Penguins trades brought in forwards such as Egor Chinakhov<\/a> and Elmer Soderblom<\/a>, who were pivotal to the team’s success. Chinakhov quickly found a home on the second line, while Soderblom figures to be a bottom-six staple going forward. In order to make more moves like this, however, the team will need to add some assets that can be used in similar trades later. This is where Rust and Rakell come in.<\/p>\n

The Unsung Member of the Core<\/h3>\n

Forward Bryan Rust was chosen 80th overall in the third round of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. After spending time at the University of Notre Dame, Rust spent a few seasons grinding away in the AHL with the Penguins’ minor-league affiliate, the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins. He got his first taste of NHL action in the 2014-15 season, scoring a goal and an assist in 14 games with the big club. He built on this the next season, scoring four goals and 11 points in 41 games.<\/p>\n

The 2015-16 playoffs are where he showed his potential as a future member of the team, however. He scored six goals and nine points across 23 playoff games as the Penguins won their second Stanley Cup under the core group led by Sidney Crosby<\/a>. Rust played a pivotal role on Crosby’s line, including scoring two goals in a Game 7 against the Tampa Bay Lightning that allowed Pittsburgh to advance to the Stanley Cup Finals.<\/p>\n

He continued to grind from there, and his production exploded in the 2021-22 season, scoring 24 goals and 58 points in 60 games. Since then, Rust has blossomed into the epitome of a utility forward, being able to produce no matter where he is played in the lineup. Playing a gritty style of hockey, Rust has scored 20+ goals in seven straight seasons. He had 29 goals and 65 points in 72 games this season.<\/p>\n

The 34-year-old forward has just two years left on a contract with an average annual value of $5.125 million<\/a>. As such, Rust is an incredible trade piece for the Penguins, but potentially a player that losing could do more damage than the good the assets they get back could make up for.<\/p>\n

A Penguins Forward With High Highs, and Low Lows<\/h3>\n

Continuing with our NHL Rumours and to say Rickard Rakell’s time with the Penguins has been a rollercoaster has been an understatement. Rakell was originally a draft pick of the Anaheim Ducks, taken 30th overall in the 2011 NHL Entry Draft. Spending time first in Sweden, then with Plymouth of the Ontario Hockey League, Rakell made his debut in the NHL in the 2012-13 season, failing to record a point in four games played. His offence increased, as he produced nine goals and 31 points in 71 games the next season.<\/p>\n

Like Rust, Rakell has also shown promise in the playoffs, notably scoring seven goals and 13 points through 15 games in the 2016-17 playoff run of the Anaheim Ducks. The Swedish forward was eventually traded to Pittsburgh for a package revolving around Zach-Aston Reese and a second-round pick in March of 2022.<\/p>\n

Unlike Rust, Rakell has been a prominent part of the top-six, only dipping lower into the third line when he’s faced struggles with producing. The skill-first winger went from 28 goals and 60 points in his first full 82-game season with Pittsburgh down to 15 goals and 37 points in 70 games the next season. He would bounce back again in the 2024-25 season with 35 goals and 70 points, before an injury-laden 2025-26 season saw him produce 24 goals and 48 points in 60 games this past season.<\/p>\n

Although he had a solid playoff run with a goal and four points in six games this past April, Rakell has been a staple in NHL Rumours for trades over the last couple of seasons. Making an average annual value of $5 million over each of the next two seasons, Rakell is a tantalizing trade piece for any contending team looking to shore up their goal-scoring ability.<\/p>\n

Shedding Current Skill for Future Success<\/h3>\n

The Penguins have decisions to make as Kyle Dubas continues to navigate a hybrid re-tool in Pittsburgh. While this past season was a good one, and the first playoff appearance under the Dubas regime, the organization also saw issues where veterans and overperforming talent blocked younger players from being able to find a footing in the NHL.<\/p>\n

With younger forwards like Rutger McGroarty, Ville Koivunen, Tristan Broz, and Avery Hayes all having productive years in the minors, the Penguins will be trying their best to convert some more of their youth onto the big stage. As a result, it seems likely that either Rakell or Rust are on their way out. While Pittsburgh may prefer to ship off Rakell, Bryan Rust may prove to hold more value around the league, potentially making him the forward dealt in a trade over the next few months.<\/p>\n

Main Photo Credit: Jeff Curry-Imagn Images<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It has been a relatively quiet post-Stanley Cup Playoff period for President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas and his Pittsburgh Penguins so far, with a lack of trades, but we are here with some NHL Rumours. Since being eliminated by rival Philadelphia Flyers in the first round of the 2026 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Pittsburgh has […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5231,"featured_media":474460,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[12,4547,34,4548,4321],"tags":[1061,6023,724],"class_list":["post-492031","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-penguins","category-hockey","category-news","category-nhl","category-rumours","tag-bryan-rust","tag-pittsburgh-penguins-rumors","tag-rickard-rakell"],"modified_by":"Levi Pike, Editor","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492031","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5231"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=492031"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492031\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":492078,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/492031\/revisions\/492078"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/474460"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=492031"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=492031"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/hockey\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=492031"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}