Kyle Dubas Reveals Insights on How He Will Improve the Penguins' Roster

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Wade Messier
June 3, 2023 (10:29)

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Just a few days into his new role as Director of Hockey Operations of the Pittsburgh Penguins, Kyle Dubas has already made some pretty big splashes. The young executive has already fired some major staff members, and it looks like he may be turning his sights to the Penguins' roster next.

Dubas to Reshape the Bottom Six

Dubas made it very clear in his opening press conference that he was content with Pittsburgh's current top-six core, but wanted to do some work on the bottom-six to ensure they're contenders.

While none of the current bottom-six forwards and guaranteed to come back for the long term, younger guys like Ryan Poehling and Alex Nylander, as well as newly acquired Mikael Granlund, could all be potential third-line fits for Dubas and the Penguins.

Dubas Wants to Get Younger on the Back End

Dubas went on to give an interesting quote regarding the status of Pittsburgh's blueline, saying the following.

«On defense, it's going to be going through and determining what exactly we need, or what are some of the younger guys that have played a little bit more last year, what they're capable of and stepping up and decisions there as well.»

It looks like Dubas may be shifting away from the older defensive core that Pittsburgh has been used to, opting to only keep Kris Letang. We could see younger guys like Ty Smith and P.O Joseph get expanded roles throughout the next season.

Jarry Not A Sure Thing

Perhaps Dubas' most important quote came when asked about the standing of Tristan Jarry, and how he will approach his pending free agency.

«It's a big decision for the club, it's going to be doing a very thorough evaluation of Tristan, where he stands in the marketplace, get a real scope of who's going to be available, whether that's in free agency or trade. And then if Tristan is at the top of that mix, we're in that mix"

"It'll be to try to establish a concept that can get done with he and his agent.»

While there's the possibility of Jarry returning to Pittsburgh next season, it seems more than likely that Dubas will move on from the struggling goaltender.

As Seen on Trib Live