The recovery of the NHL 2025 is finished, and what 24 hours it was for the Penguins! Pittsburgh ended up making three first -round choices, a handful of trades and 13 selections. It was a wave of activities for the team and stored them for the future.
Some Sunday reflections on the event, in the form of a quick ball.
- The number of choices was a Doozy for pens. Pittsburgh had not made between 4 and 6 choices each year in 2013-24. Take 13 players this year more than double the typical performance. The pens had not written more than 10 players since 1994.
- The quality was also high, the pens had four choices in the first 40 and seven in the top 100. Pittsburgh made four best choices in 2013-24 – combined! Make the quality (via the zone of choice, at least) of the last 12 drafts in full is the mind -boggling spirit. It is a crazy swing towards construction through draft choices once again.
- Dubas definitely did things with this project. The three first -round choices in Ben Kindel, Bill Zunnon and Will Horcoff were chosen by the pens at least a few places earlier than expected. Time will tell us if the pens were right to enhance the players with whom they went.
- The “What could have been” factor in the coming years, while the New York Icelanders ended up with Kashawn Aitcheson and Victor Eklund. Few people would have blocked their eyes if the pens had made these two their own first -round choices. The fact that these two players ended up in the same team – and a division rival – will be fascinating to monitor how it goes. It could have been the pens!
- But it was not them, because Dubas decided to exchange choice n ° 12 and to obtain two choices of late Tour. It was a curious decision being that the conventional wisdom entering this project was that there was a very real talent shelf in the middle of the first round. Again, these are the things that only time will say – conventional wisdom does not always hold in the long term.
- Always an interesting idea to exchange there, and not just to trade but to trade with the flyers! Have we mentioned crazy moments?
- Like the NYI situation with Aitcheson / Eklund, inevitable comparisons with Philadelphia will be a juicy story to follow. As mentioned, it is even better since the player that the flyers drafted with the choice of pens at 12 years old (Jack Nesbitt) is a prospect very similar to that which the pens later obtained in William Horcoff. Both are very large centers that have work to do. Which takes place, or how the two take place incredibly fascinating. (Of course, Pittsburgh also released Bill Zunnon from this job, so all their eggs are not in this basket … But for leaflets, they are more committed with Nesbitt, at least for the purpose of this business).
- Dubas shared a vision for larger and more difficult to play in the future pens. Each GM will say something for this purpose, but Dubas was not only paying the lip service. Zonnon (6’2 ”, 185 pounds) and Horcoff (6’5”, 203 pounds) correspond to this invoice. Peyton Kettles (6’6 ”, 194 pounds) and Brady Peddle (6’3”, 203) are monstrous defenders with an edge that are not there for their washer skills. Charlie Trethewey (6’2 ”, 201) is not far behind. Even the goalkeeper (Gabriel d’Aigle) is registered at 6’4” and 211 pounds. It’s a lot of beef.
- But is it strange to be more in love with some of the last choices? The fourth round Travis Hayes and the fifth round Quinn Beauchesne may well have higher advantages and more skills / quality than many second / third round choices. Many defenders of the Kettles / Peddle / Trethewey range on the day of the draft resemble the third pair in the NHL. Perhaps they can develop more and go beyond expectations, but no more tool prospects like Hayes and Beauchesne undoubtedly have this “lower floor but perhaps a higher ceiling if they strike”.
- It is also interesting to note that the split made three advantages in the first round, then the four choices through the rounds 2-3 included three defenders (and a goalkeeper). It could have been somewhat circumstantial for the way the project broke, but stood out that Dubas was able to contact the group before early and often at the top of the project, then ended up changing speed to focus on the Blueline.
- Regarding Dubas Trend projects gowill dig more about it later, but there was no major surprise. WHL, OHL and Americans players dominated, with multiple connections with SOO. There were changes in the past plans, it was not a great year for the Finn and it was reflected. In fact, Pittsburgh did not take any European. No surplus of players either, surprisingly.
- However, on this last point, it was reported that the pens were close to writing the Charlie Cerrato state center, an excess player at the top of their list. They were surpassed by Caroline in this case, which pushed Cerrato 49th in the general classification. There must be a million stories like that of the teams who fish for certain players and watching them get arrested, but that happens.
- On these lines. The pens had four real chances of choice 73 to 105 to intensify and take LJ Mooney, and made different instructions. It is not completely shocking because going with a player of 5’7 ”, the whole competence player does not correspond exactly to the mold or the tone of this year’s draft at Pittsburgh, but that makes you ask you how or when Pittsburgh would have ever had Mooney on their list.
- The thing about the NHL draft is whether or not if the day after what is finished, unless a team goes out with Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid or something like that. This was not the case, so patience and time are the only thing that will really say how much or bad people have. From the surface, if they can transform their 13 choices into a handful of decent NHL players, they will have done their part to store the organization. This project looks like a type of “construction block” compilation for pens. They did not get infallible stars or high -end talents – maybe it will come next year. They may have started on a good basis for these future stars with a healthy quantity of a support distribution, if everything is going well.
The only safe and safe thing for the moment is that the next development camp from July 3 to 7 will be as important and interesting for a summer week in hockey as the UPMC Lemieux building has ever organized. There will certainly be a ton of new faces while the pens change speed to start developing the players they have just brought into the organization.
