Penguins 2024 NHL Draft Thread

[SteelCityFan]

Mac Swanson in the 7th

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/8 ... ac-swanson

Good pick for where it happened.

Definitely. Ranked #78 by DFO

5’ 7” - 165 lbs.

[y2jimmie7420]

Do not search Finn Harding on Twitter. You will not find out anything hockey related lol

[Sams_Dog]

In a vacuum, the Hayes deal is fine. It's what we asked for. Dubas takes on a a contract/salary dump, giving up nothing, and gaining a 2nd round pick next year. He starts stockpiling picks.

The problem is, Hayes doesn't fit with the team goal "get younger," doesn't fit the team system because he's awfully slow, doesn't address lack of RH centers, and seems to create more of a logjam. Now, if they want Hayes to be the 4th, ok, maybe that is an upgrade...but Hayes isn't known for defense and doesn't PK. He averaged 15 seconds of PK a game last year with STL, and in last 3 years at PHI he average a little over 40 seconds of PK time. He's very up and down on faceoffs. Last year he took over 800 draws for STL and won 57%. The year prior, he took over 600 draws for PHI and was 49%

So, I like getting the pick next year, but unless another player is moved out, essentially Eller or Acciari, Hayes doesn't fit in the team. It's also another "we're gonna do two things at once move," with yesterday speaking about getting younger again, then acquiring a 32 year old center that may block Poulin and Ponomarev.

It would be so typical for the Pens to trade for or sign veterans to fill spots and leave nothing open for young players. Based on what Dubas has said I don't expect that to happen but it would not shock me.

[DelPen]

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/6 ... nn-harding

Three right handed defensemen today. And at no time were the last two the clear best players available. Maybe mix it up and get a lefty?

[Pens4Life]

I really like Howe, Brunicke and Pietila picks.. one feisty LW, maybe next Kunitz and two big RHD youngsters..

Interesting we drafted 4 D and ALL right handed, three above 6'1 height!

[SteelCityFan]

I really like Howe, Brunicke and Pietila picks.. one feisty LW, maybe next Kunitz and two big RHD youngsters

Agreed. I’m also grateful for the fact that all the defensemen are 6’ or taller. I hope this means the end of spending high draft picks on small “offensive/puck moving” defenseman (Addison, Pouliot)

[DelPen]

I really like Howe, Brunicke and Pietila picks.. one feisty LW, maybe next Kunitz and two big RHD youngsters..

Interesting we drafted 4 D and ALL right handed, three above 6'1 height!

It’s like Dubas saw what we have in St. Ivany and got three more.

[Pens4Life]

Yeah,also we are younger on D left side,on right D side we have Karlsson 34 and Letang 37yrs old. Thats why 4 RHD draft picks..

[DelPen]

Yeah,also we are younger on D left side,on right D side we have Karlsson 34 and Letang 37yrs old. Thats why 4 RHD draft picks..

Ludwig and St Ivany are RHD. Only LHD are Joseph and Pickering. We need both.

[FLPensFan]

https://www.eliteprospects.com/player/6 ... nn-harding

Three right handed defensemen today. And at no time were the last two the clear best players available. Maybe mix it up and get a lefty?

We have zero RHD in our system. None. St. Ivany makes the team, WBS has no RHD signed at the moment (unless they are on AHL only deals). On the left side, we have:

Pickering
Belliveau
Kral
Pieniniemi
Laatsch
Kangus

Plus, Shea, Rathbone and Samorukov if they are brought back. The 4 guys we drafted today are the only RHD we have in the system. It was a dire position of need. I can see picking one or two, but Dubas also said they were taking BPA, and, it seems like he strayed pretty far from that at times.

Right-handed center depth is also a dire position of need that we didn't address. Svejkovsky and Yager are the only RH centers we have, and we don't know yet if either will be an NHL center.

[DelPen]

If Swanson can keep developing his size isn’t going to be a death sentence to the NHL. He’s the same size as Cam Atkinson and Alex Debrincat. Not impossible he can make it. Defiantly worth the risk.

[Puck-Lurker]

I'll give GMKD a C+ for the effort. All in all, not bad, but nothing special. We had a pair of mid second rounders and a few late picks, so there wasn't that much to be had.

If Hayes is better than feared, I'll upgrade that to a B-

[DelPen]

Who else is ready to give some ignorant analysis on who we pick on why these will be the greatest or worst picks ever made by Dubas today?

So I have a feeling I am going to be wrong about the quick reaction to Pietila just because there wasn’t much pre-draft info on him.
By all accounts he had a very good freshman year and I would not be surprised if he’s in WBS next spring on an ATO to sign entry level for 25/26 if he gets better. Not sure how he’ll translate to the NHL but it seems like he has a floor of AHL depth.

I still like the rest of the draft overall, would have liked to see some righty centers or lefty defensemen but that’s not something I guess you really need to worry about unless you have two guys who are NHL ready to draft in the top 5 and they are virtually identical and the only difference is lefty or righty.