Consider it the unofficial beginning of Kyle Dubas’ vision moving forward.

Unofficial, because it doesn’t involve moving out anyone currently on the NHL roster, and it’s not the headliner type of trade that the Penguins might be making several of in the next few weeks.

It also doesn’t really fit the style of trade that Dubas outlined in his press conference yesterday. He sent out a piece of future draft capital, and only made the most minuscule dent in Pittsburgh’s oldest team in the league status.

But it’s a move nonetheless. And I for one, am a big fan of it.

During their game on Thursday night against the Montreal Canadiens, the Penguins announced that they had acquired forward Emil Bemström from the Columbus Blue Jackets in exchange for Alex Nylander and a conditional 2026 sixth round pick.

Per The Atheltic’s Aaron Portzline, the sixth rounder can jump all the way to a third rounder if Bemström scores 6+ goals in Pittsburgh during the remainder of the season. That’s a crazy conditional change and if I was Kyle Dubas, I would tell head coach Mike Sullivan to bench Bemström IMMEDIATELY if/when he scores his fifth goal.

I’m only half kidding on that.

Bemström currently has 5 goals and 6 assists in 32 games with the Blue Jackets, who are the only team lower than the Penguins in the Metropolitan Division standings. Bemström was averaging 12:55 of ice time a night with Columbus, the highest to this point his NHL career.

Before I get more into Bemström, I want to discuss what the Penguins gave up. The 2026 sixth rounder is, well, almost nothing. Sure, by the time 2026 rolls around, the Penguins are probably going to want to have as many picks as they can, but I’m not worried about a sixth rounder leaving the organization.

As for Alex Nylander, I think it’s a great trade for everyone involved. Columbus gets a player they can plug in should they choose, and the Penguins move out somebody who they didn’t see in their NHL plans moving forward.

For Nylander himself, he should welcome this trade. It may be his path back to the NHL. His time competing for an NHL gig in Pittsburgh was long over.

Last season, Nylander provided a bit of a spark to a struggling bottom six. At the very least, he was a change of pace to what the Penguins were getting from that unit, where he had 1 goal and 1 assist in 9 games.

This summer, he signed a one year extension with the club, where he got a one-way deal paying him $775K.

The spark did not carry over into this season. He had a relatively poor training camp and preseason, which resulted in a demotion to the AHL to start the season. He earned a call-up on November 22nd as an emergency loan, and spent a week with the team before being returned.

He was also called up on emergency loan on December 4th, but returned four days later.

He recorded no points in 5 games, where he averaged 13:52 of ice time a night. Since his most recent demotion, several other forwards from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton have earned a call-up, but Nylander has remained in the AHL.

He had 32 points in 43 AHL games, but suffered some droughts in scoring. I don’t think that a comeback to the NHL was in the cards as long as he was in the Penguins organization. So now, perhaps he gets into the lineup in Columbus, with a chance to revive his career at 25 years old.

Now for Bemström.

Despite his young age of 24, Bemström already has tons of NHL experience. The Swedish forward is in his fifth season in the league, all as a Blue Jacket. That comes with a bit of a qualifier, however.

In his last three seasons, Bemström has played games in another league at some point during the season.

In his rookie campaign, Bemström recorded 10 goals and 10 assists, and was a -10 (this guy loves tens) in 56 games with the Blue Jackets. He had no points in 5 playoff contests that year.

His sophomore season saw him play in the Swedish Liiga while he NHL’s 2020-21 season was delayed. Bemström was over a point a game with HIFK in 16 games, before coming back to North America to join the Blue Jackets, where he had 5 points in 20 contests.

Since then, his NHL totals have looked like this:

2021-22: 6 goals, 5 assists in 41 games

2022-23: 7 goals, 15 assists in 55 games

2023-24: 5 goals, 6 assists in 32 games

Bemström has also played AHL games in each of the last three seasons. Those numbers are as follows:

2021-22: 2 goals, 0 assists in 4 games

2022-23: 14 goals, 17 assists in 21 games

2023-24: 10 goals, 4 assists in 8 games

Bemström has the talent to light it up at the AHL level (and in the Swedish league, for that matter). The question for him has been finding a way to translate that to the NHL level.

His 2021-22 season showed a glimpse of the kind of player he can be: nearly a half a point a game player who can do a lot with not a ton of time (he averaged 12:07 that year).

I think there’s a bit more in the tank for the 24 year old, and if there is ever a time that we get to see that, it will be in Pittsburgh.

I’m not painting the team that the Penguins currently are, or the style that they currently play, as an offensive juggernaut, or a scoring factory of any kind. But this seems to me like one of those trades that, with a change of scenery, can really help a player.

For the record, I think the same should be said for Nylander in Columbus.

Bemström should get some decent looks in the Penguins’ bottom six. There are open chances for him on the third line, where he might be able to thrive with a stable center like Lars Eller.

I like his game a lot. He has good hand-eye coordination, a good shot, and his scouting reports note a keen ability to find and retrieve the puck.

Above all else, he is an upgrade over several members of the current bottom six that the Penguins have.

Bemström is under contract through the end of the 2023-24 season at a $900K cap hit. This offseason, he will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights.

(Featured photo from The Canadian Press)