The Penguins' priority in trade returns should be clear

It's been a fairly quiet last week around the NHL. Free agency was not much of a frenzy, and the trade market has gone silent in the days to follow. Many teams are still looking to improve their roster with a plethora of cap space available to use, but there just aren't any sellers to meet those demands. Except for the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Every update fans get reiterates that Kyle Dubas and the Penguins are the only team in the NHL willing to get worse this summer. That's yet to come to fruition thus far, but all reports suggest one of Rickard Rakell or Bryan Rust being dealt sometime soon.

While there's been plenty of chatter about these two, what a potential return package could look like remains up for debate. However, if Dubas ends up moving one of his 30-goal wingers, the number one priority has to be acquiring a 2026 first-round draft pick.

Pittsburgh obviously holds its own first-round selection, but the 2026 class is special, and it's all shaping up to provide them with the perfect circumstance and opportunity to pounce on it.

It's not just Gavin McKenna

Gavin McKenna receives all of the attention, as he should, but there are several other high-end prospects atop the 2026 draft class.

Keaton Verhoeff, Ryan Roobroeck, Ivar Stenberg, Ethan Belchetz, and Viggo Bjorck are all tantalizing options that have the makings of being organizational building blocks.

It's no guarantee that the Penguins will bottom out this year, or even come close to winning the lottery for that matter. But accumulating more first-round picks in such a deep and talented draft is a must given how desperate the franchise is to add more quality to their prospect pool.