The Pittsburgh Penguins are starting to slide out of playoff contention in the Eastern Conference and look to be headed for their third consecutive year without a postseason appearance. That means general manager Kyle Dubas is almost certainly preparing to sell before the March 7 NHL Trade Deadline. It is just a matter of how much he is going to sell and what he is looking for in return.

So let us take a look at some potential trade options and potential landing spots for players that could—or perhaps even should—be on the move.

Before we get too far into it, there are a few things that need to be considered.

Despite whatever speculation or hypothetical talk that might be out there, do not expect a Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin trade. Both players have full trade protections, neither seems to have any interest in switching teams, and the Penguins seem to have no appetite to move either of them. They are legacy players. They are not moving. The same is probably true for defenseman Kris Letang.

Dubas also made it pretty clear this past week that he is not interested in retaining long-term salary on trades.

That probably eliminates the possibility of an Erik Karlsson trade, at least during the season. If they decide to move him, that is probably more of an offseason task than a trade deadline move.

Having said that, the Penguins do have some players who seem likely to move, especially as pending unrestricted free agents and rentals. That is where most of our focus is going to be here.

Marcus Pettersson to the Oilers

As far as Penguins rentals are concerned, Pettersson is probably their most likely trade chip and perhaps their most valuable.

He is an impending unrestricted free agent, but he carries a very manageable salary cap number (just $4 million) and is a legitimate top-four defenseman who plays a responsible and solid defensive game. He is also still only 28 years old. As far as rental defenders are concerned, he is at the top of the list.

The Edmonton Oilers could be a good potential match.

The Oilers need another top-four defenseman and recently took a chance on seeing if John Klingberg has anything left in the tank. That might not work out the way they hoped, and even if Klingberg does give them something, they could still probably use another addition on the blue line.

Pettersson would be an ideal fit.

Dubas has been stockpiling draft picks over the past year-and-a-half, and the Oilers currently own St. Louis' second-round pick this offseason. The Penguins at one time owned that pick (as part of the offseason's Kevin Hayes trade) but sent it back to St. Louis so the Blues could offer sheet Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway. The Penguins might have some interest in getting that pick back, especially since the Blues are likely to miss the playoffs and could leave that pick somewhere in the top 45 of the 2025 draft.

Dubas has also repeatedly said he is looking for young NHL players as part of his moves. The Oilers have Vasily Podkolzin playing solid hockey, and at 23 years old he is signed through next season at a very reasonable salary-cap number of just $1 million.

Would something like Podkolzin and St. Louis' second-round pick be able to get it done?

Drew O'Connor to the Lightning

O'Connor is the other attractive rental option on the Penguins roster, mostly due to his versatility (he can play all over the lineup and kill penalties), his age (still only 26) and the fact he only costs $925,000 against the salary cap.

He seems like the exact type of player the Tampa Bay Lightning love to acquire at the deadline.

Cheap. Younger. Versatile middle-six player who can play a variety of different roles.

The Lightning may not have the ceiling they did a few years ago when they were at the peak of their power as a constant Stanley Cup contender, but they still figure to be a playoff team and should still be in the market to add ahead of the deadline. Forward depth is one of their big issues and biggest needs, and O'Connor could be a really strong, cheap addition both in terms of salary and what he will ultimately cost in terms of assets.

The Lightning have two second-round picks and two fourth-round picks in this year's class.

With only five goals in 51 games this season, O'Connor's offensive game has not really progressed after scoring 16 goals a year ago, but he still does a lot of things well that could help improve the Lightning's forward depth chart.

Matt Grzelcyk to the Panthers

The Penguins' offseason should have sent a pretty clear signal as to what their plan was for this season. Instead of making some sort of a big splash to meaningfully upgrade the roster, they spent time acquiring future assets (draft picks) and signing short-term, one-year, stop-gap free agents who they could potentially flip at the trade deadline for even more of those long-term assets.

Grzelcyk was one of those short-term additions, signing a one-year, $2.75 million contract.

The returns on that contract have been extremely mixed.

Offensively, he has been somewhat productive, especially on the power play, with 25 points in the Penguins' first 51 games. That is a 40-point pace over 82 games and will no doubt get some attention from teams in need of extra help on the back end.

But he has been asked to take on too big of a role, playing more than 20 minutes per night and really struggling defensively.

Put him on a contender that can better limit his minutes, shelter him a bit defensively, and surround him with better talent, and he still might have some value.

The Panthers are still one of the NHL's top teams and are seeking a third straight Stanley Cup Final appearance. Salary-cap space is going to limit what they can do, so a cheaper addition on the blue line might be in the cards, especially as they look to upgrade their third pairing. They have multiple fourth- and fifth-round picks this summer. Grzelcyk should not cost more than one of them.

Anthony Beauvillier to Golden Knights

Beauvillier is the forward version of Grzelcyk here. The Penguins never intended for him to be a difference-maker or a long-term solution and were almost certainly just hoping he could score enough goals to become a trade chip by March.

He has...sort of.

He has 11 goals in 50 games, which puts him on pace for something in the neighborhood of 18-20 goals over an 82-game season.

That is a respectable number, but that is also pretty much all he has done.

Still, for a team that needs some additional cheap scoring depth, he could probably be an attractive option at a low cost.

He only costs $1.25 million against the cap for the season and could probably be had for a mid-to-late-round pick.

That sounds like an attractive option for the Vegas Golden Knights.

Vegas is one of the best teams in the league and very much in a win-now, all-in mode. It is also typically one of the most aggressive teams at the trade deadline and always finds ways to add something no matter what its cap situation looks like. It might be more difficult to do that this season, so it might be a situation where the Golden Knights lower their sights a little bit.

Rickard Rakell to the Kings

Rakell is an interesting case.

The Penguins are under no pressure to trade him as he still has three more years remaining on his contract at $5 million per season against the salary cap. He is also having a career year and is on pace for 37 goals, with a real shot at 40 goals if he gets some shooting luck to go his way. He has been one of the Penguins' best, most consistent players this season and a major bright spot.

There are two ways to look at that.

The first is that if the Penguins are looking for a reasonably quick turnaround and still want to get back to the playoffs in the near future with Crosby and Malkin on the roster, Rakell might still be somebody who can be a part of that. He is 31, but he is still playing well and has had some outstanding chemistry alongside Crosby since he joined the Penguins a few years ago. It should take a strong offer to get them to consider moving him.

On the other hand, this might be Rakell at his absolute highest value. There is no guarantee he ever scores like this again, and if they wait to move him it might be harder to do so and they might not be able to get as much in return as they can now. His production, the fact he has term remaining on his contract, and the fact it is a very reasonable salary-cap number should make him extraordinarily attractive to potential buyers over the next few weeks.

If the Penguins are going to move him, or at least strongly consider it, the Los Angeles Kings should be one of the teams to call.

The Kings have established themselves as a playoff team, but they have still been missing something when it comes to actually winning in the postseason. They have lost in the first round three years in a row to the Edmonton Oilers and are staring at the possibility of another first-round matchup with them. The Kings can defend. The Kings are getting capable goaltending. The Kings can do a lot of things at a Stanley Cup-contending level. But they still need more offense and finishing ability from their forwards.

The Kings also have the type of young NHL players the Penguins might be interested in adding to their roster. Would the Kings part with somebody like Alex Turcotte as a potential centerpiece after he has shown signs of coming on this season? The Kings have the need and the players that could match what the Penguins might be seeking.