Friday Poll: Gauging Penguins 2023-24 outlook (Summer Edition)

Now three weeks gone from the start of free agency and with August on the horizon, the NHL offseason has entered its quiet period until training camps open in mid-September. Most of the major signings have long been completed and any more additions are just teams filling out their rosters, unless a major trade (ie: Erik Karlsson) drops to break the monotony of the summer months.

Free agency kicked off with a bang for the Pittsburgh Penguins as new President of Hockey Operations Kyle Dubas wasted little time retooling his team, using the open market to his advantage in a major way.

In came the like of Lars Eller, Matt Nieto, and Noel Acciari that will find a home on the new look bottom-six. Ryan Graves was brought in to replace an outgoing Brian Dumoulin and like it or not Dubas settled on Tristan Jarry as netminder but wasn’t shy about adding organizational depth in that position as well.

None of those moves should overshadow the trade that brought Stanley Cup champion Reilly Smith to Pittsburgh, covering the loss of Jason Zucker. On top of all that, a flurry of depth signings and resigns left a strong first impression from the new boss.

Of course, there is still a matter of what will happen with Mikael Granlund who was a potential buyout candidate but Dubas did not pull the triggers before the deadline. Another buyout window will open in August where once again all attention will be focused here.

There is also the ever present trade rumors regarding the Penguins and defenseman Erik Karlsson. Until that trade does or does not happen, it’s impossible to speculate fully on how it affects the team, but any move regarding Karlsson likely helps trim some of the fat still on the roster. Until then, we shall wait and see how it plays out.

While all the moves already made certainly do not transform the Penguins into a perfect team (or even back into a playoff team) you cannot say the team does not look drastically different than it did when the season ended back in April.

So let’s hear it from the readers. Based on the moves and how the roster is shaping up as CURRENTLY constructed, what is your projection for the Penguins next season?