2025 NHL Draft

[FLPensFan]

I'd agree with not trading up next year, but not this year. This year's draft seems to be like 2021.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/ ... entry.html

Not too many selected below 6thOA. Sure there are some, but a low percetage.

Also, the team desperately needs high level players.

Tanner Howe too early, 3rd line or maybe 2nd
Rutger McGroarty 2nd or third line
Tristan Broz 4C maybe 3C
Vasili Ponomaryov 4C or 3C maybe 3rd line W
Filip Hallander doubt he makes NHL again
Ville Koivenen 3LW or 2LW



Finn Harding maybe 3rd pairing
Emil Pieniniemi hmm looking good 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Harrison Brunicke 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Isaac Belliveau doubt he makes it. maybe 3rd pairing
Owen Pickering 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Filip Kral doubt he is NHL regular.

IMO, and it is fine to disagree, I would trade up in hopes of getting one of:
1. Schaefer
2. Misa
3. Hagens
4. Martone

Those 4, to me (not a scout) are much more likely to be high level talent. some of the next tier certainly have potential but are less likely. NYR pick at 14th OA or so, will have 20-25% chance of being in NHL 4 years from now. Again, my opionion .

I would certainly trade Pen's 5OA- 8OA + NYR's 13-20 OA to move up . Next year would be different though.

Martone was my number one guy but the more I thought about it the more I think getting a top 2 line center is more important. Misa, Desnoyers, Frondell. People say Hagens is supposed to be the best, but I get Jack Hughes vibes with him. IDK, maybe I'm missing something with Hughes but have never really been that impressed when I watch him play. His stats are good and I don't watch him unless he's playing the Penguins but something about him. Like he's almost a superstar but not quite a franchise guy. I don't think the 3 I mentioned will be franchise guys as much as just solid 2nd line centers and good to build around but they won't be almost anything, just good players.

Centers are much harder to come by. Seldom do you see teams deal away good centers. When they do, they are either under achieving (Cozens, Bennett several years ago) or have other issues (think Pierre-Luc Dubois). Centers and top pairing defense is what will keep this team from moving to the next stage.

Look at a team like Florida. Zito has become one of the best GMs in the league. They won the Cup last year with only 4 drafted players on their roster, only 3 of which had a significant impact: Aaron Ekblad (top pairing d-man), Alexander Barkov (#1 center), and Anton Lundell (#3 center). The 4th drafted player was Spencer Knight, who didn't play much last year and has since been traded. Florida also lucked into getting one of those underachieving centers in Sam Bennett via trade. They also got Sam Reinhart via trade when Buffalo thought he should be producing more. And Brandon Montour. And Carter Verhaeghe.

That's why Dubas needs to continue to taking the swings and the 1st round castoffs like Tomasino, and see if a different system works better for the player. It worked for Bennett. Look at Cody Glass...4 goals in 51 games for us. 2 goals in 4 games for NJ

Back to the main point....go after the centers. Go after the top d-men (Which is why I keep pushing for Nemec or Clarke, who have a chance to be that). Those are the hardest positions to fill. Look at what our core is...2 top 6 centers and a #1 d-man. There's a reason for that. The rest, you may pay through the teeth, but you can usually find the rest via trade or UFA.

[Daniel]

I'd agree with not trading up next year, but not this year. This year's draft seems to be like 2021.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/ ... entry.html

Not too many selected below 6thOA. Sure there are some, but a low percetage.

Also, the team desperately needs high level players.

Tanner Howe too early, 3rd line or maybe 2nd
Rutger McGroarty 2nd or third line
Tristan Broz 4C maybe 3C
Vasili Ponomaryov 4C or 3C maybe 3rd line W
Filip Hallander doubt he makes NHL again
Ville Koivenen 3LW or 2LW



Finn Harding maybe 3rd pairing
Emil Pieniniemi hmm looking good 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Harrison Brunicke 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Isaac Belliveau doubt he makes it. maybe 3rd pairing
Owen Pickering 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Filip Kral doubt he is NHL regular.

IMO, and it is fine to disagree, I would trade up in hopes of getting one of:
1. Schaefer
2. Misa
3. Hagens
4. Martone

Those 4, to me (not a scout) are much more likely to be high level talent. some of the next tier certainly have potential but are less likely. NYR pick at 14th OA or so, will have 20-25% chance of being in NHL 4 years from now. Again, my opionion .

I would certainly trade Pen's 5OA- 8OA + NYR's 13-20 OA to move up . Next year would be different though.

Martone was my number one guy but the more I thought about it the more I think getting a top 2 line center is more important. Misa, Desnoyers, Frondell. People say Hagens is supposed to be the best, but I get Jack Hughes vibes with him. IDK, maybe I'm missing something with Hughes but have never really been that impressed when I watch him play. His stats are good and I don't watch him unless he's playing the Penguins but something about him. Like he's almost a superstar but not quite a franchise guy. I don't think the 3 I mentioned will be franchise guys as much as just solid 2nd line centers and good to build around but they won't be almost anything, just good players.

Centers are much harder to come by. Seldom do you see teams deal away good centers. When they do, they are either under achieving (Cozens, Bennett several years ago) or have other issues (think Pierre-Luc Dubois). Centers and top pairing defense is what will keep this team from moving to the next stage.

Look at a team like Florida. Zito has become one of the best GMs in the league. They won the Cup last year with only 4 drafted players on their roster, only 3 of which had a significant impact: Aaron Ekblad (top pairing d-man), Alexander Barkov (#1 center), and Anton Lundell (#3 center). The 4th drafted player was Spencer Knight, who didn't play much last year and has since been traded. Florida also lucked into getting one of those underachieving centers in Sam Bennett via trade. They also got Sam Reinhart via trade when Buffalo thought he should be producing more. And Brandon Montour. And Carter Verhaeghe.

That's why Dubas needs to continue to taking the swings and the 1st round castoffs like Tomasino, and see if a different system works better for the player. It worked for Bennett. Look at Cody Glass...4 goals in 51 games for us. 2 goals in 4 games for NJ

Back to the main point....go after the centers. Go after the top d-men (Which is why I keep pushing for Nemec or Clarke, who have a chance to be that). Those are the hardest positions to fill. Look at what our core is...2 top 6 centers and a #1 d-man. There's a reason for that. The rest, you may pay through the teeth, but you can usually find the rest via trade or UFA.

That's why I changed my mind on Martone. Good centers can make great wingers but great wingers don't usually make great centers. Ovechkin and Backstrom come to mind but Backstrom would have been pretty good even without Ovechkin. Martone would need a top center, which the Penguins really don't have.

WBS has Ponomarev, Poulin, Broz as centers and looking deeper, they have about 2-3 6th/7th round centers in the system. No one really stands out as even a 2nd line center. if they draft Martone, who centers him? Get Misa/Desnoyers/Frondell and all of a sudden McGroarty might be the next great winger.

[BigMcK]

Jordan Staal forced his trade to play alongside his brother and to move from the third line center to being a first line center. We need to find a similar situation where a player wants to move up in playing time and rank. They are out there; maybe KD needs to dig in the weeds and discover the gem. He has draft picks to piece something together.

[Pens4Life]

I'd agree with not trading up next year, but not this year. This year's draft seems to be like 2021.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/ ... entry.html

Not too many selected below 6thOA. Sure there are some, but a low percetage.

Those 4, to me (not a scout) are much more likely to be high level talent. some of the next tier certainly have potential but are less likely. NYR pick at 14th OA or so, will have 20-25% chance of being in NHL 4 years from now. Again, my opionion .

I would certainly trade Pen's 5OA- 8OA + NYR's 13-20 OA to move up . Next year would be different though.

Whats an OA?? never saw pick written like that

[Michael74]

I'd agree with not trading up next year, but not this year. This year's draft seems to be like 2021.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/ ... entry.html

Not too many selected below 6thOA. Sure there are some, but a low percetage.

Those 4, to me (not a scout) are much more likely to be high level talent. some of the next tier certainly have potential but are less likely. NYR pick at 14th OA or so, will have 20-25% chance of being in NHL 4 years from now. Again, my opionion .

I would certainly trade Pen's 5OA- 8OA + NYR's 13-20 OA to move up . Next year would be different though.

Whats an OA?? never saw pick written like that

OA= Overall, like 6th overall.

[Puck-Lurker]

I'd agree with not trading up next year, but not this year. This year's draft seems to be like 2021.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/ ... entry.html

Not too many selected below 6thOA. Sure there are some, but a low percetage.

Those 4, to me (not a scout) are much more likely to be high level talent. some of the next tier certainly have potential but are less likely. NYR pick at 14th OA or so, will have 20-25% chance of being in NHL 4 years from now. Again, my opionion .

I would certainly trade Pen's 5OA- 8OA + NYR's 13-20 OA to move up . Next year would be different though.

Whats an OA?? never saw pick written like that

Overall pick, at a guess.

I like to use # instead. 6th overall being #6 and so on.

[Pens4Life]

I'd agree with not trading up next year, but not this year. This year's draft seems to be like 2021.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/ ... entry.html

Not too many selected below 6thOA. Sure there are some, but a low percetage.

Those 4, to me (not a scout) are much more likely to be high level talent. some of the next tier certainly have potential but are less likely. NYR pick at 14th OA or so, will have 20-25% chance of being in NHL 4 years from now. Again, my opionion .

I would certainly trade Pen's 5OA- 8OA + NYR's 13-20 OA to move up . Next year would be different though.

Whats an OA?? never saw pick written like that

Overall pick, at a guess.

I like to use # instead. 6th overall being #6 and so on.

Yeah,much more common with #6 or #42 or whatever.. I prefer that as well or just long version - 1st round 6th pick..

[Puck-Lurker]

I'd agree with not trading up next year, but not this year. This year's draft seems to be like 2021.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/ ... entry.html

Not too many selected below 6thOA. Sure there are some, but a low percetage.

Those 4, to me (not a scout) are much more likely to be high level talent. some of the next tier certainly have potential but are less likely. NYR pick at 14th OA or so, will have 20-25% chance of being in NHL 4 years from now. Again, my opionion .

I would certainly trade Pen's 5OA- 8OA + NYR's 13-20 OA to move up . Next year would be different though.

Whats an OA?? never saw pick written like that

Overall pick, at a guess.

I like to use # instead. 6th overall being #6 and so on.

Yeah,much more common with #6 or #42 or whatever.. I prefer that as well or just long version - 1st round 6th pick..

2nd round 31st pick, 3rd round 1st pick kind I find a little less clear than say 2nd round #63, 3rd round #65.


Some love for the guy drafted 7th round #230 in '05, who won us a couple of cups with #1 from that same year

[KG]

Looks like KD is getting a head start for the draft.

[Puck-Lurker]

Kyle Dubås


I imagine Frondel is the main target. Eklund looks like a good player, but a bit of a featherweight. The type we already have a million of. Can't imagine Frondel is still available at 7 or 8 though.

[Michael74]

Kyle Dubås


I imagine Frondel is the main target. Eklund looks like a good player, but a bit of a featherweight. The type we already have a million of. Can't imagine Frondel is still available at 7 or 8 though.

We need to start losing for that to happen. Winning now is stupid!

[dark_forces]

I'd agree with not trading up next year, but not this year. This year's draft seems to be like 2021.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/ ... entry.html

Not too many selected below 6thOA. Sure there are some, but a low percetage.

Also, the team desperately needs high level players.

Tanner Howe too early, 3rd line or maybe 2nd
Rutger McGroarty 2nd or third line
Tristan Broz 4C maybe 3C
Vasili Ponomaryov 4C or 3C maybe 3rd line W
Filip Hallander doubt he makes NHL again
Ville Koivenen 3LW or 2LW



Finn Harding maybe 3rd pairing
Emil Pieniniemi hmm looking good 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Harrison Brunicke 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Isaac Belliveau doubt he makes it. maybe 3rd pairing
Owen Pickering 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Filip Kral doubt he is NHL regular.

IMO, and it is fine to disagree, I would trade up in hopes of getting one of:
1. Schaefer
2. Misa
3. Hagens
4. Martone

Those 4, to me (not a scout) are much more likely to be high level talent. some of the next tier certainly have potential but are less likely. NYR pick at 14th OA or so, will have 20-25% chance of being in NHL 4 years from now. Again, my opionion .

I would certainly trade Pen's 5OA- 8OA + NYR's 13-20 OA to move up . Next year would be different though.

Martone was my number one guy but the more I thought about it the more I think getting a top 2 line center is more important. Misa, Desnoyers, Frondell. People say Hagens is supposed to be the best, but I get Jack Hughes vibes with him. IDK, maybe I'm missing something with Hughes but have never really been that impressed when I watch him play. His stats are good and I don't watch him unless he's playing the Penguins but something about him. Like he's almost a superstar but not quite a franchise guy. I don't think the 3 I mentioned will be franchise guys as much as just solid 2nd line centers and good to build around but they won't be almost anything, just good players.

Centers are much harder to come by. Seldom do you see teams deal away good centers. When they do, they are either under achieving (Cozens, Bennett several years ago) or have other issues (think Pierre-Luc Dubois). Centers and top pairing defense is what will keep this team from moving to the next stage.

Look at a team like Florida. Zito has become one of the best GMs in the league. They won the Cup last year with only 4 drafted players on their roster, only 3 of which had a significant impact: Aaron Ekblad (top pairing d-man), Alexander Barkov (#1 center), and Anton Lundell (#3 center). The 4th drafted player was Spencer Knight, who didn't play much last year and has since been traded. Florida also lucked into getting one of those underachieving centers in Sam Bennett via trade. They also got Sam Reinhart via trade when Buffalo thought he should be producing more. And Brandon Montour. And Carter Verhaeghe.

That's why Dubas needs to continue to taking the swings and the 1st round castoffs like Tomasino, and see if a different system works better for the player. It worked for Bennett. Look at Cody Glass...4 goals in 51 games for us. 2 goals in 4 games for NJ

Back to the main point....go after the centers. Go after the top d-men (Which is why I keep pushing for Nemec or Clarke, who have a chance to be that). Those are the hardest positions to fill. Look at what our core is...2 top 6 centers and a #1 d-man. There's a reason for that. The rest, you may pay through the teeth, but you can usually find the rest via trade or UFA.

That's why I changed my mind on Martone. Good centers can make great wingers but great wingers don't usually make great centers. Ovechkin and Backstrom come to mind but Backstrom would have been pretty good even without Ovechkin. Martone would need a top center, which the Penguins really don't have.

WBS has Ponomarev, Poulin, Broz as centers and looking deeper, they have about 2-3 6th/7th round centers in the system. No one really stands out as even a 2nd line center. if they draft Martone, who centers him? Get Misa/Desnoyers/Frondell and all of a sudden McGroarty might be the next great winger.

I agree 100% with drafting centers. I'm honestly surprised they haven't taken more centers simply for the sheer hell of it.
Getting a proper 3rd line center, or supporting centers, with some offensive ability has been the largest shortcoming of this organization across both Rutherford and Hextall. For too long, they've had no center waiting in the wings (no pun intended) to claim a spot behind Crosby/Malkin. The lone exception being Blueger, and that was almost by accident.
I'd like to see the center pipeline bulked up over the next year—we need quality and quantity. Broz and Ponomarev are starts, but we need more skill there. I would imagine that some of our extra draft picks could also be dealt for a young center who needs a change of scenery. Maybe a Mason McTavish/Kirby Dach type, or someone like that.

[Puck-Lurker]

I agree 100% with drafting centers. I'm honestly surprised they haven't taken more centers simply for the sheer hell of it.
Getting a proper 3rd line center, or supporting centers, with some offensive ability has been the largest shortcoming of this organization across both Rutherford and Hextall. For too long, they've had no center waiting in the wings (no pun intended) to claim a spot behind Crosby/Malkin. The lone exception being Blueger, and that was almost by accident.
I'd like to see the center pipeline bulked up over the next year—we need quality and quantity. Broz and Ponomarev are starts, but we need more skill there. I would imagine that some of our extra draft picks could also be dealt for a young center who needs a change of scenery. Maybe a Mason McTavish/Kirby Dach type, or someone like that.

Centers drafted by Pens:
Ölund (5th, '17)
Hållander (2nd, '18)
Almeida (5th, '18)
Gorman (6th, '18)
Broz (2nd, '21)
Tankov (7th, '21)
Plante (5th, '22)
Devlin (6th, '22)
Yager (1st, '23)
Foster (6th, '23)
Swanson (7th, '24)

That's one first round and two second round selections in ten years for a center. Hållander left. Yager got traded for RMG. Broz is in the system. I could've sworn we drafted for Centers a lot more. I guess we *TRADE* for them a lot, or at least for players that were once penciled in as centers.

[Daniel]

I'd agree with not trading up next year, but not this year. This year's draft seems to be like 2021.

https://www.hockey-reference.com/draft/ ... entry.html

Not too many selected below 6thOA. Sure there are some, but a low percetage.

Also, the team desperately needs high level players.

Tanner Howe too early, 3rd line or maybe 2nd
Rutger McGroarty 2nd or third line
Tristan Broz 4C maybe 3C
Vasili Ponomaryov 4C or 3C maybe 3rd line W
Filip Hallander doubt he makes NHL again
Ville Koivenen 3LW or 2LW



Finn Harding maybe 3rd pairing
Emil Pieniniemi hmm looking good 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Harrison Brunicke 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Isaac Belliveau doubt he makes it. maybe 3rd pairing
Owen Pickering 2nd pairing maybe 1st
Filip Kral doubt he is NHL regular.

IMO, and it is fine to disagree, I would trade up in hopes of getting one of:
1. Schaefer
2. Misa
3. Hagens
4. Martone

Those 4, to me (not a scout) are much more likely to be high level talent. some of the next tier certainly have potential but are less likely. NYR pick at 14th OA or so, will have 20-25% chance of being in NHL 4 years from now. Again, my opionion .

I would certainly trade Pen's 5OA- 8OA + NYR's 13-20 OA to move up . Next year would be different though.

Martone was my number one guy but the more I thought about it the more I think getting a top 2 line center is more important. Misa, Desnoyers, Frondell. People say Hagens is supposed to be the best, but I get Jack Hughes vibes with him. IDK, maybe I'm missing something with Hughes but have never really been that impressed when I watch him play. His stats are good and I don't watch him unless he's playing the Penguins but something about him. Like he's almost a superstar but not quite a franchise guy. I don't think the 3 I mentioned will be franchise guys as much as just solid 2nd line centers and good to build around but they won't be almost anything, just good players.

Centers are much harder to come by. Seldom do you see teams deal away good centers. When they do, they are either under achieving (Cozens, Bennett several years ago) or have other issues (think Pierre-Luc Dubois). Centers and top pairing defense is what will keep this team from moving to the next stage.

Look at a team like Florida. Zito has become one of the best GMs in the league. They won the Cup last year with only 4 drafted players on their roster, only 3 of which had a significant impact: Aaron Ekblad (top pairing d-man), Alexander Barkov (#1 center), and Anton Lundell (#3 center). The 4th drafted player was Spencer Knight, who didn't play much last year and has since been traded. Florida also lucked into getting one of those underachieving centers in Sam Bennett via trade. They also got Sam Reinhart via trade when Buffalo thought he should be producing more. And Brandon Montour. And Carter Verhaeghe.

That's why Dubas needs to continue to taking the swings and the 1st round castoffs like Tomasino, and see if a different system works better for the player. It worked for Bennett. Look at Cody Glass...4 goals in 51 games for us. 2 goals in 4 games for NJ

Back to the main point....go after the centers. Go after the top d-men (Which is why I keep pushing for Nemec or Clarke, who have a chance to be that). Those are the hardest positions to fill. Look at what our core is...2 top 6 centers and a #1 d-man. There's a reason for that. The rest, you may pay through the teeth, but you can usually find the rest via trade or UFA.

That's why I changed my mind on Martone. Good centers can make great wingers but great wingers don't usually make great centers. Ovechkin and Backstrom come to mind but Backstrom would have been pretty good even without Ovechkin. Martone would need a top center, which the Penguins really don't have.

WBS has Ponomarev, Poulin, Broz as centers and looking deeper, they have about 2-3 6th/7th round centers in the system. No one really stands out as even a 2nd line center. if they draft Martone, who centers him? Get Misa/Desnoyers/Frondell and all of a sudden McGroarty might be the next great winger.

I agree 100% with drafting centers. I'm honestly surprised they haven't taken more centers simply for the sheer hell of it.
Getting a proper 3rd line center, or supporting centers, with some offensive ability has been the largest shortcoming of this organization across both Rutherford and Hextall. For too long, they've had no center waiting in the wings (no pun intended) to claim a spot behind Crosby/Malkin. The lone exception being Blueger, and that was almost by accident.
I'd like to see the center pipeline bulked up over the next year—we need quality and quantity. Broz and Ponomarev are starts, but we need more skill there. I would imagine that some of our extra draft picks could also be dealt for a young center who needs a change of scenery. Maybe a Mason McTavish/Kirby Dach type, or someone like that.

Imagine these two centers in the next 2 drafts.
Roger McQueen 6'5 192
Ethan Belchetz 6'5 227

My hope is Caleb Desnoyers or Michael Misa for this year, but top 2 centers at 6'5 and huge.

Or McQueen/Desnoyers centering Gavin McKenna. Any of these would jumpstart a rebuild for sure.

[FLPensFan]

If the Penguins are going to draft 6th through 8th and they want a center, they are going to have to hope for some luck...which isn't out of the question:

--SJ, if they are #1, almost assuredly drafts Matthew Schaefer. They don't have any stud d-man prospects. They need him.
--Chicago almost assuredly needs a center, so I would predict Hagens or Misa here. Misa might not be a center at the NHL level, though.
--Nashville should be looking at BPA, best available out of Hagens, Misa, or Martone most likely.
--Buffalo doesn't need young defense at the moment, and has Thompson and Norris, plus Helenius and Ostlund coming soon. I could see them being a Martone or Eklund, or still taking BPA even if that means center. This one is a toss up.
--Philly is probably BPA. While I don't think he plays overly physical, I see Philly as someone who could go off board on defense (Smith, Mrtka, Hensler), or going after one of the bigger centers like McQueen or Bear.
--Seattle has Berniers, Wright, and Catton as centers. I could see them going BPA or for an Eklund type.

I think if Desnoyers or Frondell were available for us to take, I'd be happy...and I'll be pissed if they are there and Dubas ends up being the one that goes off board and reaches for someone generally not viewed in the top 12 picks.

[Southern Fan]

Did Danforth redirect that shot ?

[FLPensFan]

Here's a different, recent take on the NHL draft prospects for this year. Sportsnet has the top 13 picks as top 6 forwards or top pairing d-men, based on projections and potential.

https://www.sportsnet.ca/nhl/article/sc ... nhl-draft/

[100565]

Curious..

If the Pens won first overall in the lottery, who do you draft?

If the Pens won second overall in the lottery, who do you draft?

[EndO FanEra]

Curious..

If the Pens won first overall in the lottery, who do you draft?

If the Pens won second overall in the lottery, who do you draft?

Trade back to 2/3, grab one of the top centers, and enjoy the extra assets.

Take one of the top centers. I haven't done enough research to know which one I would prefer, so I'll leave that to the people in the know.

[Daniel]

Curious..

If the Pens won first overall in the lottery, who do you draft?

If the Pens won second overall in the lottery, who do you draft?

Trade back to 2/3, grab one of the top centers, and enjoy the extra assets.

Take one of the top centers. I haven't done enough research to know which one I would prefer, so I'll leave that to the people in the know.

I wouldn't drop too far back though, but agree with this option. Not really sure about the value of a defensemen at #1 and there are 5 good centers in this years draft (Hagens, Misa, Desnoyers, Frontell, McQueen). Misa/Desnoyer/Frontell seem like pretty safe choices. Misa seems to be rising because he's at over 2 ppg this season, but all 3 read to be at least 2Cs. McQueen seems like a boom/bust kind of prospect and something seems off about Hagens. Granted this is just by reading about the prospects so take it for what it's worth. In the end, if I traded the pick I wouldn't go further back than 6th overall to be sure to get one of those 5 (someone will draft Schaefer).

That said, if Misa, keeps rising, I probably wouldn't trade the pick.

[100565]

I think Misa is LW in NHL. If the pro scouts think he is clearly a C, I take him with 1OA or 2OA. Like I said, I think he is LW, so I skip him.

If Misa is a wing, 1OA is Schaefer. 2OA is Hagens.

[FLPensFan]

Curious..

If the Pens won first overall in the lottery, who do you draft?

If the Pens won second overall in the lottery, who do you draft?

Trade back to 2/3, grab one of the top centers, and enjoy the extra assets.

Take one of the top centers. I haven't done enough research to know which one I would prefer, so I'll leave that to the people in the know.

I wouldn't drop too far back though, but agree with this option. Not really sure about the value of a defensemen at #1 and there are 5 good centers in this years draft (Hagens, Misa, Desnoyers, Frontell, McQueen). Misa/Desnoyer/Frontell seem like pretty safe choices. Misa seems to be rising because he's at over 2 ppg this season, but all 3 read to be at least 2Cs. McQueen seems like a boom/bust kind of prospect and something seems off about Hagens. Granted this is just by reading about the prospects so take it for what it's worth. In the end, if I traded the pick I wouldn't go further back than 6th overall to be sure to get one of those 5 (someone will draft Schaefer).

That said, if Misa, keeps rising, I probably wouldn't trade the pick.

I wouldn't drop back at all. I'd take Matthew Schaefer first overall without thinking twice. Remember, we need a #1 d-man and two top 6 centers as our basis. Schaefer is hands down the best player in the draft at this point. He's said to have very similar qualities to both Makar and Quinn Hughes. Craig Button compared him to Drew Doughty.

In terms of the centers, in an ideal world, I'd actually prefer to finish 3-5 range to pick a center. Desnoyers and Frondell have made the biggest climb over the last few months. And, while I'm sure there may be warts or "negative press" on them too,
--Hagens - concerns about his lack of dominance this year in college. He went 12 games with only 1 goal at one point. He's the smallest of the "centers."
--Misa - He's played center, but he is predominately playing LW this year, so, while his skill level is insane, he may not end up a center at NHL level.
--McQueen - The back injury is always going to loom large. But at 6'5, 193, he's already at NHL size.

For Frondell, my thinking is his ceiling and his floor both play for the Florida Panthers....Alexander Barkov as his ceiling, and Anton Lundell as his floor. I think Lundell actually has more in him and could be a 20 goal, 50 point guy if he played more in the top 6. I almost think Florida would be wise to flip him and Bennett occasionally to give Lundell more minutes with more offensive players.

Desnoyers I have seen drawn comparisons to Sean Couturier, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Jonathan Toews. He his pace of play and motor have come into question a bit, but he is a good two-way center.

[FLPensFan]

[FLPensFan]

Follow up question to this was NHL comparable, and Jesse said Brent Burns.

Here's an existing highlight reel on Aicheson (not from Jesse):

[Pens4Life]

I think Misa is LW in NHL. If the pro scouts think he is clearly a C, I take him with 1OA or 2OA. Like I said, I think he is LW, so I skip him.

If Misa is a wing, 1OA is Schaefer. 2OA is Hagens.

Can you wrote at least like 1 OA with space? Not together my eyes cring everytime I see this new written approach OA for draft picks

Or just do it like we old geezers do, #1 or 1st pick.. we are talking about top 10 players?! Nobody will confuse anything if you dont write overall all the time heh.. even for Pens NYR pick #11 or #12 its clear.

For 2nd rounders, 3rd rounders and later picks its different story.