PITTSBURGH – The Pittsburgh Penguins have a number of needs heading into the 2017 NHL Amateur Draft. They will need to resign several players who are coming off entry level deals and GM Jim Rutherford will have to decide which veteran free agents to keep and who to let go. With the Vegas Knights finished poaching talent from every team, teams can now look to fill holes and build for the future.
The primary need for GM Rutherford is a larger trophy case, having just won back to back cups. If the Penguins are to dream of a three in a row, they will need to replenish their system depth. The fact that most of the talented skaters from Wilkes-Barre and Wheeling ended up on the big club for the cup run, showed how depleted they are at defense.
A Penguins GM has to be in dire straits to add an ex-Flyer (via Tampa) at the deadline for the playoffs. They need to add center and wing depth as well. The only position they seem to be set is goalie, having Matt Murray for the foreseeable future and a talented backup in the AHL. They also just inked a deal with goalie Filip Gustavsson, their first pick in the draft last year.
So the Penguins have needs. Every team has needs. What does GM Rutherford do with so many depth needs? Like other teams before them, they should go with the best on the board when on the clock. In the Penguins case, the best of who is left.
There are some interesting shakers left from both Europe and in North America. Based on draft rankings both Shane Bowers and Isaac Ratcliffe are interesting possibilities. Bowers is a tall center with decent hands. His ability to distribute the puck has been highly regarded since juniors.
On the other hand Ratcliffe is huge and plays wing. With not a lot of top end wing talent in this years draft, a 6′ 6” 200 lb wing could be very hard to pass on. With that said, there have been some concerns about his size holding him back. In the NHL, no forward position is more valuable than center so Rutherford will likely pass on Ratcliffe.
With centers getting the slightly higher value, it seems likely that the Penguins will not look past Swedish center Jesper Boqvist. Though just a hair shy of the six foot mark and only 165 lbs, the current Penguins roster is proof that size isn’t everything. With a Silver medal at U18 Worlds to his credit, the kid knows how to compete on a big stage. In juniors he averaged more than a point per game.
He has good speed and great hands. He shoots left which could really benefit the wingers on the big club. Some scouts have him ranked at or near the top ten while others have him as low as thirty. One of the critiques on him has been that he will need some time to develop. The Penguins have a couple decent centers for their top two lines already in Crosby and Malkin. He will have plenty of time to work on his game. Picking this late it can be tough to find NHL talent but GM Rutherford has proven to be able to find it, wherever it may be.
“With the thirty-first overall pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins select, from Falun Sweden, Jesper Boqvist of Hedmora SK”
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