Kyle Dubas said on Friday that "it'd be nice if it mapped out perfectly with the five picks," of the Penguins' draft plans. "You get two forwards, two D and a goalie, and it's all balanced. But I think we're still in 'trying to find all the talent we can' mode."
The Penguins got the balance they hoped for in this draft class. After moving up into the fourth round and then acquiring an additional fifth-round pick in a subsequent trade, they finished with three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender, for a full starting lineup of a draft class.
The draft class centered around a pair of twins -- Liam and Markus Ruck. They bolstered the class with a pair of overage defensemen in Tomas Galvas and Parker Von Richter, plus a high-scoring OHL winger in Pierce Mbuyi and a Belarusian goaltender Matvei Nikonovich.
The Penguins didn't come into this draft dead-set on targeting specific positions, certain styles, or certain backgrounds. They just wanted to add as much talent as they could.
"The reality is we need to keep accruing talented people," vice president of player personnel Wes Clark said. "I think we're able to accomplish that."
Here is a look at the six players drafted by the players this weekend, with Clark's assessment of each pick.
FIRST ROUND, No. 22 Liam Ruck Position: Right wing Shoots: Right Age: 18 Size: 6-0, 176 Team: Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) Clark's take: "Both of them have elite offensive instincts here, relative to the class. Love the game of hockey, competitive, obviously have things to work on. Development staff will be massively important for them, (Jason Spezza) and (Tom Kostopoulos), and we'll do our best to help them maximize their potential. Story:Penguins take twin Liam Ruck at No. 22, hope to add brother
SECOND ROUND, No. 39 Markus Ruck Position: Center/left wing Shoots: Left Age: 18 Size: 6-0, 168 Team: Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL) Clark's take: "It was very strategic (to take both Rucks), it was a very unique situation. Put a lot of time into it last week, dealing with the agent, our scouts, management. Once we took Liam at 22, we decided to hold and roll the dice, and were able to get Marcus at 39" Story: Penguins keep Ruck twins together, draft Markus in second round
SECOND ROUND, No. 54 Tomas Galvas Position: Defenseman Shoots: Left Age: 20 Size: 5-10, 168 Team: Bílí Tygři Liberec (Czechia) Clark's take: "Czech D of the year. He was making a lot of noise in that league. Great World Juniors, played with the men at the end of the year. Listen, we made mistakes. We all are going to continue making mistakes. He slipped through two drafts. Too good to pass up there. So we believe in the impact that he can provide, and we'll help him develop properly. He'll go back to Czech next year, and we'll see where it goes after that." Story: Penguins add defenseman Galvas
THIRD ROUND, No. 86 Pierce Mbuyi Position: Left wing Shoots: Left Age: 18 Size: 5-11, 163 Team: Owen Sound Attack(OHL) Clark's take: "Pierce is an underdog. 74 points this year. Did a lot of work on him the last couple weeks, he's dealt with some things in his lifetime that you don't want people at that age to deal with. You see the look in his eye, it's a lot of belief in the person, the makeup." (Note: Clark is likely referring to Mbuyi losing his mother to cancer) Story: Penguins draft winger in third round
FOURTH ROUND, No. 111 Parker Von Richter Position: Defenseman Shoots: Right Age: 20 Size: 6-1, 205 Team: Barrie Colts (OHL) Clark's take: "Going off to school next year. Just had a great run this year, and believe there's real upside to provide defensive impact." Story: Penguins get another overage defenseman
FIFTH ROUND, No. 160 Matvei Nikonovich Position: Goaltender Catches: Left Age: 17 Size: 6-2, 187 Team: Ladia Togliatti(MHL) Clark's take: "He was essentially a red-star player for (director of goaltending) Jon Elkin, high on his board. Knew that there was a chance that we'd be able to get him late once we knew we could get him, decided to move a future pick to get up and get him." Story: Penguins trade picks, take Belarusian goalie
THE ASYLUM
The draft class: Penguins make six picks
Kyle Dubas said on Friday that "it'd be nice if it mapped out perfectly with the five picks," of the Penguins' draft plans. "You get two forwards, two D and a goalie, and it's all balanced. But I think we're still in 'trying to find all the talent we can' mode."
The Penguins got the balance they hoped for in this draft class. After moving up into the fourth round and then acquiring an additional fifth-round pick in a subsequent trade, they finished with three forwards, two defensemen and one goaltender, for a full starting lineup of a draft class.
The draft class centered around a pair of twins -- Liam and Markus Ruck. They bolstered the class with a pair of overage defensemen in Tomas Galvas and Parker Von Richter, plus a high-scoring OHL winger in Pierce Mbuyi and a Belarusian goaltender Matvei Nikonovich.
The Penguins didn't come into this draft dead-set on targeting specific positions, certain styles, or certain backgrounds. They just wanted to add as much talent as they could.
"The reality is we need to keep accruing talented people," vice president of player personnel Wes Clark said. "I think we're able to accomplish that."
Here is a look at the six players drafted by the players this weekend, with Clark's assessment of each pick.
FIRST ROUND, No. 22
Liam Ruck
Position: Right wing
Shoots: Right
Age: 18
Size: 6-0, 176
Team: Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
Clark's take: "Both of them have elite offensive instincts here, relative to the class. Love the game of hockey, competitive, obviously have things to work on. Development staff will be massively important for them, (Jason Spezza) and (Tom Kostopoulos), and we'll do our best to help them maximize their potential.
Story: Penguins take twin Liam Ruck at No. 22, hope to add brother
SECOND ROUND, No. 39
Markus Ruck
Position: Center/left wing
Shoots: Left
Age: 18
Size: 6-0, 168
Team: Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
Clark's take: "It was very strategic (to take both Rucks), it was a very unique situation. Put a lot of time into it last week, dealing with the agent, our scouts, management. Once we took Liam at 22, we decided to hold and roll the dice, and were able to get Marcus at 39"
Story: Penguins keep Ruck twins together, draft Markus in second round
SECOND ROUND, No. 54
Tomas Galvas
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Left
Age: 20
Size: 5-10, 168
Team: Bílí Tygři Liberec (Czechia)
Clark's take: "Czech D of the year. He was making a lot of noise in that league. Great World Juniors, played with the men at the end of the year. Listen, we made mistakes. We all are going to continue making mistakes. He slipped through two drafts. Too good to pass up there. So we believe in the impact that he can provide, and we'll help him develop properly. He'll go back to Czech next year, and we'll see where it goes after that."
Story: Penguins add defenseman Galvas
THIRD ROUND, No. 86
Pierce Mbuyi
Position: Left wing
Shoots: Left
Age: 18
Size: 5-11, 163
Team: Owen Sound Attack (OHL)
Clark's take: "Pierce is an underdog. 74 points this year. Did a lot of work on him the last couple weeks, he's dealt with some things in his lifetime that you don't want people at that age to deal with. You see the look in his eye, it's a lot of belief in the person, the makeup." (Note: Clark is likely referring to Mbuyi losing his mother to cancer)
Story: Penguins draft winger in third round
FOURTH ROUND, No. 111
Parker Von Richter
Position: Defenseman
Shoots: Right
Age: 20
Size: 6-1, 205
Team: Barrie Colts (OHL)
Clark's take: "Going off to school next year. Just had a great run this year, and believe there's real upside to provide defensive impact."
Story: Penguins get another overage defenseman
FIFTH ROUND, No. 160
Matvei Nikonovich
Position: Goaltender
Catches: Left
Age: 17
Size: 6-2, 187
Team: Ladia Togliatti (MHL)
Clark's take: "He was essentially a red-star player for (director of goaltending) Jon Elkin, high on his board. Knew that there was a chance that we'd be able to get him late once we knew we could get him, decided to move a future pick to get up and get him."
Story: Penguins trade picks, take Belarusian goalie
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