Heading into NHL Draft, Penguins still trying to replenish prospect pool

LAS VEGAS — For the better part of four years, the Pittsburgh Penguins have been trying to thread a very narrow needle of being competitive in the immediate while also restocking a prospect pool that had become shallow thanks primarily to the “win-now” mantra the franchise had adopted for most of a decade and a half.

Considering they haven’t been to the playoffs for two years and haven’t won a playoff series since 2018, their pursuit of the first portion of that two-pronged pursuit is subject to plenty of fair scrutiny.

But the latter — accumulating viable NHL prospects — has gained some traction, albeit incrementally.

Starting with former general manager Ron Hextall and continuing with current president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas, the Penguins have begun to restock their group of future assets little by little.

That process will continue this weekend with the NHL Draft, though the Penguins currently do not own a first-round pick. As part of the blockbuster trade to acquire All-Star defenseman Erik Karlsson in August, the Penguins shipped what wound up being the 14th overall selection to the San Jose Sharks to “win now.”

(Note: The Sharks sent that pick to the Buffalo Sabres in a trade of draft choices Thursday.)

Related

• For better or worse, Penguins have long history of trading away 1st-round draft picks
• NHL announces draft order; Penguins currently have 6 picks
• What to expect from the Penguins as NHL offseason heats up

When it became clear being triumphant in the present wasn’t likely last season, they offset the loss of that first-rounder a bit by jettisoning All-Star forward Jake Guentzel and his expiring contract to the Carolina Hurricanes in return for a bundle of assets, including a fairly high second-round selection at No. 44 overall, a pick that originally belonged to the Philadelphia Flyers.

In total, the Penguins have six picks at their disposal this weekend (barring any other transactions): No. 44 and No. 46 in the second round, No. 111 in the fourth round, No. 175 in the sixth round and No. 207 and No. 223 in the seventh round, the latter acquired from the Rangers.

No one selected with those picks will make a meaningful impact on the Penguins anytime soon. But they can augment some of the legitimate prospects the organization has such as goaltender Joel Blomqvist (second round, 2020), defenseman Owen Pickering (first round, 2022) and forward Brayden Yager (first round, 2023).

“Too often there’s a misconception that you have to only have first-rounders, high picks, to have prospects and have guys coming up in your system,” Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza said in an interview for The Hockey News in January. “That’s our approach, to really invest time in the development aspect with the guys that we’ve inherited and have and also as we pick guys and draft guys moving forward. Just an overall, organizational, more of a development approach with these guys and giving them more time, including trying internally to try to kind of grow your own prospects.”

Beyond the players they have selected with relatively high picks, the Penguins have some legitimate reason to be intrigued with those they have selected in later rounds such as defensemen Isaac Belliveau (fifth round, 2021), defenseman Emil Pieniniemi (third round, 2023) and goaltender Sergei Murashov (fourth round, 2022).

Additionally, prospects acquired through other means like forwards Ville Koivunen and Vasili Ponomarev (each acquired in the Guentzel trade) and Jack St. Ivany (an unrestricted free-agent signing in 2022) all, at the very least, merit legitimate consideration for the season-opening roster.

In some ways, it mirrors what Dubas and Spezza implemented with their previous employer, the Toronto Maple Leafs.

“If you look in Toronto, what we tried to do in the last few years with guys like (forwards) Matthew Knies and Fraser Minten, they’re not first-round picks, Nick Robertson,” Spezza said. “They’ve been able to inject youth into the team there, and I think it’ll be a similar approach here for us to try to not just make first-rounders good players but make everybody good players.”

Assistant sports editor Jonathan Bombulie contributed to this story.