Report: Penguins Trying to Trade Up; Targeting Three Players

The Pittsburgh Penguins are trying to trade north in Friday’s NHL Draft, and they have eyes for three players.

According to Scott Wheeler of The Athletic, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas inquired with the Chicago Blackhawks about acquiring the third overall pick. In fact, Wheeler reports Dubas has been aggressive in trying to move upward in the draft.

The three names linked to the Penguins in these efforts are Porter Martone, James Hagens, and Roger McQueen.

While Martone is likely a top-five pick, Hagens’ stock has been sliding just a bit and figures to be a top-seven pick, while McQueen could slide to the Penguins at No. 11, but has also been linked to the Anaheim Ducks at No. 10.

PHN has previewed both Martone because of the Penguins’ obvious interest, as we heard at the NHL Scouting Combine, and McQueen, who fits the Penguins’ needs for a skilled center to assume the mantle soon to be left by Evgeni Malkin in the next year or so.

Hagens has become a wild card in the draft. Once thought to be the top overall pick, he slipped to the first few spots, and then slipped a little further, and now some mock drafts have him as low as 10th overall.

The PHN Mock Draft has Hagens at seventh to the Boston Bruins, or whomever trades into the spot, as Boston has reportedly made that pick available. The smallish center at 5-foot-10, 185 pounds, is a slippery pivot who sees and appears to feel the ice, and how to get open. Hagens put up 37 points in 37 games as a true freshman with Boston College.

Martone is a big power forward whom Dubas selected for Team Canada at the recent World Championships. We couldn’t help but notice a chummy relationship between Dubas and Martone at the Combine. The forward is still developing but is already a top-of-the-draft talent with a defensive conscience and scoring touch.

Martone had 98 points in just 57 games for the Brampton Steelheads of the OHL. He gets around with what scouts call the best hockey IQ in the draft. He’s got an NHL-caliber shot and vision, as well as size, at 6-foot-3, 205 pounds. He played in Team Canada’s final round robin game at the Worlds and the Quarterfinal loss to Denmark.

A severe back injury dogged McQueen last season, which made teams wary of selecting him. However, once doctors figured out his injury was a small fracture and not a disc injury, he was able to heal, and teams have become more interested. He played only 17 games last season and still netted 10 goals with 10 assists. He’s a big center with a finesse game who knows how to use his size on the wall and in the defensive zone.

According to PuckPedia’s Perri pick calculator, which estimates the analytical value of draft picks, the Penguins’ 11th and 12th picks are worth a combined 62 points. The third overall pick is also worth 62 points.