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Penguins come away with some intriguing forward prospects
June 30, 2024, 2:38 PM ET [162 Comments]
Ryan Wilson
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The Pittsburgh Penguins did not have much to do on Friday night. They had no first round pick and they did not make any trades. On day two things really picked up in a 15 minute stretch. They traded for Kevin Hayes and made both of their second-round picks within that window. Ultimately the Penguins made six selections on the day.



I’m going to lead with Tanner Howe who is the most intriguing player brought in. Howe is a feisty agitator who also has an offensive pulse. It is one thing if a player’s only attribute is being annoying. It is completely different if the player is highly annoying and also very competent. The combination of both is an ideal situation and one that looks realistic. By many accounts the Penguins got good value at pick 46 for him





In 2022-23 Howe was the beneficiary of playing on a line with Connor Bedard. This of course is going to cause people to pause and ponder how much of Howe’s success was Bedard. They were one of the best teams in juniors and Howe finished with 36 goals and 85 points in 67 games. This year Bedard was in Chicago and the Regina Pats were one of the bottom teams in their league, worst in the WHL’s Eastern Conference. Without Bedard and a supporting cast Howe played in 68 games putting up 28 goals and 77 points. All things considered a very solid follow up season considering he lost his megastar center.

This reminds me of a similar situation years ago when I went to Erie to watch Connor McDavid play. Obviously, McDavid is the attraction, but I left impressed with an undersized player by the name of Alex DeBrincat. He flourished with McDavid (duh) putting up 104 points in 68 games. The following year without McDavid DeBrincat had 101 points in 60 games. While DeBrincat’s raw numbers are clearly better than Howe’s the point is that Howe followed up playing with a #1 overall pick by putting up similar production the following season much like DeBrincat did. It is an encouraging sign.

The other player I am intrigued by is one of their seventh-round selections, Mac Swanson. Swanson is an undersized forward with solid offensive numbers. He is exactly the type of player you want to take a full swing at when you are in the last round of the draft. When you are drafting at #207 overall there is no reason to play it safe. Don't waste time taking some big defenseman with minimal points in juniors who will be playing with the South Carolina Sting Rays as a ceiling. I really like the concept of taking Swanson. There is a legit ceiling to be had





Swanson was like a unicorn this draft. He was one of very few players taken under 5’10”



Overall, I thought the Penguins had a decent draft day considering they didn’t have any first round selections. I thought the Howe and Swanson picks were the two most notable for them. The shift towards building the prospect pool back up has commenced and will continue moving forward.

Thanks for reading!
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