Wanna blog? Start your own hockey blog with My HockeyBuzz. Register for free today!
 

Penguins invest in offensive upside with second round picks
June 24, 2018, 2:52 PM ET [55 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
Pittsburgh Penguins Blogger • RSS • Archive • CONTACT
The Pittsburgh Penguins may not have had a first round pick, but they certainly made the most of what they had, at least in my opinion. They broke away from the low ceiling Connor Hall types and invested in players that have a history of producing offense.

Their first pick of the draft at #53 overall was Calen Addison.




He’s a right handed defenseman who likes to push the play and contribute offensively. Will he pan out? I don’t know. I’ll say this, these are types of plyaers you take chances on because if he does pan out he can actually make a difference. His ceiling his higher. His offensive production in lower levels is there, especially so for a defenseman. I also like how skill won out on the selection and whatever size concerns were ignored. More and more teams are catching on that the smaller skilled guys can play. Pretty soon that competitive advantage will be lost as more teams start to realize that.



The other part of drafting a player like this is you have to be willing to accept mistakes and allow creativity to blossom. Don’t snuff that out because they screwed up in their own end a few times. It’s way harder to find players who can move the needle offensively than it is to find the players content with jamming the puck off the glass so they don’t get yelled at even though that is a crappy play.

The Penguins next selection was Filip Hallander who is a 17 year old playing in Sweden’s second tier professional league. He had 20 points in 40 games which is really good considering the age of his competition and the fact Hallander is 17.




Hallander’s team earned a promotion to the SHL which is Sweden’s top league. He will get a chance to face even better competition which should accelerate development. Another great part of selecting a player from Europe is you avoid the asinine CHL transfer rules which screwed Daniel Sprong over. If Hallander and/or the Penguin want him to play in the AHL, he can.

For a team that didn’t have a first round pick I like the logic that went into both of these selections. You’re already against the odds of finding an NHL regular by the time the first round ends. Might as well take some guys with an offensive pulse. If it doesn’t work this time you try it again and when you hit you have an impact player.

****

I think Chris Kunitz would be a great fourth line player for the Penguins. The team is interested as well




If the money works then I think this signing should be as good as done before the summer is over. The team is probably going to have to have to make some other moves before the signing happens. Seeing as though Rutherford has talked a lot about making moves we should be seeing some of those sooner than later.

Thanks for reading!
Join the Discussion: » 55 Comments » Post New Comment
More from Ryan Wilson
» Getting your Penguins fix
» My thoughts on Penguins thoughts
» It's their fault
» Still alive, for now
» Going to need some help now