PITTSBURGH – The Penguins, guilty of winning back to back Stanley Cups were relegated to the basement in the 2017 NHL Amateur draft. GM Jim Rutherford did not have the luxury of drafting a generational talent. The word from the scouts was that this years draft class was thin anyway. With that in mind, here are the top five takeaways from the Pittsburgh Penguins NHL Draft.
1. Win Now Means Draft Later.
The Penguins have had to find diamonds in the rough for a number of years now since they went Fleury, Malkin, followed by Crosby in successive tank season drafts. They have picked outside the top twenty in every draft since 2012. Since then, they haven’t had a pick in the first round due to trades. Instead what they have done is build from the college ranks.
The Penguins entered the playoffs with the highest NCAA related roster in NHL history at 65%. Some of those diamonds aren’t in the rough, they’re in college. The not so short list of 17 players on their roster plucked from the college ranks, some from trades but most are home grown.
Matt Cullen, Carl Haglin, Chris Kunitz, Nick Bonino, Brian Dumoulin, Jake Guentzel, Ian Cole, Ron Hainsey, Phil Kessel, Bryan Rust, Justin Schultz, Conor Sheary, Josh Archibald, Carter Rowney, Chad Ruhwedel, Scott Wilson, and David Warsofsky.
The Penguins don’t mind drafting late, as long as it means playing in June.
2. The Penguins love the D.
For the second year in a row the Penguins drafted four defensemen. The idea seems to be draft quantity and develop quality. They drafted four defensive skaters who have good puck moving ability with the according to Rutherford fit their system. Their first pick, in the second round, was Zachary Lauzon. Round three, they took Clayton Phillips. In the sixth round they selected Antti Palojarvi. With the last pick in the entire draft they took William Reilly.
All four fit the same mold. They can skate and need to work on defense. All four are around six foot, with only Clayton needing skates to reach that height. While much has been said about players selected this late being a crap shoot, it seems worth pointing out that Chris Letang was drafted in the third round of the 2005 draft. You may have heard of him.
Defense may not always win championships, but having depth at D does.
3. Trading Draft Picks is a Good Thing
Just shy of thirty percent of all draft picks ever lace up their skates in the NHL. When you leave the first round those figures take a nose dive. Most of the ones that do end up being role players and can even have long careers. The Connor McDavids’ of the world have been on scouts radar since before puberty. The top picks aren’t always generational talents but the later picks are lucky to crack the AHL.
The Penguins have not had more than six picks in the draft since 2012. GM Rutherford and Ray Shero before him both knew that draft picks were not guarantees and the penguins have routinely traded away numerous picks from the future.
This year was no different when they traded the thirty first pick to get a skating goon from St. Louis who will no doubt log single digit minutes and double digit penalty minutes every game. Point being, Crosby needs a bodyguard to protect him from big bad Matt Niskanen, trade the pick. It’s a coin flip anyhow.
Give Crosby what he wants.
4. Late Bloomers are Their Specialty
Stanley Cup Playoff standout Jake Guentzel was virtually unheard of outside the 412 are code before the playoffs began. His coming out party even garnered him some Conn Smythe votes. Guentzel, like the Penguins fifth pick was a late bloomer. He was overlooked in the draft and went to college and proved to the world, well the Penguins scouting division, that he could skate and finish.
The Pens chose Jan Drozg, a skilled skating winger from Sweden, with their fifth pick. If he cracks the roster they have plenty of other Swedes to keep him company. He matured and many scouts noted that he was rapidly rising on draft boards. He helped Slovenia take Gold at U18 and U20 World Juniors and, this just in, Slovenia won Gold twice.
He showed up late to the party but apparently he brought the good stuff. He is projected as a bottom six player, which if that is accurate, at the one hundred and fifty-fifth pick would be a steal.
5. Finnish with a bang
The Penguins used their second fifth round pick on Finnish skating center Linus Olund. He was ranked the fifty seventh overall European skater by NHL central scouting and had a breakout year in the playoffs in Sweden this past season. Like Drozg he is projected as a bottom six and given the current need for a bottom six center, the Penguins may want to get his visa situation sorted out right away.
The Penguins went D heavy but grabbed a couple skaters that can fill roles in their system. Each of the players they took fit their speed and skill mentality. The past two seasons showed that some of these no name, system guys, make the difference during a cup run. Given the Penguins recent track record, one of these six gems will be lacing up their skates soon in the playoffs.
Follow me on twitter @apoptosian or email me at keirsey@prohockeynews.com
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