Rickard Rakell isn’t scoring for the Pittsburgh Penguins, which helps his case if he wants to stay with the team. It certainly doesn’t help GM Kyle Dubas, who could be looking to trade the forward given the recent rumors that the Penguins are open for business and want to trade a veteran for youth.

Penguins Are Looking to Get Younger

Pittsburgh has been widely connected to trade speculation this season, with reports suggesting the organization is open to moving a veteran in exchange for younger talent as it continues reshaping its roster.

Rakell is among the names most often linked to trade chatter and there’s even a report that he was being shopped in a three-team trade between the Penguins, Columbus Blue Jackets and Montreal Canadiens.

During the latest edition of the 32 Thoughts Podcast, Friedman talked about a potential deal with the Penguins in the run-up to the Marchenko trade. Rakell was part of it, and he would have wound up with the Blue Jackets if things had gone according to plan.

Part of the reason the trade likely didn’t happen is Rakell’s declining value.

At 32 years old and signed through multiple more seasons, Rakell won’t fetch the trade value he might have a year or two ago. He remains in a premium role, skating alongside Sidney Crosby on the top line and holding a spot on Pittsburgh’s top power-play unit, but the results aren’t there this season.

The Drought Itself

Rakell remains goalless through nine games this season, managing just two assists, both from the opening two contests, and has now gone seven straight games without a point. The lack of production isn’t for a lack of opportunity. He leads Penguins forwards in five-on-five shot attempts and high-danger chances per 60 minutes, and ranks second among forwards in power-play attempts. He’s getting breakaways and prime net-front looks; he simply hasn’t finished them.

“It’s not the first time at the start of the year that he’s been necessarily slow to find the back of the net,” Dubas said. “I think it’s more coincidental than anything, but it’s a player that we do need to produce for us. He obviously plays with Sid, plays on the top power-play unit, so you need to find production there and he deeply cares. He works at his game, great teammate, you just have belief that people with those attributes are going to find their way.”

Even His Wife Is Trying to Help

The slump has become enough of a storyline that Rakell’s wife, Emmeli, jokingly sought outside help over the weekend. “Can anyone that’s a witch, UNCURSE my husband,” she wrote on Instagram. “Thank you very much.”

Asked about the status of the so-called curse afterward, Rakell laughed and said, “Hopefully, someone did.”

If Rakell picks up his production, expect his name to surface more often in trade speculation. The Penguins will want to sell high, assuming a market still exists for him.