NPG 71: State of the Penguins: Opening Night Lineup, Letang's Decline and a "Weird Spot"

The Penguins are days from opening night after a short camp, and Dan Kingerski says most roster decisions were made before anyone could force their way in. He walks through his projected lineup, from the locks to the waiver-bubble battle between Hendrix Lapierre, Filip Hallander, Elmer Soderblom and Justin Brazeau.Owen Pickering and Harrison Brunicke have earned a third-pair look, but they don't fit the left-right balance behind Erik Karlsson and Kris Letang. Kaedan Korczak hasn't stood out either, which makes the Parker Wotherspoon trade look odd. Dan grades Kyle Dubas after a strong 2025 draft, asks whether he outthought himself this summer, and explains why he doesn't see a playoff team in a tougher Metro.In the live Q&A:Ilya Solovyov's slimmed-down campVille Koivunen's worst-case scenarioLiam and Markus Ruck setting up Rutger McGroartyThe Brayden Yager tradeWhy Letang's game is shrinkingWhether the Penguins should have kept Stuart Skinner and Brett KulakJason Spezza's midseason youth promiseFirst impressions of the new ownership and Marcel BraithwaiteFollow Pittsburgh Hockey Now on YouTube, Facebook and X, and read more at PittsburghHockeyNow.com.Chapters:00:00 Welcome to No Pucks Given 03:03 Projected lineup: the locks 04:05 Murashov's net to lose 04:56 Why Lapierre doesn't fit 07:20 What should happen on D vs. what will 08:48 Projected pairings and the Letang problem 10:50 Korczak and the Wotherspoon trade 12:10 Why this isn't a playoff team 13:09 Grading Kyle Dubas 16:05 Q&A: Solovyov on the top pair? 18:59 Injury conspiracy? 19:34 Koivunen's worst-case camp 22:46 The Ruck twins set up McGroarty 26:07 Korczak and the Red Wings' cheap shots 27:43 Is Dubas' pipeline flawed? 29:04 The Yager trade looks worse 31:32 Letang's game is shrinking 32:57 How fans kept Malkin in Pittsburgh 35:48 The players hold the leverage now 37:06 Seller at the deadline? 38:45 Spezza's midseason promise 40:00 Should they have kept Skinner? 45:12 Missing Brett Kulak 48:44 Stunting the prospects? 52:57 Kindel's gun show and Rust's role 54:57 Silovs and the long shots 56:53 Contract inflation and the Fantilli fight 57:48 Pens need more sandpaper 58:17 How scouts really work 1:00:09 First take on the new owners 1:05:14 Letang every night? 1:06:00 Wrap-up