Despite drawing some criticism for his deadline moves, Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Ron Hextall believes he found the pieces to help his club compete for a championship.
"I think there's a lot of teams that are capable of winning the Cup," Hextall said, according to NHL.com's Wes Crosby. "Yes, I'd say we're one of them."
Hextall brought in Mikael Granlund, Nick Bonino, and Dmitry Kulikov in separate trades to supplement Pittsburgh's core while moving out Brock McGinn and a collection of draft picks.
Many expected Pittsburgh to be in the market for some of the bigger names available ahead of the deadline due to the team's precarious position in the Eastern Conference playoff race. The Penguins are currently clinging to the first wild-card spot, but five chasers are within four points.
The franchise has made the playoffs in 16 consecutive seasons under the leadership of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, but it hasn't won a series since 2017-18.
"We've got a proven group. We've got a hungry group. We've got a group of guys that we all think of as winners," Hextall said. You've got to make the playoffs first. Right now, that's our objective. We'll see where we go from there. I feel good about this team."
Hextall took over as GM in 2021 after previously serving in the Philadelphia Flyers' and Los Angeles Kings' front offices.
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