Last season, the Pittsburgh Penguins had a relatively boring offseason. Their work in the free agent market was minimal, and general manager Kyle Dubas made most of his work in the trade department.

Much of Pittsburgh’s trades were crafty, taking on bloated or unfavorable contracts from other teams, being paid draft picks to do so, and then trying to rehab those players and flip them for further assets.

Cody Glass and Kevin Hayes were prime examples of that. Dubas netted a sizable amount of picks in separate deals with Nashville and St. Louis, respectively, to take on their contracts. Glass has since been flipped for further picks, and Hayes is likely on the same path this season.

He also took chances on younger players who he believed could thrive in Pittsburgh as he tries to build the next generation of contending Penguins teams.

That’s how we sent a late round pick in November to Nashville for Philip Tomasino, a young winger who fell out of favor with his draft team, but is now getting a change of scenery and a new chance in Pittsburgh.

All signs point to a similar type of approach this season. The Penguins aren’t rumored to be in on any big free agent, and their new head coach in Dan Muse has a track record of developing young talent.

So if the Penguins want to approach this summer the same way they did last year, the situation brewing with the Dallas Stars might provide a lot of opportunity for Dubas and the Penguins.