NHL Draft profiles: Kleber a big right-handed D

This is the 21st (and FINAL!) story in a series of player profiles from the NHL's Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y., focusing on potential second-round picks for the Penguins at 44th and 46th overall.

LAS VEGAS -- Adam Kleber checks a lot of boxes for a team like the Penguins: He's big. He's a defenseman. And he's right-handed ... All things their prospect pool could really, really use.

Kleber, 18, is a 6-foot-6, 215-pound blue liner from the USHL's Lincoln Stars. He describes himself as a "two-way defenseman. I defend the rush, I have an active stick. I like to break the puck out quickly and join the rush."

The Elite Prospects draft guide compared him to Ryan Graves, calling Kleber "a towering, but nimble defenseman with a shutdown defensive game likely to play in the NHL. Flashes of activation and open-ice skill give him upside."

Kleber said that he's always been on the bigger size for his age, but his big growth spurt came fairly recently, after his sophomore year of high school. While he tended to be more of an offensive defenseman before he was quite so huge, now he aims to make use of that big frame and long reach and focus more on his two-way game.

Even with that focus, Kleber is still finding ways to contribute offensively. In his rookie USHL season in 2022-23, he didn't find the scoresheet so often -- just eight assists, no goals in 56 games. This past season? Five goals, 21 assists in 56 games.

"I think it was just my mentality," Kleber told me at the NHL's Scouting Combine in Buffalo, N.Y. earlier this month of those steps offensively. "Going into the year I wanted to produce more, and I think the work I put in over the summer gave me more confidence to do that and trust my abilities."

Kleber looks to be a mid- to late- second-round pick on Saturday's Day 2 of the draft. Some projections have him going right about where the Penguins pick at 44th and 46th: Elite Prospects has him right in the middle at 45, and so does Draft Prospects Hockey. Some have him a little higher in the second round: 33rd (Flo Hockey), and some have him lower: 51st (Dobber Prospects) and 73rd (FC Hockey).

One Western Conference scout told Elite Prospects that he'd anticipate Kleber going pretty high in the second round.

“This guy’s got a chance to run shotgun on a top-four pair," the scout said. "He can skate. He can defend. He’s someone who can handle tough matchups. He’s got range and plays a tight gap. There’s a lot to like there. He’ll be gone by 40. No doubt.”

Kleber met with 21 teams at the combine. The Penguins weren't one of the 21, but that doesn't always indicate disinterest. That's sometimes especially true for USHL kids, who open the season with a series of games at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. The Penguins can watch those teams play right from their own management balcony, and talk to the staffs with ease. I mean, look at this clip where Kleber picks up an assist after a teammate redirected his bomb of a shot. The Penguins' entire amateur scouting staff, in town for meetings, is right there watching:

Next season Kleber will make the jump to college hockey at the University of Minnesota-Duluth.

"I really had a good relationship with coaches, Coach (Scott) Sandelin and Coach (Derek) Plante at the time -- he's with Blackhawks now -- but I really felt like there's a great opportunity to play there. And I knew from experience that Amsoil Arena's a great place to play."

Kleber will be part of an incoming freshmen class that includes two of former coach Derek Plante's sons -- Penguins forward prospect Zam Plante, and projected third-round pick in this year's draft, forward Max Plante. Kleber knows the Plante brothers "really well," having grown up playing with Max, and playing with Zam at the World Junior A Challenge. He's looking forward to reuniting with the two as teammates.

With Kleber starting college next year, it'll likely be another two or three years before he even turns pro. But if he can keep progressing at the college level, his two-way game, offensive abilities and big size could make him hard to pass up.