The Pittsburgh Penguins kicked off their offseason with a pair of smart, low-key moves that should pay dividends down the road. On Thursday, general manager Kyle Dubas re-signed two key depth pieces: forward Connor Dewar and defenseman Ilya Solovyov.

Dewar, who was set to become an unrestricted free agent, inked a two-year, $4.5 million extension with an average annual cap hit of $2.25 million. Solovyov, meanwhile, signed a one-year deal worth $850,000. On paper, these might look like minor transactions, but they represent solid, effective business for a team looking to build reliable depth for the 2025-26 season.

Dewar's deal is the headliner here—and arguably the best value. At just 26 years old, he's coming off a career year offensively, but his numbers aren't so inflated that they scream "unsustainable." In fact, his new cap hit ($2.25 million) represents only a modest raise from his previous contract ($1.1 million), and it's still just 2.2 percent of the salary cap. That's a bargain for a player who can anchor a checking line and kill penalties.

What this really does is solidify the Penguins' fourth line—a unit that quietly became one of the team's most effective. With Blake Lizotte also returning, the Dewar-Lizotte duo forms the backbone of that group. Over parts of two seasons together, they've played 530 minutes of 5-on-5 hockey and outscored opponents 21-19. More impressively, they've dominated possession and scoring chances: a 52.7 percent shot attempt share, 54.2 percent scoring chance share, and 51.5 percent expected goals share. And they've done all this while facing the toughest defensive-zone starts on the team—just 14.9 percent of their shifts began in the offensive zone.

They've also been a reliable penalty-killing tandem, allowing just 3.95 goals per 60 minutes of shorthanded ice time. For a Penguins team that needs to get more from its bottom six, these signings are a smart, low-risk way to build a competitive foundation without breaking the bank.