Sidney Crosby Opens Up on Penguins Teammate Rickard Rakell Not Being Traded

The Penguins faithful shouldn't be fooling themselves, a rebuild is in progress. It's not a complete gutting, but it's started to look more and more like a slow-motion implosion.

But all that stands is that Rickard Rakell is still a Penguin. Even with a robust seller's market around the trade deadline, GM Kyle Dubas decided to hold on to the talented winger.

The intellect was on display in Friday's 4-0 loss to Vegas. Without the top line of Rakell, Sidney Crosby, and Bryan Rust, things may have turned nasty, although many feel a 4-0 beatdown is already nasty enough.

It's not that teams didn't want Rakell. He was coveted. But the Penguins need to keep some of their best contributors.

Rakell is one goal shy of his third 30-goal season, and although his recent rate has slowed, he remains one of the more productive wingers in the sport.

Only Mikko Rantanen, who went through a long trade saga before coming to Dallas, was a stronger deadline pickup.

Rantanen's massive contract made his arrival difficult to handle, but he ultimately agreed to a contract for eight years at $12 million annually before the trade was completed.

Rakell, who is signed for three additional years at only $5 million annually, is an absolute bargain in a growing salary-cap age.

Crosby, for one, is happy Rakell stayed put. When asked about it postgame, he even cracked a joke, going as far as saying he had to pump his tires.

Dubas seems to agree with Crosby's enthusiasm, as Rakell isn't going anywhere, and will likely be with the team on the opening-day roster next season.