The Pittsburgh Penguins and Dallas Stars have made a trade.

According to NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman, the Penguins have acquired RHD Matt Dumba and a 2028 second-round pick for LHD Vladislav Kolyachonok.

Dallas needed to move off Dumba’s one year remaining at $3.75 million and earned a solid, depth defenseman in Kolyachonok while doing so. However, it did cost them a high draft pick.

On the other hand, the pieces are starting to fall in place for Pittsburgh’s general manager, Kyle Dubas.

Just two weeks ago, the Penguins took on another veteran, RHD in Connor Clifton for a 2025 second-round pick and Conor Timmins. Neither Dumba nor Clifton is going to seriously alter this franchise’s course, but absorbing their paydays for draft capital is a smart approach to rebuilding.

Dumba is redundant on a right side that already features Clifton, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson, and it is almost guaranteed that one of those will be dealt soon. Dubas likely wants to rid himself of Karlsson and his $10 million annual average value through the 2026-27 season.

Few teams should be interested in Karlsson at this stage in his career, but perhaps a contender in need of a bottom pair puck-mover could eat some of that salary.

The problem for Dubas is that his core three of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Letang are not quite ready to call it quits. It would be great if he could deal them for more prospects and picks, but they are such intense competitors that they probably think they can hoist Lord Stanley one final time.

Most people do not, and until they retire or leave, Pittsburgh will have a difficult time committing to a full-on rebuild. This Dumba move does help, but it is far from the ultimate fix.