The Penguins are open for business – but in what way?

The Pittsburgh Penguins have gotten off to a terrible start in 2024-25, going 6-9-2 and currently near the bottom of the NHL standings. Reports this week indicated the club was open for business, willing to move on anyone on the roster except for captain Sidney Crosby.

They wasted no time, trading Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals in exchange for two draft picks on Tuesday. Could it be the first move in a series of moves that signal the Penguins are ready to rebuild?

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Tyler Yaremchuk discuss where the Penguins are and what’s next for a club that’s far from a Stanley Cup contender.

Tyler Yaremchuk: The Eller deal was a pretty small trade, Frank, but it does show that the Penguins are trying to do something to shake things up.

Frank Seravalli: Are they? That ain’t it. That’s just moving around some deck chairs on the Titanic, with all due respect to Lars Eller.

In fact, what it was is Kyle Dubas undoing one of the missteps he had from his first month on the job as Penguins’ GM: Sign Lars Eller, sign Noel Acciari to a three-year deal, give Tristan Jarry a five-year deal, and oh yeah, trade for Erik Karlsson and trade away your first-round pick in a year that you missed the playoffs.

I did see the reporting and I did speak to some GMs who mentioned that, yes, the Penguins are open for business. I guess I would ask: in what way? How big are we talking here? I look at the Penguins roster and I see, “Okay, Sidney Crosby is untouchable,” but then there’s Kris Letang, Karlsson, Evgeni Malkin … a lot of these guys have no-move clauses, and others are untradeable.

You can listen to the full segment and the rest of the episode here…