The Pittsburgh Penguins underwent considerable turnover for the 2025-26 NHL season with more free agents and trade acquisitions than their 23-man roster could accommodate. This offseason figures to be the same as several will walk away, while only two would seem to be strong bets to re-sign.
We’ll let the Evgeni Malkin situation standalone as a larger matter of organizational direction and identity rather than a question of free agency.
As he searches for players who will be part of the next chapter of the Penguins, general manager Kyle Dubas’s strategy has essentially been to buy scratch-off lottery tickets through low-cost, no-risk free agents, salary dump acquisitions, low-risk trades, and professional tryout agreements. In his multiple offseasons, Dubas has brought in a high volume of players and let them fight for spots, including last summer when the team had an unwieldy 69 players in camp.
To Dubas’s credit, in hindsight, those lotto scratchers look more like shrewd talent evaluation than merely taking chances on players.
A handful of the big 2025 class of newbies stuck on the roster, such as Arturs Silovs, Parker Wotherspoon, and Justin Brazeau, while another gaggle were shoved to the press box, jettisoned to the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, or simply released from PTOs.
Prospect defenseman Emil Pieniniemi was so unenthused by the roster logjam and his demotion to Wheeling of the ECHL that he went home to Finland until late December. Matt Dumba wore his lack of an NHL role and demotion to the AHL with disgust, and the team released him following the AHL regular season.
Perhaps this summer will be a little lighter on experiments and roster stuffing as Dubas looks ahead to maturing prospects reaching their make-or-break points and keeps more ice available for them. However, Dubas has directly stated he wants the Penguins to be a premier destination for players who want greater roles than previous teams have given, are overcoming injuries, or need an opportunity.
Simply put, Dubas is looking for second-chance players like Brazeau and Wotherspoon, and the Penguins have invested heavily in their sports science and player development to not only improve their own players but to attract and improve new players as well.
As one side note, Ilya Solovyov appears to be headed for Group 6 unrestricted free agency since he has played less than career 80 games but has three NHL seasons. His UFA status is not yet official, and the organization seemed to like him (for good reason). He could re-sign as NHL depth or organizational depth.
Free Agents Who Will Walk
Anthony Mantha: The Penguins struck gold with Mantha, who will turn 32 before next season as the big winger potted a career high 33 goals and 64 points. If the Penguins were in win-now mode, keeping Mantha would be a priority, but instead, Mantha will serve as a win and a beacon for Dubas’s second-chance strategy.
The Penguins could have traded Mantha at the NHL trade deadline, and perhaps that was the plan, but Dubas also showed free agents they can come to the Penguins, get a big role, full organizational support, and will get to enjoy the fruits of their success instead of getting uprooted near the deadline.
Mantha will command a nice payday, though his disappearance in Round One probably cost him dearly.
Noel Acciari: Another free agent who performed quite well this season. Acciari helped to form one of the best fourth lines in hockey with tenacious defense and an astonishing ability to flip territory despite near exclusive defensive zone starts.
Acciari is a warrior who wears metal braces on both knees and has absorbed as much punishment as anyone in the NHL, yet keeps going. This season, he had the second-highest point total of his career (25), just two shy of his 2019-20 season with the Florida Panthers. He will turn 35 next season and is slowing. The Penguins could use some bottom-six spots for prospects and the next crop of fresh faces to fight over.
Kevin Hayes: He played very well in the final few games of the season and had a couple of stretches in mid-season in which he was productive. Hayes will turn 34 this week and was never fleet-a-foot, but has further slowed. Hayes had eight points (4-4-8) in 28 games, and in addition to those productive stretches, had others that were not so hot. His locker room presence will be missed, but retirement may be an option this summer.
Connor Clifton: The Penguins have a couple of right-handed defensemen waiting in the wings: Jack St. Ivany and Harrison Brunicke. Clifton was a bit of a surprise as he outlasted Dumba and Brunicke to claim the third-pairing RHD spot, but he’s not part of the team’s long-term plans. He could re-sign as a depth option, but he made $3.3 million this season and will most likely seek more gainful employment than the Penguins could or should offer.
Stuart Skinner: The Penguins goalie who started the first three games of Round One has already made his exit plan from Pittsburgh and told friends goodbye. While this writer thinks he would be the better partner for Sergei Murashov next season, the Penguins are going with Arturs Silovs, himself a restricted free agent.
Must Re-Sign
Ryan Shea: One of the first moves Dubas made as Penguins GM was to dig free Shea from the Dallas Stars organization. Former Penguins coach Mike Sullivan recognized his value, and Shea has spent most of the last three seasons (and the last two exclusively) on the Penguins’ NHL roster. While Sullivan relegated Shea to playing on his off-side or the press box, new Penguins coach Dan Muse turned him loose as a regular player on his proper left side.
Shea had his breakout season with 35 points in 80 games, and was one of the Penguins’ consistent and reliable defenders. Even Dubas said publicly, “He’s earned his payday.”
Shea just fits with the Penguins, and he agrees with that sentiment. He can play top-four minutes, kill penalties, and chip in offensively. At only 28 years old, Shea could be a bridge from this era to the next, and he does not figure to break the bank. AFP Analytics projects him at $3.3 million average annual value for three years.
That seems like an easy yes.
Connor Dewar: His chemistry with Blake Lizotte on the fourth line, his strength as a penalty killer, and his age make him a natural fit to re-sign, too. A good fourth-liner can be hard to find–there are lots of players that coaches dunk into the role by virtue of failing higher in the lineup, but Dewar is one of those players born to fill the role.
Dewar had 14 goals, 30 points in 76 games this season as the speedy forward opened his offensive game. Scoring points will not be how he makes a living in the NHL, but his added offensive push made the fourth line dangerous. He was also one of the Penguins best players in their Round One playoff series.
AFP projects Dewar at two-years, and $2.2 million per season. That’s another easy yes.
And for more icing on the cake, Dewar was a key member of the Penguins’ penalty kill, which ranked as one of the best all season. He will turn 27 in June, which makes him a prime candidate to stick around with Lizotte, who signed a three-year extension this season.
And Malkin? That one will float for a little while longer.
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