Penguins 2026-27 projections of the roster: how could the future appear?

It was a long season for Pittsburgh’s penguins. And their fans. And the media.

So, let’s have fun.

Hope sells and fans of the penguins cling to hope in these days. With this in mind, what might appear the team’s roster in two years?

For the good of this exercise, we set our projection date as April 5, 2027, two years after today.

We have some options to play with, none of which will be 100 %true. But it is certainly good (even if stressful) to be Kyle Dubas, the president of the penguins of the hockey operations and the general manager, so we play the role. Let’s take a look at some options.

Forward

So, there is a lot to appreciate here. Admit it, you are impressed by my GM skills so far. Penguins are really about to run Mitch Marner? I doubt it. But there are many things to consider here. Marner has not yet signed a new agreement in Toronto, and the more it approaches July 1, the probability that his departure increases. Marner and Dubas have a relationship. We know that Marner and Crosby get along. And we know that the penguins have significant money to spend this summer. It would be a kind of higher line, right?

The rest of the forward unit that I put together is quite imposing. Jake O’Brien AND Brady Martin These are a couple of centers that could be available in the pentuins 2025 shooting slots, if they had rights to choose the first round of the Rangers in this draft. O’Brien is very talented and designs like a high-level center-six. The same goes for Martin (perhaps), which will be selected a little later in the first round. And we really think that Dubas is passing a center with the maximum potential for which he played The hometown of Dubas Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds? The Penguins could very well have a couple of top-15 chosen in this draft and we will take it for this model.

Ville Koivunen and Rutger McGroarty should be regular customers in the Penguins range next season. Jj Peterka intrigues the penguins a lot, and it is not as if the Sabre were driving a stable ship, so perhaps Pittsburgh can remove it. The fourth line is a line for children if there was never one, but there is a serious talent and tenacity.

Trevor Zegras has not been exceptional in the last two years. I feel that it needs a change of scenario and that it is a type of dubas. Rust is fantastic for so many reasons, one of which is that it will still be an excellent background player for a few years.

Defenders

This is a very young blue line. Probably too young. But I love talent. Harrison Brunicke will really be a good NHL defender. Finn Harding was a theft in the seventh round and I think he has a future as a legitimate NHL player. Owen Pickering will not be a star, but has a future as a reliable defender. Keep an eye Emil Fleeniemi. The choice of the third round can really play.

Is it the name of Mike Matheson? Because yes, it is. Maybe Montreal I will want to keep itBut this is an exercise rooted in fun and nothing is more fun than Mike Matheson’s experience.

Will Erik Karlsson still be in Pittsburgh at this point? I have serious doubts, but we will leave him on the roster for this model by removing Kris Letang. I think Karlsson and Matheson on the same blue are enough to manage any coaching staff. Letang would be an overload.

Goalkeepers

Sergei Murashov and Joel Blomquist are the future, he does not make mistakes. Don’t joke here. Here guesses that Tristan Jarry is exchanged or purchased from this point.

Forward

I am predicting that Tage Thompson will soon want to out of Buffalo. Why shouldn’t it? A fourth line for children could happen as penguins have some real prospects coming. Penguins are much larger in this model, they need.

Defenders

A nice mix of youth and experience, of jam and ability.

Goalkeepers

Thatcher Demko will have long led everyone in Vancouver’s walnuts at this point. He has talent. A good punch from one-two.

Forward

So, let’s say Evgeni Malkin exceeds expectations next season. And the penguins offer him a one-year agreement, if he is willing to play cheap, in the 2026-27 season. It is plausible. Maybe Thomas Novak will remain. Perhaps the young people will be better than expected. And maybe it will be really difficult for Dubas to get rid of some contracts.

Defenders

Some contracts are more difficult to move than others. Jackson Smith is an intriguing defender in the draft of 2025 which will go quite early in the first round.

Goalkeepers

I doubt Jarry will be on the roster at this point, but you never know. Difficult situation.

Forward

It’s okay to be a dreamer. In the case of fans of the penguins, the story is also fine.

Here is the highest level of most of the perspectives of Hockey History (by age): Bobby Orr, Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Eric Lindros, Alex Ovechkin, Sidney Crosby, Connor McDavid, Connor Bedard and … Gavin McKenna. The penguins have lucky enough and have obtained two. Could they get a third? Of course, everything is possible. It would be the way of the penguins.

Second line quite good, right?

O’Brien is a center that Dubas likes very much in the 2025 NHL draft. Some projections have brought Martone that slips only a little in this draft, and if this happened, he would have had the Penguins to select him. Brock Boeser is always linked to the penguins in the voices, so we do it alone.

Defenders

A nice mixture of young and veterans. Letang will be very interesting to go on. It doesn’t seem to age well.

Goalkeepers

The time has come that one of the children of Pittsburgh of the draft of 2011 – John Gibson – come home. Having a veteran presence with Murashov would probably be a good thing.

(Photo by Erik Karlsson and Sidney Crosby: Ethan Miller / Getty Images)