Although it was expected that Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas would trade defenseman Matt Grzelcyk ahead of the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline, that did not come to fruition despite the 31-year-old being a pending unrestricted free agent this summer.
Dubas decided to hold onto the top-four blue liner, although there was interest from teams across the league. And according to Pittsburgh Hockey Now’s Dan Kingerski, the front office will look to re-sign the Boston, Massachusetts native in the offseason.
“PHN can confirm some interest in re-signing Grzelcyk. It doesn’t sound like there have yet been serious talks, but Grzelcyk has submitted a solid season, and the two sides have spoken about the future,” Kingerski wrote recently.
“It will be a situation to monitor. Grzelcyk seems to fit the Penguins’ scheme, but the sides will need to determine whether he fits the program and if he wants to be part of the next phase.”
Due to the lack of quality left-side D-men on the roster, it makes sense that Dubas and the management group would look to keep Grzelcyk around. The only left-side defensemen under contract for next season are Ryan Graves, Ryan Shea, and Vladislav Kolyachonok — and none of them have moved the needle too much in 2024-25.
Grzelcyk has played well on a pair with Erik Karlsson, and whether or not the Swede remains part of the equation in 2025-26 and beyond, Grzelcyk could probably be locked up for a reasonable AAV.
A former third-round pick by the Boston Bruins in the 2012 NHL Draft, Grzelcyk has already set career-highs with 13 games left this season, managing a goal and 31 points in 69 contests.
He’s been especially good lately, with a team-best plus-9 rating over his last 23 games along with nine points. He’s earned high praise from head coach Mike Sullivan in the process: “When he’s at his best, his anticipation skills on both sides of the puck allow him to be effective.”
It’ll be interesting to see if the Penguins retain Grzelcyk after this season, especially as he’s made it clear he would be happy to stay in Pittsburgh. But first, the Pens are focused on making a late playoff push in the Eastern Conference.
Penguins making a late postseason push?
Just when it looked like everyone was counting Pittsburgh out, the Pens have won four games in a row and returned to at least a little bit of relevance in the Metropolitan Division.
The problem is, the heater came directly on the heels of a stretch of eight losses in nine games. They aren’t out of it just yet, but the magic number is six to get into a playoff spot, and the East continues to be a logjam entering the final month of the campaign.
The way the team is playing, it wouldn’t be overly surprising to see them leapfrog a couple of struggling clubs in the New York Islanders, Boston Bruins and Detroit Red Wings, maybe even the free falling Columbus Blue Jackets.
But the same can’t really be said for the Montreal Canadiens and New York Rangers, especially as both teams have games in hand. Regardless, it’s been a great week-and-a-half in Pennsylvania.
They’ll have to win almost every one of their last 13 games to get in, but you can never count Sidney Crosby out. The Penguins will look to make it five straight wins against the visiting Islanders on Tuesday night.
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