For Pittsburgh Penguins General Manager and POHO Kyle Dubas, the free agent frenzy of July isn’t the best time to do business.

No, that falls in the month of August.

On August 6, 2023, Dubas completed one of the biggest deals in Penguins history by acquiring Erik Karlsson from the San Jose Sharks as part of a three-way deal in exchange for a first-round pick, some bad contracts and change.

And in August — after a period in which the organization was seemingly headed toward a rebuilding effort — Dubas may have given the Crosby-era Penguins a new chance at life.

On August 13, he acquired forward Cody Glass – first-round pick of the Vegas Golden Knights in 2017 – and on August 22, he surprised the hockey world when he acquired the Winnipeg Jets’ top prospect, Rutger McGroarty, in a one-for-one trade for top prospect Brayden Yager.

Less than two weeks ago, the Penguins looked like a team on the brink of death, relying entirely on rebuilding projects to have a chance, but with no hope of actually contending for a playoff spot.

That may all have changed now.

While losing Yager hurts, trading for McGroarty was a no-brainer. McGroarty has a higher ceiling, is likely NHL-ready now, and can help the Penguins now and in the future. Conversely, it was unlikely Yager would have made the loaded Penguins roster this season — especially with one year of junior eligibility remaining.

And make no mistake: McGroarty’s move sends a message. If the Penguins really wanted to rebuild, they could have simply kept Yager. Instead, they opted for a forward-thinking prospect who can make a more immediate impact. And since McGroarty didn’t want to sign with the Jets because there were no guarantees of playing time, it’s safe to assume he’ll see NHL playing time with the Penguins this season.

So where does this leave the NHL roster? Well, for one, it makes the Penguins’ forward depth a lot better.

Before the McGroarty trade, the Penguins were projecting that they would field a top-six of Sidney Crosby, Drew O’Connor, Bryan Rust, Evgeni Malkin, Michael Bunting and Rickard Rakell. And while that could still be the case, there’s a good chance that the talented McGroarty ends up in the top-six this season.

This leaves someone like O’Connor or Rakell to fall back into the bottom six. When you combine that with new, younger additions like Blake Lizotte and Cody Glass, and other players like Valtteri Puustinen, Anthony Beauvillier, Lars Eller, Kevin Hayes – or even prospect Vasily Ponomarev – this starts to look like a deeper team than the Penguins have had the past two seasons.

It also allows Dubas to sell some of his veterans — like Eller and Noel Acciari — on the trade market to free up some cap space for more NHL talent and continue to accumulate valuable draft capital. And given the logjam of forwards in the Penguins’ bottom six, more such moves are likely on the horizon.

As for goaltending, the Penguins have two legitimate prospects knocking on the door in Joel Blomqvist and Sergei Murashev to provide insurance for Tristan Jarry and Alex Nedeljkovic. They also have a surplus of defensemen and expect five guys to compete for the final spot on the bottom pair.

All in all, these Penguins—unlike previous seasons—have legitimate options. They’ll have to make decisions in training camp. They’ll likely have to shed their salaries before puck drop on Oct. 9. They have a number of young prospects ready to help if they’re called upon.

And that’s all good. We haven’t seen a Penguins team that has NHL-level options and a surplus of draft capital at the same time. It’s the perfect mix for a Penguins team at the crossroads they’re at right now: a team with an aging core that’s still playing at too high a level to give up, but that needs youth and a future to look forward to.

A team that – as has now become clear – wants to rebuild quickly, retain valuable draft capital and be able to compete again as soon as possible.

Maybe the Penguins are in this year, maybe they’re not. You could argue that a lot of this will depend on their power play getting some life and various reclamation projects that are net positives for the team.

But perhaps the biggest development of all of this is that the Penguins now have the ability to be reactive this season. They can see where they are in the standings and respond accordingly without destroying the team or the draft pool in any way. That’s huge.

Ultimately, trading for a player like McGroarty gives the Penguins a chance. And sometimes that’s all a team needs. It’s a sign to Crosby and his Penguins that their GM still believes they can win hockey games — and that there’s still hope for the final years of the Penguins’ greatest generation.

So go ahead and sleep on this Penguins team. This might just be the year they prove everyone wrong.

Related: BREAKING: Penguins Acquire Top Talent Rutger McGroarty From Jets

Related: 5 Things You Need to Know About Penguins Prospect Rutger McGroarty

Related: Opinion: Yes, Dubas Should Keep His Draft Picks — But Not All Of Them

Related: 5 Things You Need to Know About New Penguins Forward Cody Glass