Prospect Watch is a weekly feature checking in on the Penguins’ prospects playing in juniors, college, or Europe.
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The Penguins appear to have found some gems in the seventh round in recent years.
Forward prospect Valtteri Puustinen was a late bloomer and fell to the seventh round in 2019, his third year of draft eligibility, and is currently dominating in the top Finnish men's league. The Penguins are high on 6-foot-8 forward Nikita Pavlychev, who was selected in the seventh round in 2015 and has made major strides at Penn State since his draft year.
Another intriguing prospect who was a seventh-round pick is defenseman William Reilly, who the Penguins took with the last overall pick in 2017.
Reilly, 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, was selected in 2017 after his freshman year of college hockey at RPI, during which he recorded two goals and 13 assists in 35 games
“William Reilly is an offensive defenseman, has good size, he skates well,” said Randy Sexton, the Penguins director of amateur scouting at the time. “He moves the puck and he can really shoot the puck. We have some hope for him as a puck-moving, offensive defenseman.”
In Reilly's sophomore season, the year after he was drafted, he recorded seven goals and six assists in 37 games. Last season, as a junior, he finished No. 3 in team scoring and led all defensemen with five goals and 13 assists in 33 games.
Now 22 years old, Reilly is in his senior season at RPI and on pace to set career-high offensive numbers. Through six games to start the season, he's tied for the team lead in scoring with three goals and three assists. He scored twice this week. The first was the opening goal in a 3-2 win over Union on Oct. 25:
The second was a power play goal in a 2-1 loss to Union on Oct. 26:
When RPI's season ends this spring, Reilly has a few options. He could immediately sign his entry-level contract and join Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on an amateur deal to finish the season. He could sign over the summer. Or, he could wait until Aug. 15 and become an unrestricted free agent and have his pick of teams.
Assuming he signs with the Penguins, he would presumably start in Wilkes-Barre, where defense prospects Calen Addison and Ryan Jones would also be starting their professional careers.
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FORWARDS
Judd Caulfield
Position: Forward
Size: 6-3/207
Drafted: 2019, fifth round
Team: North Dakota (NCAA)
Season totals: 4 games, 1 assist
Caulfield was scoreless in two games this week, a 2-1 overtime win and 4-1 win over Bemidji State. Caulfield was an extra skater for the first game, and played on the fourth line in the second game.
Liam Gorman
Position: Center
Size: 6-3/196
Drafted: 2018, sixth round
Team: Princeton (NCAA)
Season totals: None
Over the summer Gorman decommitted from Boston University and enrolled at Princeton for his freshman year.
Gorman has yet to play this season.
Filip Hallander
Position: Center/Wing
Size: 6-1/190
Drafted: 2018, second round
Team: Lulea HF (SHL)
Season totals: 2 games, 1 assist
Hallander fractured his leg in his second game of the season and is expected to be out until at least Christmas.
Nathan Legare
Position: Right wing
Size: 6-0/205
Drafted: 2019, third round
Team: Baie-Comeau Drakkar (QMJHL)
Season totals: 14 games, 6 goals, 7 assists
Legare played in three games this week and recorded one assist.
RDS posted this quick feature on Legare's offseason training, showing him doing lower-body workouts to develop more explosive skating.
Linus Olund
Position: Center
Size: 5-11/183
Drafted: 2017, fifth round
Team: Brynas IF (SHL)
Season totals: 10 games, 1 goal, 2 assists
Olund was scoreless in two games this week. He continues to center Brynas' second line.
Nikita Pavlychev
Position: Center
Size: 6-8/225
Drafted: 2015, seventh round
Team: Penn State (NCAA)
Season totals: 3 games, 1 goal
Pavlychev was scoreless in one game this week, a 2-1 win over Robert Morris in University Park. Pavlychev centered the second line in the game.
Penn State is running this Battle of the Countries series featuring their players from the U.S., Canada, Finland, and Russia throughout the season. Pavlychev and Avalanche prospect Denis Smirnov represent Russia:
It took some teams longer than others, but after week 3⃣ everyone is on the board with the Finns remaining at the top!
Catch these all season long during the second intermission at Pegula!!
?? | 3⃣
?? | 2⃣
?? | 1⃣
?? | 1⃣#WeAre #HockeyValley pic.twitter.com/1gTCnmKUPB
— Penn State Men’s Hockey (@PennStateMHKY) October 29, 2019
Samuel Poulin
Position: Wing
Size: 6-1/207
Drafted: 2019, first round
Team: Sherbrooke Phoenix (QMJHL)
Season totals: 14 games, 9 goals, 16 assists
Poulin added three assists in three games this week, playing on the left side of Sherbrooke's top line.
Valtteri Puustinen
Position: Wing
Size: 5-9/183
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Team: HPK (Liiga)
Season totals: 17 games, 7 goals, 7 assists
Puustinen scored two goals in three games this week, including this absurd between-the-legs move:
Puustinen leads HPK in scoring, which is why he wears the gold helmet.
DEFENSEMEN
Calen Addison
Size: 5-10/180
Drafted: 2018, second round
Team: Lethbridge Hurricanes (WHL)
Season totals: 14 games, 3 goals, 6 assists
Addison was scoreless in two games this week. He played on the right side of Lethbridge's second pairing.
Santeri Airola
Size: 5-11/165
Drafted: 2019, seventh round
Team: SaiPa (Liiga), Kettera (Mestis)
Season totals: 2 games with SaiPa, 1 game with Kettera
After playing primarily in Finnish juniors last season, Airola’s plan this season was to move to the second-tier professional Mestis league and play for Kettera.
At the beginning of the season, Airola was instead loaned to SaiPa of the top men’s league. After being injured since September, Airola was cleared to play this week and played one game with Kettera.
Ryan Jones
Size: 6-2/186
Drafted: 2016, fourth round
Team: Nebraska-Omaha (NCAA)
Season totals: 4 games, 2 goals, 2 assists
Jones and the Mavericks did not play this week.
Antti Palojarvi
Size: 6-1/172
Drafted: 2017, sixth round
Team: Lukko (Liiga), Lukko U20 (Jr. A SM-liiga)
Season totals: 5 games with Lukko; 13 games, 3 assists Lukko U20
Palojarvi played two games with Lukko's U20 team this week, recording one assist.
Clayton Phillips
Size: 5-11/183
Drafted: 2017, third round
Team: Penn State (NCAA)
Season totals: 5 games, 2 assists
Phillips played in one game this week, a 2-1 win over Robert Morris, and was scoreless.
William Reilly
Size: 6-2/196
Drafted: 2017, seventh round
Team: Rensselaer Polytech (NCAA)
Season totals: 6 games, 3 goal, 3 assists
Reilly played in two games this week and scored two goals.