A barge hauling coal along the frigid three rivers in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, US, on Saturday, Jan. 24, 2026. A massive US winter storm stretching from the southern Rocky Mountains to New England is straining power systems, causing cascading travel disruptions, while threatening large amounts of snow and ice in some of the country's most densely populated corridors. Photographer: Justin Merriman/Bloomberg via Getty Images | Bloomberg via Getty Images

Labor Day weekend is the unofficial end of summer. College football is back, the NFL is about to start up. Most of the Penguins are in town, skating at the practice rink and getting ready for training camp of their own that should be ready to begin officially in about 10 days or so.

What’s gone down since the team last left the ice? Let’s get into it.

May

Dan Muse named finalist for Jack Adams Award
Forward Connor Dewar ($2.25 million AAV for two years) and defenseman Ilya Solovyov ($850k for one year) are re-signed
Evgeni Malkin is re-signed to a one year contract with a $5.5 million downside. As a 35+ contract, Malkin received performance bonus clauses in the deal. He will earn an extra $250k for playing half the season (42 games), an additional $250k for playing in three quarters of the games (63), receive a $1.0 million bonus if Pittsburgh qualifies for the 2027 NHL playoffs and an additional $250k for each round the Pens win, bringing the potential total up to $9.0 million
Wilkes-Barre defeats Hershey and Utica in the AHL Calder Cup playoffs to advance to the Eastern Conference Final against Toronto
Wheeling is eliminated in the ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs

June

Wilkes-Barre is eliminated from the AHL playoffs by the Toronto Marlies
The Penguins acquire forward Oliver Okuliar from Florida in exchange for defenseman Emil Pieniniemi
Ron Francis, recently departed from a stint in the Seattle Kraken front office, hired by the Penguins as a special advisor to hockey operations
The NHL Board of Governors unanimously approves the sale of the Penguins from Fenway Sports Group to the Hoffman Family
The Penguins acquire forward Hendrix Lapierre from Washington for a third round pick (2027) and fifth round selection (2028)
Liam Ruck is drafted in the first round of the 2026 NHL draft, 22nd overall. The Pens grab his twin brother Markus in the second round (39th overall) and later add four more draftees (Tomas Galvas, Pierce Mbuyi, Parker von Richter, Matvei Nikonovich).
The Penguins acquire forward David Gustafsson from Winnipeg for defenseman Jack St. Ivany
The Penguins acquire defenseman Kaeden Korczak from Vegas in exchange for Parker Wotherspoon. Pittsburgh also retains the max of 50% of Wotherspoon’s contract ($500k cap hit, their first of three available retention slots for 2026-27).

July

The Penguins acquire forward Nick Robertson from Toronto for a fourth round draft pick (2028)
The following players from 2025-26 become unrestricted free agents and officially depart from the organization: Noel Acciari (signed: PHI), Sebastian Aho (signed: Vaxjo Lakers HC, Sweden), Connor Clifton (signed: BOS), Kevin Hayes (signed: Ak Bars Kazan, KHL), Bokondji Imama (signed: FLA), Joona Koppanen (signed: Lulea HF, Sweden), Anthony Mantha (signed: NJD), Ryan Shea (signed: EDM), Stuart Skinner (signed: WPG). Rafael Harvey-Pinard is the lone UFA that comes back to the organization, albeit on an AHL level contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton
Just as free agency starts, reports circle that the Penguins sign defenseman Trevor van Riemsdyk. The deal is formally announced as a two-year contract with a $4.0 million cap hit
The Pens sign 26-year old free agent defenseman Declan Carlile to a two-year deal that comes with a $1.5 million cap hit
The Pens make their highest external salary free agent signing of July, grabbing forward Andrei Kuzmenko for $5.5 million on a one-year contract
Pens wrap up summer development camp. Zam Plante and recently drafted Pierce Mbuyi are among standouts in 3v3 action
Recently acquired forward Hendrix Lapierre signed by Pens to a two-year contract with a $1.3 million cap hit
Vukie Mpofu, the Pens’ director of hockey operations and legal affairs for the last three seasons, leaves the organization to move up in title to become an assistant general manager for the Nashville Predators
The Pens re-sign forward Egor Chinakhov (three-year contract worth a $6.25 million cap hit) and goalie Arturs Silovs (one-year contract, $2.8 million)
Nick Robertson and the Pens avoid arbitration, coming to agreement on a two-year contract with a $3.25 million cap hit
Salary cap and legal guru Brandon Pridham, recently departed from the Toronto Maple Leafs, joins back up with Kyle Dubas as a hockey operations consultant to help replace the departed Mpofu
The Penguins announce the end of a 29-year affiliation with Wheeling as their ECHL club
The Penguins announce that the Florida Everblades, a team also owned by the Hoffman family, is their new ECHL affiliate
Forward Tommy Novak is extended for three seasons. His new contract will kick in for the 2027-28 season and carry a $4.65 million cap hit

August

In a huge surprise, the Penguins sign forward Ville Koivunen to an eight-year contract that carries a $4.0 million cap hit
Forward prospect Cruz Lucius, acquired in the Jake Guentzel trade but unwilling to sign with Pittsburgh, is traded to Anaheim for future considerations. He later signs an entry level deal with the Ducks

—

And for now, that’s it. In a sense it wasn’t the summer of sweeping changes that many hoped for or expected when it came to adding front line players or making massive moves to overhaul the future or strength of the club.

On the other hand, it was a very active offseason once you go back and take it all in. The Evgeni Malkin question was favorably resolved with a contract extension. Ownership of the team changed hands, with a minor league affiliation switch at the ECHL taking place. Several new players (Kuzmenko, Robertson, van Riemsdyk, Carlile, Lapierre, Korczak) were acquired. Several more departed (Wotherspoon, Acciari, K. Hayes, Clifton, Mantha, Skinner). On the whole, the team got younger as a result of these changes – especially when considering they did not add any goalies and will be looking to promote a youngster from the AHL.

There were front office changes with Mpfou leaving and Pridham and Francis joining up. Several other players (Chinakhov, Silovs, Dewar, Solovyov, Koivunen, Novak) were re-signed.

Put it all together and you have the results of the last few summer months. With most of that action and activity out of the way it will soon be time to drop the puck.

Emil Pieniniemi

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