Prospect Info: Pittsburgh Penguins Prospects Thread: 2023-2024 Edition

[Gumbercules]

I'd be concerned about Poirier's inability to produce against quality teams this year. The Q was very top heavy, and Poirier's numbers against the three good teams outside of BC weren't great. Was also a complete non-factor against Drumondville in the league final. He feasted on the bottom feeders of the league. I think he had 10 goals against Quebec alone.

 

[Ulf5]

We just need guys that can actually shoot. With Jake gone, the number of quality shooters we have is absolutely pedestrian. We need guys that actually have shooting skill. It's why I'm high on Yager. Kid likes to shoot. Perfect. Hone that skill. Nurture it. Feed it. Groom it. Develop it. Regardless of the team he is on, the first thing that should be coming out of every single coach's mouth is "keep shooting". Coaches that advocate, "Well, sonny boy, you need to learn to PK and become a good two-way player," should be strung up.

I'd be looking at that as the #1 skill set for any prospects we take in the 2nd round this year.

Someone that can shoot would be nice. And if they never draft another player that has to improve their skating in any capacity again, I'll be good.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Dean Letourneau intrigues me. A 6'7" right-shot center who is projected to go in the second round is enticing! Bobby Mac has him as a late-first. LONG-term project, played canadian HS hockey so take that with a massive grain of salt. But he will go to Boston College in '25-26. I assume USHL next year. Definitely the type of prospect I want in the second round. Home run or swing and a miss. Let's go!

 

[steelcityassault]

Dean Letourneau intrigues me. A 6'7" right-shot center who is projected to go in the second round is enticing! Bobby Mac has him as a late-first. LONG-term project, played canadian HS hockey so take that with a massive grain of salt. But he will go to Boston College in '25-26. I assume USHL next year. Definitely the type of prospect I want in the second round. Home run or swing and a miss. Let's go!

Would be amazing.
Although willing to bet they don't draft a 6'7 guy

 

[SEALBound]

Dean Letourneau intrigues me. A 6'7" right-shot center who is projected to go in the second round is enticing! Bobby Mac has him as a late-first. LONG-term project, played canadian HS hockey so take that with a massive grain of salt. But he will go to Boston College in '25-26. I assume USHL next year. Definitely the type of prospect I want in the second round. Home run or swing and a miss. Let's go!

I wouldn't hate him in the system. Here's my thing though - drafting guys that are tall is fine but can they play? Height doesn't gift you magical abilities in the league like it might in basketball or even football.

If Zohorna was 5'11, he'd be out of the league. If Letourneau was 5'11, would they still want to draft him?

 

[Rakell67]

Would be amazing.
Although willing to bet they don't draft a 6'7 guy

The Rags will snag him.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I wouldn't hate him in the system. Here's my thing though - drafting guys that are tall is fine but can they play? Height doesn't gift you magical abilities in the league like it might in basketball or even football.

If Zohorna was 5'11, he'd be out of the league. If Letourneau was 5'11, would they still want to draft him?

If Letourneau was 5'11, he'd probably be BPA on the Pens' draft list.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

I wouldn't hate him in the system. Here's my thing though - drafting guys that are tall is fine but can they play? Height doesn't gift you magical abilities in the league like it might in basketball or even football.

If Zohorna was 5'11, he'd be out of the league. If Letourneau was 5'11, would they still want to draft him?

I'm with you. It is the combination of his height and the nearly two points per game stat line that grabbed my attention.

I would not have posted anything about him if BOTH were not part of his M.O.

 

[lokomotiv15]

Dean Letourneau intrigues me. A 6'7" right-shot center who is projected to go in the second round is enticing! Bobby Mac has him as a late-first. LONG-term project, played canadian HS hockey so take that with a massive grain of salt. But he will go to Boston College in '25-26. I assume USHL next year. Definitely the type of prospect I want in the second round. Home run or swing and a miss. Let's go!

I’m a little surprised he’s ranked that high based on his resume. Never seen him play barring a few recent highlights. Guess he’s kind of a Mark Jankowski type pick with a bit more size. Good numbers, obviously, but plays prep in Canada in a rather horrid AAA loop.
0 pts in 2 games in the USHL. Must be something there though as a Boston College commit.

You’re right though, definitely the kind of kid you won’t hear from as an NHL option until he’s 21-22 at the earliest, despite his size.

Wouldn’t mind it as we have 2 picks in that area this year.

 

[chethejet]

Dubas is strong on adding young talent and picks so I can see him moving Smith and maybe one or two others as well. He is adamant to add young talent to the system.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Man, Central Scouting's Euro prospects list seems pretty f***ing sus. I haven't seen much besides the Czech and Slovak players but frankly, I don't get how they're being ranked at all, which makes me suspicious of their other rankings too.

 

[Gurglesons]

Dubas is strong on adding young talent and picks so I can see him moving Smith and maybe one or two others as well. He is adamant to add young talent to the system.

Very excited to see how his plan for this goes and be told "just be patient" again when his idea of prospects is players like Koivunen.

 

[deakka]

Very excited to see how his plan for this goes and be told "just be patient" again when his idea of prospects is players like Koivunen.

You mean Koivunen isn't a prospect? Or what do you mean by "players like Koivunen"?

 

[chethejet]

Dubas isn't stupid here, he saw the lack of prospects and is doing things to rectify that. He added three prospects in the trade plus the second-round pick. He is adding as much as he can the next couple of years while having cap space to keep the Pen relevant as the transition from the all in Pens has ended. Pens have never in my lifetime had the farm system to beat the band. Pens for 40 years had stars and then the support players. Now with no Sid. Mario, Yagar, Geno, Kovalev, to just win games on skill coming, unless the Pens tank badly which they won't do. Pens need to build a roster that is based on depth and that advantage.

 

[Gurglesons]

Dubas isn't stupid here, he saw the lack of prospects and is doing things to rectify that. He added three prospects in the trade plus the second-round pick. He is adding as much as he can the next couple of years while having cap space to keep the Pen relevant as the transition from the all in Pens has ended. Pens have never in my lifetime had the farm system to beat the band. Pens for 40 years had stars and then the support players. Now with no Sid. Mario, Yagar, Geno, Kovalev, to just win games on skill coming, unless the Pens tank badly which they won't do. Pens need to build a roster that is based on depth and that advantage.

 

[HandshakeLine]

 

[vodeni]

Second rate prospects work if you had a core of 2-4 elite players such as Geno and Sid in their prime. Now adding a bunch of mid level prospects means that mediocrity will rein for a long time. That’s why tanking is the only solution now. Especially with this coach.

 

[Darren McCord]

Second rate prospects work if you had a core of 2-4 elite players such as Geno and Sid in their prime. Now adding a bunch of mid level prospects means that mediocrity will rein for a long time. That’s why tanking is the only solution now. Especially with this coach.

Tanking isnt the only solution but easiest. The blues won the cup with only one top 10 pick at number 4 with Pietrangelo. It is just a lot harder to go that route and you need a few big hits. It also requires you not to trade away 1rst rounders.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

Man, Central Scouting's Euro prospects list seems pretty f***ing sus. I haven't seen much besides the Czech and Slovak players but frankly, I don't get how they're being ranked at all, which makes me suspicious of their other rankings too.

Yeah, the CSB has regressed badly over the years. I don't use it anymore as a source. Elite prospects is all I need now, since they have a great list all on their own, plus they consolidate other rankings well.

Tanking isn't the only solution but easiest. The blues won the cup with only one top 10 pick at number 4 with Pietrangelo. It is just a lot harder to go that route and you need a few big hits. It also requires you not to trade away 1rst rounders.

Thank you. Trading away firsts has always been the biggest issue. Even in a down draft year, you can land a role player on the cheap and he might stick around long term. You just never know. That has value.

Plus, I would also argue that "second-rate" prospects can become first-rate prospects with opportunity. It matters little if you have the best prospects pool in the league if you have no room to promote some of them. Or if you decide to over-marinate them needlessly. We have not had much in terms of prospects, but even when we have had a few here and there (lately), they have been over-marinating in the AHL while drek has been skating on our roster. That has to stop. That must change.

LA and Detroit are good examples of what not to do. The Kings were the envy of the NHL not too long ago in terms of prospects. Especially up front. Especially centers. MAYBE in 2024-25 we will see Alex Turcotte and Akil Thomas playing regular minutes for them. Maybe. I think they have waited too long, and blocked their paths by bringing in the likes of Danault and then Dubois, etc. Byfield still cannot play center for them. And on defense, they had a lot of right defensemen but started trading away a Durzi for picks, a few other lefties like Bjornfot and Moverare stagnated, etc.

Detroit (Yzerman) is notorious for over-marinating. Edvinsson was clearly ready last season but he had 7 veterans ahead of him. Many other examples with them, too.

The notion that you can never hurt a player's development by keeping him in the minors is bullshit. Teams do it all the time.

 

[eXile3]

Tanking isnt the only solution but easiest. The blues won the cup with only one top 10 pick at number 4 with Pietrangelo. It is just a lot harder to go that route and you need a few big hits. It also requires you not to trade away 1rst rounders.

There’s maybe two examples of this in the last 20+ years.

 

[Jag68Sid87]

There’s maybe two examples of this in the last 20+ years.

So you're saying there's a chance...

 

[The Old Master]

Man, Central Scouting's Euro prospects list seems pretty f***ing sus. I haven't seen much besides the Czech and Slovak players but frankly, I don't get how they're being ranked at all, which makes me suspicious of their other rankings too.

yeah, all it is now for the pro scouts is a "hey did you check out this guy? or maybe you should look at this guy again." then they make their own evaluations. imo

 

[SEALBound]

Second rate prospects work if you had a core of 2-4 elite players such as Geno and Sid in their prime. Now adding a bunch of mid level prospects means that mediocrity will rein for a long time. That’s why tanking is the only solution now. Especially with this coach.

Certainly having a #1-3ov player is critical for roster construction but you can easily look to Tampa and Dallas as teams that maintained a high level of compete due to guys they've drafted in the later parts of the 1st round and 2nd round.

Kucherov, Vasi, and Point
Roberston, Johnson, and Hintz

 

[eXile3]

Certainly having a #1-3ov player is critical for roster construction but you can easily look to Tampa and Dallas as teams that maintained a high level of compete due to guys they've drafted in the later parts of the 1st round and 2nd round.

Kucherov, Vasi, and Point
Roberston, Johnson, and Hintz

Tampa has Hedman and Stamkos?

It is really difficult to win without top end talent. Since the lockout the Bruins, Wings, and Blues are the only teams I can see that won cups without a top 5 pick playing a key role.

Compare that to Pens 3x, Hawks 3x, Lighting 2x, Kings 2x, Caps, Avalanche, Ducks, Hurricanes, and Knights.

 

[SEALBound]

Tampa has Hedman and Stamkos?

It is really difficult to win without top end talent. Since the lockout the Bruins, Wings, and Blues are the only teams I can see that won cups without a top 5 pick playing a key role.

Compare that to Pens 3x, Hawks 3x, Lighting 2x, Kings 2x, Caps, Avalanche, Ducks, Hurricanes, and Knights.

Yeah, I'll give you Hedman but it's not like Stammer is a driving force.

Dallas has Seguin in that same position. And, in all fairness, they have Heiskinen as well.

I was more speaking about how teams have been able to "maintain" after their high pick cores get older.