Penguins Draft, Day 2: Picks & What to Expect From Dubas

No NHL team had more picks over the next three NHL Drafts than the Pittsburgh Penguins. They had almost too many to use, and so Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas had plenty of ammunition to trade upward to a blue-chip prospect Friday in the first round of the 2025 draft.

Naturally, Dubas added two more first-round picks by trading the 12th overall pick that the team acquired from the New York Rangers to complete the Marcus Pettersson/Drew O’Connor trade for picks 22 and 31, then swapping picks 59 and 31 for 24.

One week ago, the Penguins were guaranteed only one first-round pick. By Wednesday, they had two. After selecting Ben Kindel with the 11th overall selection, Dubas got to work and that three.

And Dubas probably isn’t done yet.

Day 2 of the draft can be tedious as teams call names of players that only a scout or two have seen, GMs have never seen, and only fans in the small reaches of junior hockey, Europe, or the NCAA have heard of.

Of course, there are diamonds in the rough. Kris Letang and Bryan Rust were third-round picks in 2005 and 2012, respectively. The Penguins selected Sergei Murashov from the Russian junior leagues in the fourth round of the 2022 NHL Draft, 118th overall, and he has quickly assumed the mantle of a player who might be special, too.

It can happen, and the Penguins will have plenty of chances Saturday when the draft resumes from the Penguins’ offices in downtown Pittsburgh and the NHL setup at the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

Read More: Updates and full analysis of the Penguins’ first-round draft picks on PHN’s Penguins Prospects Page.

By virtue of their trade to acquire the 24th overall pick Friday night, the Penguins no longer have a second-round pick. Their original pick was traded away in the Erik Karlsson trade, Aug. 6, 2023. However, the Penguins reacquired a second-rounder near the NHL trade deadline last season when they dealt Anthony Beauvillier to the Washington Capitals.

The Penguins have eight picks on Saturday.

Their day is currently scheduled to begin in the third round, where they have three picks. The Penguins will select 73rd, which is their original pick. Next, they have picked 84, which they acquired when the Nashville Predators wanted to shed Cody Glass’s $2.5 million salary. Nashville included their third-round pick in the deal.

The Penguins will also select 85th overall in a pick that is well-traveled. It originally belonged to the Ottawa Senators, who traded the pick to St. Louis in a salary dump of Mathieu Joseph. St. Louis traded Kevin Hayes and including a second-round pick, to the Penguins to eat the entirely of Hayes’s $3.5 million cap hit. However, St. Louis spotted an opportunity to sign restricted free agents Philip Broberg and Dylan Holloway last summer.

That’s when the Penguins further benefitted from the Hayes trade because St. Louis needed their original second-rounder to sign Broberg. In exchange for the St. Louis second-rounder, the Penguins got St. Louis’s 2026 second-rounder and Ottawa’s 2025 third-rounder.

Boringly, the Penguins have their own fourth-round pick (No. 105) and no others.

The Penguins have a pair of fifth-round picks, but they originally belonged to the Chicago Blackhawks. The Penguins came into receipt when they traded Lars Eller to the Washington Capitals for a 2025 fifth-rounder and a 2027 third-rounder.

The other fifth-round pick is from the Minnesota Wild via the New York Rangers, who delivered the pick and a 2027 second-rounder to acquire Reilly Smith from the Penguins.

The Penguins have their own sixth (No. 169) and seventh-round picks (No. 201).

Of course, Dubas chuckled heartily when asked Friday if he planned to use all eight picks. The draft begins at noon.