Penguins Draft Projections: The 3 Centers to Hope For

Centers are the foundation upon which the Pittsburgh Penguins’ five Stanley Cup championships have been built.

There is no plaque in the Penguins’ office commemorating Penguins who have the Vezina or Norris Trophies, largely because only once has one of those trophies even been awarded to a Penguins player (Randy Carlyle, 1981). However, the Penguins’ era of centers is coming to an end, as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are already playing past the age when most hockey players get on with their life’s work.

Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas admittedly wants to strengthen the organization’s depth both in the middle and on defense. After Crosby and Malkin, the organization’s depth is so thin that a Fruit Roll-Up seems comparatively hearty. While a few defensemen with a mid-first-round projection figure to be available to the Penguins with the 11th overall pick at the NHL Draft on June 27, the crop of centers over which many teams seem to be salivating could already be picked clean.

Multiple mock drafts have the Penguins snagging a winger, such as Lynden Lakovic from Moose Jaw, but because of depth issues, Dubas is far more likely to select a center or defenseman, especially if one of the projectable pivots is still on the board.

Top prospects such as Michael Misa, James Hagens, and Anton Frondell will almost assuredly not be long gone when the Penguins are on the clock at No. 11. Still, the secondary crop of middle men are worthy picks.

Some of those second-tier centers are less likely to be available, but the distinct possibility that teams with center depth move along without tabbing Jake O’Brien or Roger McQueen is quite real, and the draft board after No. 5 is always a surprise to draftniks who spend all year deciding what teams should do.

Read More: What We Learned at Combine; Penguins Unique Approach, Who’s the Parrot? (+)

The soft-spoken O’Brien isn’t an imposing figure, nor is he physically superior to his peers in the draft class. Instead, the unassuming center from Brantford of the OHL weilds a magic stick that creates passing lanes where one didn’t exist and scoring opportunities.

O’Brien has vaulted to the top of the second tier of NHL Draft prospects. Should he fall to the Penguins, expect the team to leap at the chance, but the expectation is no longer that he will be available to them.

Instead, there will be a wide gap in the group of centers available to the Penguins at No. 11.

1. Roger McQueen

The 6-foot-5 center has largely put the back issues that cost him most of the 2024-25 season behind him. It was eventually diagnosed as a small fracture, not a disc problem, which strained a couple of back muscles. Once it was all sorted out, McQueen was able to finish the WHL season with the Brandon Wheat Kings, including their short playoff run, and is now pain free.

McQueen replied to PHN that he answered those injury questions to the NHL clubs’ satisfaction, and reported that doctors don’t believe there will be any lingering issues going forward.

Yes, the Penguins are interested. The big center was one of about four players the Penguins took to dinner in Buffalo. Don’t succumb to the odd flash mob of fans who are running down McQueen’s game. Like any prospect, he may not reach his full potential. Still, there’s absolutely no reason to suggest he’s in any way overrated (PHN Corrollary: when the mob rushes to one opinion, take the opposite).

In terms of skill and high-end ceiling, McQueen is projected as a solid, point-producing top-six center. The big man has a finesse game and good puck protection. He moves well and knows how to use his size along the wall in the cycle game, as well as go to the net. McQueen’s large frame also allows him extra leverage and power in a surprisingly quick wrister.

Ryan Getzlaf is an on-ice role model. Buffalo’s Tage Thompson is another.

The Buffalo Sabres and Anaheim Ducks draft at Nos. 9 and 10. While some mock drafts believe the Sabres will select McQueen, a cursory look at both Buffalo’s and Anaheim’s rosters reveals young center depth, especially in Buffalo.

Craig Button’s TSN mock draft has McQueen to the Penguins, and champagne corks should pop if it happens.

2. Brady Martin

The spitfire doesn’t shy away from being a scrappy player who infuriates opponents. He wants to work on his explosiveness on skates, but every prospect at the NHL Scouting Combine said that.

He also needs to work on faceoffs, but even a young Crosby once wasn’t very good at them. Martin is more of a gritty middle-six type center than a top-line star, but that fits his upbringing on a farm in Ontario. He maintains a weekly chore list on the farm, including picking rocks out of the field (so they don’t break the equipment).

He may not have McQueen’s ceiling, but there’s just a lot to like about him, as he projects either in the Sam Bennett vein or even as a Brad Marchand-type winger. A long description isn’t needed; he’s a smaller, but physical forward who can skate well while playing center or wing. And he really, really enjoys agitating opponents. Just watch when PHN asked him about telling Dubas his favorite player is Tom Wilson (0:23):

3. Cole Reschny

If Buffalo and/or Anaheim draft one of the centers, Cole Reschny might be the best remaining on the board. His stock continues to rise as teams watch more and more video. He’s a complete player and has committed to the hockey factory at North Dakota.

His downside is size. Reschny is listed at 5-foot-10, 187 pounds. The upside of the center, who is quite possibly available to the Penguins, is his hockey IQ and playmaking skills.

Even a cursory viewing of his tape shows he has the ability to play a simple north-south game with a creative bend and defensive consciousness. In 62 games with Victoria, he notched 92 points and was a remarkable plus-41. Reschney had the most assists of all draft-eligible players in the WHL (66).

“He generally works hard in all three zones. He can be deployed in a variety of roles, but leans more toward offense than checking forward,” wrote scouting expert Jason Bukala on Sportsnet.

A lack of size and a need to get stronger downgrade Reschny out of the top 10. Instead, he grades in the middle of the round, though some mid-season rankings had him in the top 10 before O’Brien and Martin climbed past him. When the Penguins get to Reschny, a defenseman might provide a greater value, and here’s where the decision might teeter from center to D-man.

Reschny ends the list of centers who are worthy of the 11th pick, unless Dubas and the vice president of player personnel see something in one of the lower-ranked players they really like. Of course, Clark was the one who scouted and helped the Maple Leafs select Easton Cowan with the 28th pick in 2023, and Cowan is now seen as one of the best picks of the round.