The Pittsburgh Penguins have begun exploring ways to accelerate their shift toward youth, with veteran forwards Bryan Rust and Rickard Rakell emerging as the primary candidates for a trade.

According to Elliotte Friedman on the 32 Thoughts podcast, the organization approached Columbus during discussions surrounding Kirill Marchenko and offered to include Rakell in a package that would have involved a third team, Montreal.

The Penguins’ goal was straightforward: shed older players in exchange for younger talent that better fits their longer-term timeline.

The early-season results have only heightened the sense of urgency. Pittsburgh opened the year with a 3-6-1 record and seven points, leaving the club eighth in the Eastern Conference Wild Card race.

A year earlier at the same juncture, the team sat comfortably near the top of the Metropolitan Division.

Injuries on both ends of the ice have compounded the slow start, and the Penguins now rank among the older clubs in the league by average age and total games played.

Rakell, 33, is in the fifth year of the six-year, $5 million average annual value contract he signed after Pittsburgh acquired him from Anaheim in 2022.

That deal cost the Penguins a second-round pick and three other players; in return they have received more than 100 goals and 232 points across 322 games, production that ranks fourth on the team since the trade.

His on-ice goal differential has been strongly positive, and he remains a versatile forward capable of sliding across the top six or even centering if needed.

The contract carries a modified eight-team no-trade clause, which narrows the list of potential destinations but does not eliminate interest from clubs seeking secondary scoring.

Rust, a third-round pick in 2010 who has never played for another organization, occupies a similar contractual window. He is also in the fifth year of a six-year deal that pays him $5.125 million annually.

Even at 34 he continues to produce at a steady 40-to-60-point pace; through seven games this season he has already recorded five points.

Beyond the numbers, Rust has been a reliable complementary piece throughout the Crosby-Malkin-Letang era, contributing in both regular-season and playoff settings while remaining a respected locker-room presence.

Both players still hold meaningful trade value, yet their ages and remaining term mean that value is unlikely to rise if the Penguins continue to slide.

General manager Kyle Dubas has spent the past two seasons stockpiling younger prospects such as Harrison Brunicke, Rutger McGroarty, Will Horcoff and Bill Zonnon while the franchise’s longtime core finishes its run.

Moving Rust or Rakell would free roster spots and salary-cap space for that next wave, provided the return includes players who can contribute in the near term rather than distant draft capital. If the current skid persists, those conversations are expected to intensify well before the trade deadline.