North Huntingdon’s Austen Swankler on NHL Central Scouting draft list

The NHL draft, like the rest of the sports world, remains in limbo. But the league’s official internal scouting service has released its final rankings in advance of it.

And local product Austen Swankler is on the list.

Swankler, a North Huntingdon native, came in at No. 200 in the rankings of North American skaters compiled by the NHL Central Scouting Bureau. A 6-foot, 185-pound forward, Swankler played this past season for the Erie Otters of the Ontario Hockey League. Swankler had 18 goals, 27 assists and 61 penalty minutes playing in what is one of the continent’s major junior leagues.

Swankler was fifth on the team in goals, assists and points. In his second draft-eligible year, Swankler is hoping to become the first local player drafted since the Vancouver Canucks took Cheswick’s Miles Liberati in the seventh round in 2013.

North Huntingdon native Austen Swankler did quite a bit to catch the attention of NHL teams in the past year.

Now all that’s left to do is wait to hear if one of them calls his name this weekend. #NHLDrafthttps://t.co/xUpebiGdG6

— Tribune-ReviewSports (@TribSports) June 19, 2019

Canadian Alexis Lafreniere is the top-rated North American forward, Canada’s Nicolas Daws the No. 1-ranked North American goalie, German Tim Stuetzle the highest-rated European forward and Russia’s Yaroslav Askarov the No. 1 European goalie.

The draft was originally scheduled for June 26-27 in Montreal, but it was postponed indefinitely as a result of the NHL’s suspended season out of concerns related to the ongoing coronavirus pandemic.

ICYMI: Forward Austen Swankler (@Aswank21) committed to the organization today! Hear from him and GM Dave Brown at this afternoon's introductory press conference. pic.twitter.com/IONiU7VVLx

— Erie ??? (@ErieOtters) June 29, 2019

Barring a trade or a change in format, the Penguins will likely not have a pick among the top 80 of the draft. They dealt their second-round pick to the Vegas Golden Knights as part of the deal for the latter to select Marc-Andre Fleury in the expansion draft three years ago.

The Penguins in February traded their first-round pick to the Minnesota Wild in the Jason Zucker deal. That pick is conditional on the Penguins making the playoffs, though if by chance the postseason is canceled and the Penguins call on that technicality the Wild are entitled to the Penguins’ 2021 first-rounder instead.

Keep up with the Pittsburgh Penguins all season long.