The NHL draft recently concluded in Philadelphia this past weekend and the Pittsburgh Penguins had a very good draft. They drafted some forwards for once this year which has not been the case over the past several years when they just draft defenseman. What do I think of the Penguins draft? Let's see.
In the first round, the Penguins opted to take a Finnish forward by the name of Kasperi Kapanen. He's 22 years old and the Penguins had him on number seven on the draft board. Jim Rutherford and the scouting staff even said they were shocked that he fell back as far as he did. Even though he only scored seven goals and seven assists in Finland, he is a great skater and passer. Jim Rutherford said after the first day of the draft that he could be playing here in a season or two depending on how fast he develops. He certainly would be a great addition to the Penguins when he's fully developed and ready to go.
The Penguins did not have a second or third round pick in this year's draft thanks to a couple Ray Shero trades. In the fourth round, the Penguins selected Sam Lafferty who is a center out of Deerfield Academy (high school). He grew up only an hour and a half away from Pittsburgh so he's a pretty local kid. He's also been a Penguins fan all his life so it must have been pretty exciting when he got the call. He scored 21 goals and 34 assists in just 25 games last season which is just amazing. He's going to Brown university in a year so he's going to be a few years away before the Penguins potentially call him up.
In the fifth round, Pittsburgh selected Anthony Angello, another forward, out of the USHL. He played for Omaha and totalled 11 goals and 10 assists in 58 games. He's commited to playing college hockey at Cornell university so again this kid is a few years away too. The scouting staff thinks he's hard and heavy on pucks which is very good to hear. Hope this kid does well in College then he can go to the baby pens down in Wilkes-Barre Scranton.
The sixth round came along and still the Penguins did not draft a defenseman. They went with Jaden Lindo out of the OHL. He appeared in 40 games last season totalling nine goals and nine assists. In the two years he appeared with the team, he totalled 40 points. Jaden is very good along the wall and good on the forecheck. He's still going to be a few years away too.
The last pick for the Penguins in the seventh round was finally a defenseman! They drafted Jeff Taylor out of Union College. He hellped them win the NCAA championship when he chipped in three goals and 13 assists during the season. The scouting staff says he's a very good puck moving defenseman which is something the Penguins desperately need for years to come. Overall, this was a good draft for the Penguins this year, I enjoyed getting to know these prospects and I hope that they can help Pittsburgh in the near future. Grade: B+.