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Check out the Penguins’ 2024 draft class

Posted on by angelo

The Penguins added six players to their organization in the second NHL draft under Kyle Dubas this weekend at the Sphere in Las Vegas. “We feel good about all the players we were able to select today,” said Nick Pryor, Penguins director of amateur scouting. Here’s a closer look at each.

Name: Harrison Brunicke (pronounced “brew-nick”)

Selection: Second round, 44th Generally

Position: Defender

Height: 6-2

Weight: 196

Age: 18

Born: Johannesburg, South Africa

Raised: Calgary, Alberta

Represented : Canada/South Africa

Amateur team: Kamloops Blazers (WHL)

Amateur Scouting Director Nick Pryor’s perspective: “Harrison was a guy who had a bit of an injury-interrupted year this year, but he finished the year in really good shape with Canada at the under-18 level. Mobile, long, rangy defenceman who moves well. He’s got a puck game and he’s physical as well. So he’s got a lot of attributes that make him really attractive to us. Anytime you can find a defenceman that moves like that with that size and can also move the puck, it’s really attractive.”

Fun fact: He is looking to become the first skater born in South Africa and the second to play in the NHL after goaltender Olaf Kolzig, who was born to German parents in Johannesburg. Harrison’s parents moved their family to Calgary when he was 2 and joked that they knew “nothing” about hockey before introducing him to Timbits.

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Name: Tanner Howe

Selection: Second round, 46th Generally

Position: Before

Height: 5-10

Weight: 184

Age: 18

Hometown: Prince Albert (Saskatchewan)

Represented : Canada

Amateur team: Regina Pats (WHL)

Director of Amateur Scouting Nick Pryor’s perspective: “Very competitive player. Small in stature, but he’s a strong kid because of his small size. High-competition, high-motor player who also has offensive skills in his game. So we were really excited to get Tanner and we felt really good about the position we put him in.

Fun fact: He grew up with Brayden Yager, the Penguins’ 2023 first-round pick, saying, “He’s one of my best friends. He would text me before the draft and say, ‘I hope Pittsburgh takes you!’ It’s really cool.” Tanner also cited Sidney Crosby as his idol even before he joined the Penguins, shaking his head at the career the Pittsburgh captain has built. “To be drafted by the same team, it’s really cool,” he said. “I think the way he carries himself off the ice, the career he’s had so far, it’s pretty crazy. He’s definitely someone I look up to.”

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Name: Chase Pietila

Selection: Fourth round, 111th Generally

Position: Defender

Height: 6-2

Weight: 186

Age: 20

Hometown: Howell, Michigan

Represented : UNITED STATES

Amateur team: Michigan Tech (NCAA)

The view of Nick Pryor, Director of Amateur Scouting: “He had a really good season (in his third year of draft eligibility). He’s got size, he’s got physicality, he’s a great defender. He can move the puck out of the zone and in transition. But with Chase, it was nice to see the year he had. He’s come a long way since his time in the USHL and has become a really good defenseman this year through Michigan Tech. I really like the competitive side he brings, his size and his ability to move the puck.”

Fun fact: Older brother Logan Pietila signed an AHL contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton after wrapping up a five-year college career, also at Michigan Tech. Logan recorded career highs in assists (16) and points (29) while co-captaining the Huskies to the CCHA Championship in his only season playing alongside Chase.

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Name: Joona Vaisanen

Selection: Sixth round, 175th Generally

Position: Defender

Height: 6-1

Weight: 175

Age: 19

Hometown: Espoo, Finland

Represented : Finland

Amateur team: Dubuque Fighting Saints (USHL)

Director of Amateur Scouting Nick Pryor’s perspective: “Smooth-skating defenseman who moves the puck very well out of the zone and in transition, in the offensive zone, on the power play… he’s a very good skater and a very good puck mover, and he defends very well. He uses his feet and stick to defend and close out plays. He’s going to a really good program at Western Michigan, so we were excited to have him in the spot we put him at. »

Fun fact: He played for new WBS head coach Kirk MacDonald in Dubuque, where the Fighting Saints finished with the best record in the Eastern Conference before winning the USHL Eastern Conference championship in the playoffs. the Clark Cup. Pryor had the chance to speak with MacDonald about the young defenseman last week in Vegas, and “Kirk said very, very positive things about him as a player and as a person. So that just added to our information that we had, and it made us feel even better about picking Joona where we got him.

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Name: Mac Swanson

Selection: Seventh round, 207th Generally

Position: Before

Height: 5-8

Weight: 167

Age: 18

Hometown: Anchorage, Alaska

Represented : UNITED STATES

Amateur team: Fargo Force (USHL)

Nick Pryor, Director of Amateur Scouting, has the following view: “A small forward coming from the Fargo Force of the USHL. He’s a really exciting hockey player to watch. He is small, but he is competitive, very skilled and very intelligent. So we were excited to get it, especially where we got it. »

Fun facts): Matt Cullen, a two-time Stanley Cup champion in 2016 and 2017 with Pittsburgh who currently works in player development for the Penguins, is also a co-owner of Fargo Force. “Matt speaks very highly of Mac and he’s a big fan,” Pryor said. Last season, Swanson was teammates with Zam Plante, a fifth-round pick of the Penguins in 2022.

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Name: Finn Harding

Selection: Seventh round, 223rd Generally

Position: Defender

Height: 6-1

Weight: 198

Age: 19

Hometown: Toronto, Ontario

Represented : Canada

Amateur team: Mississauga Steelheads (OHL)

Amateur Scouting Director Nick Pryor’s perspective: “Smart, intelligent defenseman. He’s a guy who takes pride in his own goal. He’s a high-character kid. Our due diligence was very, very positive on him. So we were pleased with the progress he made. He takes pride in his defensive game and he can move the puck as well. So we felt good about him.”

To learn more about how each of these prospects perform during the 2023.24 season, check out the press release.