“Sidney Crosby deserves better”: P.K. Subban didn’t like Kyle Dubas’ work

The Penguins’ 2023-24 season is quite painful. After trading for Erik Karlsson’s services last summer, the Penguins were hoping to be back in the playoffs with their core of Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and, above all, Sidney Crosby.

All three players are getting on in years, but even so, the club was hoping to get them to the playoffs this season… but barring a (huge) surprise, it’s not going to happen.

By trading Jake Guentzel to the Hurricanes, the Penguins have quite clearly raised the white flag. Chad Ruhwedel also left, but otherwise, the club didn’t trade Reilly Smith and Alex Nedeljkovic, who will become free agents in a few weeks.

It was a rather peculiar deadline in Pittsburgh, and it elicited reactions, including one from P.K. Subban.

While on ESPN yesterday, Subban chatted a bit about Kyle Dubas’ work, and understandably didn ‘t like what he saw:

Obviously, you put on a pair of glasses and it makes you the smartest person in the room. Sidney Crosby deserves better. – P.K. Subban, on Kyle Dubas

KYLE DUBAS… WHAT ARE YOU DOING???#nhl #hockey #penguins #pittsburgh #crosby #guentzel #gm #pittsburghpenguins #trade #tradedeadline

Thoughts? Agree? pic.twitter.com/TwiDW2umvR

– P.K. Subban (@PKSubban1) March 9, 2024

Those are pretty harsh words, but Subban isn’t completely wrong either: it’s true that Dubas didn’t exactly do a great job at the deadline. Guentzel was the best player available on the market, and in the end, he traded him for a few good prospects, but no top-quality prospects or even a guaranteed first-round pick.

I’m willing to believe it was a buyer’s market, but it’s still a pretty disappointing return, overall.

On the other hand, not trading other players whose contracts will expire was odd, especially since the Penguins still have salary retention space. Unless the club really wanted to keep him for the draft, he could have been very useful in passing on Reilly Smith to another team.

Then again, maybe the market was quiet, but it was up to Dubas to try and create one. And clearly, he couldn’t.

We’ll see what happens in the end, but I have a feeling that Subban shares the sentiment of many people (and especially Penguins fans): Kyle Dubas didn’t have a great trade deadline.

And Sidney Crosby, who doesn’t understand management’s message, might feel the same way.

In a gust

– Beautiful moment.

– I love it.

.@BizNasty2point0 said he had a lot of turnovers because the away team’s white jerseys used to blend in with the ice pic.twitter.com/IE7AHwFSen

– B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) March 10, 2024

– Still.

– Great read on the Angels.