It's becoming abundantly clear that the landscape of player acquisition in the National Hockey League is evolving. 

And, if one was to take anything from what Pittsburgh Penguins' president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas said during the 2026 NHL Draft, it's that his team is ready to adapt. 

On Friday, Dubas met with the media following the first round of the draft - when he used his 22nd overall pick to select right wing Liam Ruck - and discussed the changing landscape of player acquisition in a rising-cap environment. He had said during his season-ending press conference that he wished to target "20-something" difference-makers, many of whom - such as Brady Tkachuk and Bowen Byram - have already been dealt this summer.

Dubas wants to be in on the "big guns" - the elite-level players who can help along the Penguins' rebuild and their future quite nicely. Names like Elias Pettersson, Alexander Nikishin, and Jason Robertson - who the Penguins are reported to have had discussions with - are ones who can help in the short- and long-term, but he also acknowledged that the cost to acquire such talent isn't quite what it used to be.

"I think, in some of them, we just really haven't had the assets to get there," Dubas said. "You know, if you go through the younger guys that have been traded, it was a fourth overall pick. And, obviously, the Florida-Ottawa trade was the ninth overall pick. We were at 22. And then, some of the deals [Friday], again, some of the picks were a little bit higher than ours. I think what we found in this last stretch is that teams also want the exact guys that we're looking for in exchange in those deals. It's players in that group that we lack."

Dubas added: "It's a shifting landscape, as everybody's seen. But, it might not be the one gigantic type of transaction. We'll try to stay active on those. But, it might be more of a brick-by-boring-brick style."

Of course, that doesn't mean the door is closed on a bigger deal. Dubas reiterated that's very much not the case, as the Penguins will continue to engage in discussions on the kinds of players who can become integral parts of a future Stanley Cup contender. And that's especially relevant, given the lack of free agent talent available this summer. 

Beyond defenseman Rasmus Andersson, it's not the best class. Alex Ovechkin will re-sign with the Washington Capitals if he decides to keep going, and John Carlson's rights were traded by the Anaheim Ducks to the Carolina Hurricanes. Dubas - quite literally - shot down any idea that they're going to be handing out big money in the free agent market.

"We can be as aggressive as we want on Jul. 1, but if you look at what's available, it could be an expensive mistake," Dubas said. "And I try to learn from the past. We'll try to steer clear of that."

So, can the Penguins make the kind of big move they desire to?

Part of the equation will be continuing to acquire players in the Egor Chinakhov and Hendrix Lapierre molds - players in need of a change of scenery but who have relatively significant untapped upside at the NHL level. But, if they do choose to swing bigger, waiting things out might actually work to their advantage this summer and beyond.

With the shifting landscape, not only are teams still in the early stages of figuring out exactly what star players - as well as role players - are worth in the rising cap world, players also seemingly have more agency in contract negotiations than ever before.

If a star player like Robertson wants big money - and he does, reportedly, want $14 million - and to go to a contender in the event that he is traded, that costs Dallas leverage in negotiations when teams won't trade for him if he's not interested in extending long-term. Allegedly, it's already happened with the Seattle Kraken and St. Louis Blues. So, they either need to open up to the possibilities of dealing him for less to a team he may not extend to or of waiting it out to the point that the asking price drops.

Teams were asking for top-10 picks prior to the draft. Without the assurance of guaranteed top-10 picks, first-rounders aren't necessarily quite as valuable later in the summer as they are before the draft. So, maybe, a player like him can be had for less if a team like the Penguins is willing to be patient with the process. 

"I think we continue to work away at it," Dubas said. "As it's happened, you go in, and what I wanted to have was - maybe not so much late-20s - but in the range of some of the guys that have been moved. And, in past years, they haven't gone for that level of asset. There was multiple top-10 picks moved, which isn't overly common. So, for us, we would aspire to be involved in every one of those conversations, it's just that we didn't have a top-10 pick because of the season that the team had."

But, in order for players of that caliber to even want to come to Pittsburgh, the organization has to show a tangible effort and attitude toward winning. Balancing the priority to compete with the developmental window is a tough needle for the Penguins to thread, but going big-game hunting could marry those windows nicely.

If Dubas truly wants to bring in an elite talent, it may still be possible. But it will come with the understanding that gone are the days when players like this can be had for steals of deals. It's going to cost a lot, and that cost will continue to rise in the coming years - but some patience could be a virtue in certain situations such as Robertson's, where the desperation to trade into the top-10 isn't as much a factor later in the summer.

"I don't know that we'll pivot," Dubas said. "We'll continue to stay involved in all those discussions and see where it lands. But, it's still an area where we lack. We've got, obviously, the incredible veteran group that everyone here has known for two decades or more, and then we've got the forming of a good group of younger players. It's trying to find that 'in the middle'  kind of bridge.

"And we'd love to have it done already, but it might be something that's later in the summer, or in the year, or next summer. We'll stay after it for sure."

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