Kyle Dubas is building the Pittsburgh Penguins in his image, and a few names might become expendable.

Chad Ruhwedel has consistently been one of the most reliable depth pieces on the Pittsburgh Penguins roster for seven seasons, yet he may have become an expendable piece this offseason.

The veteran defenseman isn’t alone though; Kyle Dubas added quite a few useful players to the Penguins depth chart that he may have pushed certain players straight off the roster.

Thanks to deals for Will Butcher and Ryan Shea and professional tryouts for Mark Pysyk and Libor Hajek, Ruhwedel and fellow depth blue liner Mark Friedman might be in trouble of maintaining an NHL job.

Throw in a forward like Bryan Rust into that conversation, as well; sure, he’s a great player and deserves his slot in the roster, but he’s not really a ‘Dubas guy.’

When new front office faces join a team, they immediately want to build the team in their image, and that’s completely fair for Dubas to do.

Dubas isn’t the one that signed Ruhwedel or Rust to their extensions, nor is he the guy that claimed Friedman off of waivers.

Look at all the signings and PTOs Dubas brought in during his first summer with the Penguins; each and every one of them can push for legit roster spots, but there are only so many roles to go around.

Dubas didn’t add forwards like Andreas Johnsson, Vinnie Hinostroza, or Joona Koppanen on accident; same goes for Austin Wagner and Colin White as PTOs, they each have their own shot at the Penguins bottom six.

Rust will almost certainly stay on the roster, but he needs to improve following a lackluster 2022-23.

As for Ruhwedel or Friedman, their jobs in the NHL aren’t safe; not saying they’ll be gone from the organization completely, but it won’t be easy for them to prove more worthy of a role with the big club.

Pysyk is a couple of years younger than Ruhwedel and hungry to get back on an NHL roster.

Hajek is only 25-years-old and might see the change of scenery as a chance to vastly improve his stock in the NHL.

Butcher and Shea will likely start at the AHL level, but could be quick recalls.

It’s wild to think Ruhwedel is one of the longest tenured players on the roster, but he made his Penguins debut just a month after Jake Guentzel in 2016.

Depth options like Ruhwedel don’t usually stick around with one team as long as he has and the change in his career might be right around the corner.

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