Josh Yohe of The Athletic writes that the Pittsburgh Penguins never came close to dealing forward Rickard Rakell prior to the NHL Trade Deadline. The Penguins reportedly didn’t care to deal Rakell and were happy to hold onto him,

The Pittsburgh Penguins held on to Rickard Rakell at the trade deadline, but it wasn't for a lack of trying as one Western Conference team tried hard to land him.

It was a busy week for the Pittsburgh Penguins. They made some moves — though no whoppers — before Friday afternoon’s NHL trade deadline. In fact, a few moves they didn’t make were probably bigger news.

He still owes Ryan Graves, Tristan Jarry and Erik Karlsson nearly $55 million ... a full rebuild if Dubas trades the likes of Karlsson or Rickard Rakell. Rakell is the easier one to move ...

On one end of the spectrum is Pittsburgh Penguins winger Rickard Rakell. He scored two goals, including a wonderful individual charge off the opening faceoff of the third period to tie the game.

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is going to look good. Well, at least in terms of how he handles winger Rickard Rakell. It’s going to be hard to screw this one up. Again, by 3:01 p.m.,

In Toronto, Kyle Dubas' mandate was to make a good team something more than that. He failed. The 105-point club he inherited won all of one playoff series