{"id":623621,"date":"2026-07-16T03:06:15","date_gmt":"2026-07-16T03:06:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/623621\/"},"modified":"2026-07-16T03:06:15","modified_gmt":"2026-07-16T03:06:15","slug":"penguins-prospects-2026-top-10-blue-chips-fall-new-blood-rising-6-10","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nhl\/623621\/","title":{"rendered":"Penguins Prospects 2026 Top 10: Blue Chips Fall, New Blood Rising (6-10)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Rebuilds are painstaking, and stocking an organization with youthful players is an inexact science filled with as many surprises as mistakes and disappointments. And the Pittsburgh Penguins<\/a> are proving just that.<\/p>\n

Indeed, getting toward the top end of the 2026 Penguins prospects<\/a> pool is an interesting look at players who are the same age but headed in opposite directions, or maybe no direction at all. As we get to the top 10, there are three players who will not be featured on the list, and one of whom we decided had aged out. <\/p>\n

Ville Koivunen<\/a>, 23, has played 47 NHL games, scoring two goals with 14 points. However, he is no longer waiver-exempt, and for the purpose of ranking prospects, PHN decided that he was no longer a prospect but rather an NHL player who may or may not make the NHL squad. <\/p>\n

The other two prospects are 2025 draftees and will appear in the honorable mentions with further explanation that may border on a mea culpa. <\/p>\n

As a refresher for first-time readers, our 2026 list used a three-criterion ranking system from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest), rating a player\u2019s full potential, their chance to play in the NHL this season, and a combo score of their likely arrival in the big show with their likely impact if they arrive. <\/p>\n

Necessarily, as the list gets more nuanced and closer to the top, there are some differences between a player\u2019s ceiling and their likely impact at the NHL level. A fundamental tenet of prospects is that sometimes those junior hockey or college scorers have to learn to love fourth-line duty. <\/p>\n

Top 10 Penguins Prospects<\/p>\n

10. Jake Livanavage (3-3-2) <\/p>\n

The Penguins signed Jake Livanavage<\/a>, 22, as a college free agent from the University of North Dakota late last season. Since he arrived well after the deadline to include him in the Wilkes-Barre\/Scranton Penguins playoff run, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas signed him to a two-year deal, then burned the first year of the contract by playing Livanavage in the final regular-season game of the year. <\/p>\n

The first year of the contract was essentially a signing bonus. <\/p>\n

Livanavage has real speed burst and some offensive gifts, but he is undersized. At 5-foot-10, 174 pounds, he will have to figure out a way to defend heavier, angrier opponents who want to go through him, but his skating shone through in his NHL debut. There is a genuine chance he can become a third-pairing lefty and run the second power play by next season. <\/p>\n

Bonus 10: Avery Hayes (2-5-1)<\/p>\n

After careful consideration, PHN changed course, and Avery Hayes indeed meets all of our criteria for a prospect because he has played only 16 NHL games, won\u2019t turn 24 until October, and is waiver-exempt.<\/p>\n

Hayes, 23, is a scrappy winger who plunked five goals in his 16 NHL games, including a pair of two-goal games. However, that is also why he was not included on the original list; Hayes was scoreless and not impactful in most of his NHL games. After three AHL seasons, Hayes is likely a 4A tweener\u2013good for the 13th forward spot and big goals at the AHL level, but the reason he is a Bonus No. 8 is that he has surprised at every turn, from forcing his way into the AHL lineup to lighting the lamp at the NHL level. <\/p>\n

9. Mikhail Ilyin (3-2-3) <\/p>\n

The Penguins went to great lengths to bring Mikhail Ilyin, 21, to the 2025 Development Camp, but his travels from Russia to Cranberry were problematic, and he didn\u2019t arrive until the final couple of days. Yet, their interest in bringing him to the organization\u2019s hub showed just how much they thought of the young KHL player whom they drafted in the fifth round of the 2023 draft. <\/p>\n

Yes, Ilyin could become the steal of that draft because he\u2019s got a high ceiling. <\/p>\n

He finally arrived in North America for good late last season for the conclusion of the AHL regular season and then the WBS Penguins\u2019 lengthy playoff run. Without speaking more than a couple of words of English, he had two assists in the final five AHL games and then nine (2-7-9) in 15 playoff games. <\/p>\n

From the several in-person PHN scouting trips, Ilyin does things that film and highlights might miss. He makes slick little passes and plays to create much larger opportunities, and does them effortlessly, like a magician. He\u2019s got a good wrist shot, nice though not elite speed, adequate size (6-foot, 180 pounds), and extraordinary playmaking vision. <\/p>\n

In 68 KHL games last season (Cherepovets Severstal<\/a>), he posted an impressive 14 goals and 44 points. <\/p>\n

As a left-handed blade who likes to play the right side, he will have to adjust to the North American game and play more between the dots. A lot more. If there was one obvious flaw after his arrival, it was that he defaulted to the perimeter and often had trouble getting his wrist shots through traffic because he had not yet learned how to create space and separation. <\/p>\n

Those things will come over the next couple of seasons, and when they do, he will go straight to the NHL. He may even appear in Pittsburgh this season for a few moments as an injury replacement. He easily projects as a talented middle-six winger with 20-goal and 50-point potential.<\/p>\n

8. Tristan Broz (3-4-2)<\/p>\n

Tristan Broz\u2019s pro career has been beset by bad timing. In each of his first two professional seasons, he was in line for a call-up, but was injured days before he was needed. <\/p>\n

The scrappy center will turn 24 in October, but he is an absolute winner. The feisty Broz has proven a knack for big goals at every level, including OT winners to propel his Denver U team to the NCAA National Championship, and numerous big goals on the WBS playoff run. He almost assuredly will play more than one game in the NHL this season, but his ceiling is still listed as TBD.<\/p>\n

Over the last couple of seasons, PHN has taken a keen interest in tracking his game and development. Broz has good speed but average acceleration, soft hands, creative offensive instincts, and a scrappy, intense attitude. At 6-foot, 205 pounds, he doesn\u2019t lack size for the down-low or defensive zone battles, but since he began playing center only late in his college career, he still has a couple of rough edges. <\/p>\n

After two professional seasons, the next 18 months are his make-or-break time; very much reminiscent of Teddy Blueger, who needed three-and-a-half AHL seasons before steady NHL work. Broz is more talented than Blueger and could easily be a solid third-line NHL center, as his game and his demeanor remind PHN very much of a younger Lars Eller. <\/p>\n

7. Liam Ruck (4-1-4) <\/p>\n

Liam Ruck<\/a>, 18, has a high ceiling with high expectations after the Penguins selected him with the 22nd overall pick in the 2026 NHL Draft. Being a first-rounder inherently carries hope, and Ruck\u2019s wrist shot and ability to find space to let it rip earned him a trip to the big stage on the first night of the draft. <\/p>\n

In 68 games, Ruck had 45 goals for the Medicine Hat Tigers. But the curiosity of his career is whether he can reach the show without his twin brother, Markus Ruck. The duo is inseparable and engineered a draft coup by telling teams they were a draft package.<\/p>\n

Ruck is likely a few years away from the NHL. While surprises can happen (see also: Ben Kindel), Ruck will most likely return to Medicine Hat for one more year before turning pro. He needs to improve his overall skating, though it wasn\u2019t as bad as advertised by the draft pundits, and fill out. <\/p>\n

Ruck is 6-foot tall, but only 176 pounds. He\u2019s a lean body type, so he will have to put on weight in several ways while he adds some skating agility. <\/p>\n

Any player who can pot 45 goals in 68 games during their draft year should be taken seriously. He has a first or second-line finisher written all over his career potential, but probably not until 2027-28 at the earliest. <\/p>\n

In terms of potential, Ruck is among the best of the Penguins\u2019 prospects. <\/p>\n

6. Rutger McGroarty (3-5-2) <\/p>\n

Rutger McGroarty<\/a> is waivers exempt, so if he cannot make the overloaded roster out of training camp, he will not need to pass through waivers. However, it\u2019s go time. He knows it, the Penguins know it, and the former Winnipeg Jets\u2019 2022 14th overall pick should be given a full runway in camp. <\/p>\n

McGroarty won\u2019t be the top-six winger some hoped for, but his complete game is ready for the NHL. He is a penalty killer and grinder with size and NHL playmaking chops. McGroarty can play either wing, but his downfall remains his mediocre skating. <\/p>\n

His late-season demotion from Pittsburgh to WBS hit hard, but he helped build a winning culture for the Penguins\u2019 AHL affiliate (McGroarty, Broz, and Owen Pickering were pillars of a very tight room). The Penguins have an opening in the bottom-six forwards, and it should be McGroarty\u2019s to fill, but that\u2019s probably his career ceiling. <\/p>\n

He\u2019s a 10-to-15-goal, penalty-killing stalwart, and there\u2019s nothing wrong with that. <\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTags: Jake Livanavage<\/a> Liam Ruck<\/a> Penguins Prospects<\/a> rutger mcgroarty<\/a> Tristan broz<\/a> <\/p>\n

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