Whoops, Penguins Passed-On Picks Dominate TSN Top 50 Prospects List

The Pittsburgh Penguins prospect pool is no longer the remnants of a shallow mud puddle.

The Penguins’ recent trades and attention to the barren wasteland that was their near-league worst feeder system have elevated the quality of their potential, yet it bears looking at what could have been.

The NHL Draft is far from an exact science, and unlike the NFL Draft, first-rounders aren’t expected to make an immediate impact; in fact, first-round picks often need a few years to matriculate at the juniors or college level before being ready to face angry men at the highest level.

Enter TSN analyst and prospect expert Craig Button. He’s by no means the final word or authority on hockey prospects, but he’s one of the foremost voices who keeps eyes on those burgeoning prospects on their way to the NHL. This week, Button released his Top 50 affiliated prospects list, and the list was far from dominated by Penguins prospects. Instead, it was dominated by Penguins misses–players the team could have selected.

For a team rebuilding it’s foundation, draft misses are especially painful. And the Penguins self-inflicted plenty of pain.

**You can view the TSN Top 50 list here.

2024

The Penguins didn’t have a first-round pick. New general manager Kyle Dubas used it in the Erik Karlsson trade. The Buffalo Sabres acquired it from the San Jose Sharks and selected right-handed Swedish center Konsta Helenius, a dutifully responsible pivot who still put up 36 points in 51 games against mature competition in the Swedish Elite League. Helenius joined the Rochester Americans of the AHL this season and has 20 points in 39 games as he adjusts to the North American game.

Button ranked him 26th of the 50 affiliated prospects.

Button hasn’t graded the Penguins 2024 second-round picks as well as others. It will be a difficult draft to assess as it was deep but not spectacular. There also seems to be widely varying opinions on the class, as the Penguins picks, both defenseman Harrison Brunicke and Tanner Howe were invited to Team Canada’s World Juniors showcase (Howe made the cut. Brunicke was injured).

It seemed Brunicke nearly made the Pittsburgh Penguins roster out of training camp.

Yet players on Button’s list who did not make the disappointing Team Canada roster rank well ahead of Howe (46th overall) and Brunicke (44th overall). In fact, four players rank ahead–three of whom were drafted into the Metro Division by teams with good prospect track records.

23. Luca Marelli (RHD) 86th overall. Columbus.

He’s an athletic defenseman who is aggressive on both ends of the ice. The right-shot defenseman already has 62 points, including 16 goals in 52 games, for Oshawa.

29. Nikita Artamonov, 50th overall. Carolina.

Carolina has been one of the most successful teams at the NHL draft in recent years, building a prospect pipeline that allowed them to give away Vasily Ponomarev and Ville Koivunen to the Penguins in the Jake Guentzel trade without sacrificing one of their top-five prospects in the deal.

Read More: Scouting Report: Penguins Prospects, Ville Koivunen Bare their Teeth (+)

Artamonov has 17 goals in 50 games in the KHL this season.

30. Ilya Protas, 75th overall. Washington.

42. Jacob Battaglia, 62nd overall. Calgary. 

2023

There were quite a few players with mid-first-round grades in 2023. It was the first draft under Dubas, but he was not able to fully participate per his expiring contract with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Head of player personnel Nick Pryor was largely in charge and played a significant role in prior drafts during the two years of the GM Ron Hextall regime. Pryor left the organization after the 2024 draft when Dubas hired Wes Clarke as the vice president of player personnel.

At the draft held in Nashville, the Penguins selected Brayden Yager with the 14th overall pick before trading him to Winnipeg for Rutger McGroarty last summer. It’s your choice how you view this pick. Yager ranks 47th on the list. One year older, McGroarty ranks 39th. Five players selected after Yager rank ahead of both him and McGroarty, and again, three more players taken by Metro Division foes rank ahead of the Penguins haul.

There was some thought that Cristall might come available on the trade market but he is tearing up the WHL with 95 points in 41 games.

15. Gabe Perrault (F), 23rd overall. New York Rangers. 

A left-handed right-winger playing at Boston College. He had 60 points in 36 games as a freshman last season but is slipping a little bit this season with 36 points in 27 games.

18. Easton Cowan (RW), 28th. Toronto.

Cowan wowed Toronto with a strong training camp and put himself in the conversation for an NHL roster spot. He’s got 18 goals and 41 points in 31 with London of the OHL this season.

19. Calum Ritchie (C/RW), 27th. Colorado.

He made his NHL debut this season and played seven games before Colorado sent him back to Oshawa of the OHL. Ritchie scored one goal. He’s an intense player with a high hockey IQ.

20. Trey Augustine (G), 43rd. Detroit.

27. Andrew Cristall (LW), 40th. Washington.

34. Oliver Bonk (RHD), 22nd. Philadelphia.

Yager (C) 47th.

2022

Did the Penguins and Hextall get this one right? Pickering doesn’t appear on the list, but he’s played 25 NHL games, meaning just one more game, and he’s officially entered his rookie year.

Pickering acquitted himself well in his 25 NHL games, and while the organization felt he was regressing just a tad, he figures to be back in the big show sooner than later. For reference, eight of the 11 players selected after Pickering have not yet made their NHL debuts and four of them appear on the list and rank toward the bottom of the list.

35. Danila Yurov (RW) 24th overall.

44. Isaac Howard (LW), 31st.

46. Sam Rinzel (D), 25th.