Fourth round: Pietila, undrafted twice, had big year in college

LAS VEGAS -- Chase Pietila got passed over in his first two years of draft eligibility.

In his third and final year of eligibility at age 20, the Penguins selected Pietila with the fourth round, 111th overall on Saturday here in Las Vegas.

Pietila is a right-handed defenseman who is listed a 6 foot 3 and 188 pounds. He was a freshman last season at Michigan Tech, where he led his team's defenseman and ranked fourth overall in team scoring with three goals and 19 assists in 40 games. He led his team in assists and ranked fourth in the CCHA and eighth among all NCAA freshmen defensemen in assists. His 60 penalty minutes led all NCAA freshmen.

This was his first collegiate goal:

This one was just a great goal:

Penguins director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor said Pietila "has got size, physicality, defends really well, can move the puck on the breakout and in transition," and also praised Pietila's competitiveness.

According to the Elite Prospects draft guide, the only players in all of college hockey who had more even-strength ice time were 2024 first-round pick Zeev Buium and Sean Behrens, a 2021 second-round pick. He played on the top pairing, often against opponents' top lines. 

The guide calls Pietila a "do-everything defenseman" who "doesn’t necessarily excel in any one area of the game or even have a separating tool physically – the whole is just more than the sum of its parts."

Prior to starting his collegiate career at Michigan Tech, Pietila played three seasons in the USHL -- one season with the Lincoln Stars, and two with the Youngstown Phantoms. He got into a couple fights in his last USHL season, and handled himself just fine:

Pietila's older brother Logan signed an AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in the spring and played in three games with Wilkes-Barre late in the season. Logan is a 24-year-old right wing.