(TNS) – The rebuilding Pittsburgh Penguins have a handful of veterans with multiple years remaining on their contracts they wouldn’t mind unloading, according to widespread reports.

The Detroit Red Wings have a good amount of cap space ($12 million) and the need for a top-six forward and top-four defenseman.

Can these teams make a deal?

Geneal manager Steve Yzerman upgraded his goaltending by acquiring John Gibson for Petr Mrazek and essentially replaced underachieving winger Vladimir Tarasenko with James van Riemsdyk at a much lower cost.

But the Red Wings for the most part are the same team today they were at the end of the season, which ended with their playoff drought extended to nine years.

Yzerman cited a thin free-agent market and a high cost in players/prospects to acquire a big-name player in a trade.

He also indicated he’ll continue working the phones to see if anything develops before training camp.

The Red Wings aren’t likely to trade their 2026 first-round pick with generational talent Gavin McKenna, who on Tuesday committed to Penn State, available to the team that wins the draft lottery.

But Detroit’s second-round pick should be available since Yzerman made it a point to keep it and deal his 2027 second-rounder to Anaheim in the Gibson trade. Jonatan Berggren is the most prominent young roster player the Red Wings likely would be open to moving.

Here’s a look at three Penguins who might not be long for Pittsburgh:

Bryan Rust, LW/RW

Age: 33

Contract: Three years remaining at a $5.125 million average annual value.

Rust is a native of Pontiac, Mich., and the Red Wings as we’ve seen have a knack for bringing in players from the state. Beyond that, he’s coming off his most productive season with 31 goals. 34 assists and 65 points in 71 games. He’s played his entire 11-year career in Pittsburgh.

Rickard Rakell, RW

Age: 32

Contract: Three years remaining at a $5.0 million AAV.

Like Rust, Rakell is a right shooter coming off his best season, positing career highs in goals (35), assists (35) and points (70) in 81 games. He’s native Swede but has Michigan ties, having played three seasons for the former OHL Plymouth Whalers. The Penguins probably won’t move both Rust and Rakell and leave Sideny Crosby with fewer potential top-line wingers.

Erik Karlsson, D

Age: 35

Contract: Two years remaining at a $10 million AAV.

The only chance the Penguins have of moving this three-time Norris Trophy winner, who amassed a staggering 101 points in 2022-23 with San Jose, is if they retain a hefty portion of his contract, perhaps as much as 50 percent. If they’re inclined to do that, the Red Wings could significantly boost their offensive output from the blue line for a reasonable price of $5 million a season for the next two years. As a right-shooter, Karlsson likely would slot in on the second pair alongside Simon Edvinsson, who’d need to cover for some of the veteran’s defensive deficiencies.