Kyle Dubas has a few holes to fill for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the new year.

The Pittsburgh Penguins ended 2023 as one of the hottest teams in the NHL. Pittsburgh closed the gap between them and the rest of the Metropolitan division on the back of seven wins in their last ten games of December.

That performance has the Penguins one point shy of a wild card spot in the Eastern Conference and four points behind the second seed in the division. Meanwhile, their recent success has emphasized the need to fill a few holes in their lineup.

On the forward side, the Penguins' bottom six has started contributing this past week, with goals coming from Lars Eller, Radim Zohorna, Jeff Carter, and Valtteri Puustinen. However, that group has been inconsistent throughout the season, and the Penguins may still need a more proven goal scorer to bring more consistent contributions.

Defensively, the Penguins have a much more pressing need. Pittsburgh is ranked 22nd in the NHL this season in expected goals allowed per 60 minutes (2.64).

They are being carried by significant performances in goal by Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic. Combined with Magnus Hellberg, those goaltenders have the Penguins ranked 4th in the NHL in goals against above expected.

Nobody can question the performance of their top defense pairing of Kris Letang and Marcus Pettersson. Both players are putting together the most complete seasons of their careers and would be considered a top pairing on most NHL teams.

The second pairing, however, presents issues that the Penguins need to address. Erik Karlsson's first season in Pittsburgh hasn't gone as planned. The future Hall of Fame blue liner has 23 points (6G-17A) in 34 games this season but has only six points (1G-5A) in his last 19 games.

Karlsson's scoring struggles have put an emphasis on his defensive deficiencies. Next to him is another first-year Penguins defenseman struggling to gain footing, Ryan Graves. Graves has become a punching bag for Penguins fans for his frequent defensive zone turnovers and his tendency to lose opposing forwards in high-danger scoring areas.

The Penguins continue to preach patience with the 28-year-old defenseman, but eventually, his struggles will have to result in action for the Penguins. His steep contract removes the possibility of a trade, but the Penguins could consider a reduced role this season.

They would need to acquire another left-handed defenseman to fill his role next to Karlsson. The Penguins are pleased with John Ludvig's performance, but his underlying numbers are slightly below league average, and pairing him with Karlsson might be too much of a jump for a first-year NHL player.

Trade options are seemingly limited due to the parody around the NHL. But as the trade deadline draws nearer and teams fall out of contention for the playoffs, the Penguins may look to bring in a new left-handed partner for Karlsson.

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