Despite the disappointing end to their season at the hands of the in-state rival Philadelphia Flyers, the Pittsburgh Penguins had a much better campaign than even the most conservative of fans and Insiders would have expected.
Not only did they finish second overall in their division, but they also made the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the first time since 2022. They fell into a three-games-to-none hole against the Flyers before rebounding to make the series close, winning two straight games and coming within a single goal of forcing what would have been a decisive Game 7.
Now that the Penguins are officially in offseason mode, much of the conversation is going to surround the future of Hall of Fame forward and Penguins icon Evgeni Malkin, who is a pending UFA and not getting any younger at 39 years of age.
According to one noted NHL Insider, there is a chance that the Penguins could try and swing for another forward from the divisional rival Columbus Blue Jackets as they did earlier this season with Egor Chinakhov.
The Pittsburgh Penguins Could Target Pending Columbus Blue Jackets UFA Forward Mason Marchment In Free Agency
According to Penguins Insider Josh Yohe of The Athletic, the Penguins could target Mason Marchment, a pending unrestricted free agent who split this season with the Seattle Kraken and Columbus Blue Jackets.
“He would seem to check a lot of boxes,” Yohe wrote when asked in a fan mailbag piece of the chances of signing him. “Marchment is big, isn’t too old and has a history with Dubas. I believe this is a name that you’ll hear linked to the Penguins quite a bit this summer. He’s one of the few free agents I think make sense in Pittsburgh.”
Marchment already has a history with Kyle Dubas dating back to their days with the Toronto Maple Leafs, as he was signed as an undrafted free agent and eventually was traded by Dubas to the Florida Panthers in exchange for Denis Malgin on February 19, 2020.
This season, Marchment scored 19 goals with 26 assists in 68 games split between the Kraken and Blue Jackets after being acquired by Seattle during last offseason from the Dallas Stars.
Kyle Dubas Admitted His Biggest Regret Was Trading Mason Marchment
Dubas went on the record for saying one of his biggest regrets as Leafs general manager was the trade of Mason Marchment, who later went on to become an impact forward with the Dallas Stars.
“The one I regret the most, I’ve said this before openly: it’s Mason Marchment,” Dubas said. “We traded Mason to Florida. He had come up with us the whole way. We had signed him to a minor-league deal after his overage season in major junior. He was in Orlando in the ECHL for most of the first year, he didn’t play for three months, working with the development team. That was my responsibility then. That was 16-17 then with the Leafs working for Lou. He came so far. Helped us win a Calder Cup in ’18, he was a huge part of that.
“He was 25, 0r 24 at the time when we moved him to Florida. We needed the skill at that point, and it was a younger skilled guy who came in, Denis Malgin. Every time I see Mason play, no matter where he is, I just kick myself because we really needed that style of player throughout. Just the competitiveness, the ability to score, the ability to get under people’s skin, the physicality, the ability to get to the net, I always kick myself about that one.”
NHL Insider Suggests Penguins Could Target Familiar Metropolitan Division Forward