The Pittsburgh Penguins have a lot of personnel needs to address before they reclaim a spot among serious Stanley Cup contenders.<\/p>\n
Or even among the clubs that can make a legitimate run at a playoff berth.<\/p>\n
Some quality centers to work behind Sidney Crosby<\/a>, for starters. Defensemen, especially ones who can play the left side, to upgrade what might have been the worst unit in the league in 2024-25. A few bottom-six forwards whose appearances on the scoresheet are a bit more frequent than sightings of Halley\u2019s Comet would be a plus, too.<\/p>\n But as pressing as those flaws on their depth chart are, president of hockey operations\/GM Kyle Dubas should not try to deal with them in the NHL Draft next week.<\/p>\n That\u2019s because, unless Dubas trades up to the very top of the draft order, the Penguins are unlikely to get a prospect who will be NHL-ready without at least two seasons of college\/junior and\/or minor-league hockey.<\/p>\n By the time the player the Penguins select 11th overall is ready to assume a spot on the major-league roster, the team\u2019s needs might have radically changed, with voids that exist today having long since been filled via trades, free agency or prospects making their way through the system.<\/p>\n The prudent thing, then, is for Dubas to choose the player who is highest on the Penguins\u2019 ratings board when it\u2019s their turn to pick. That\u2019s almost guaranteed to be someone who holds down a place in their top 10, since there rarely is a league-wide consensus about the potential of prospects after the first couple. (If then.)<\/p>\n OK, so there\u2019s not much exciting or daring about the \u201ctake the best player available\u201d approach, but the point of the draft is to collect the most valuable assets possible.<\/p>\n If the Penguins\u2019 first-rounder turns out to be, say, a goal-scoring left winger, but the team already is getting satisfactory production out of that position by the time he gets to the NHL, it\u2019s reasonable to assume there will be a significant market for his services.<\/p>\n Consequently, the Penguins could trade him \u2013 or one of the other guys who share his position \u2013 to acquire a player who could fill a hole elsewhere in the lineup.<\/p>\n Conversely, if the Penguins\u2019 Round 1 choice is someone projected to eventually address one of the soft spots in the roster that Dan Muse<\/a> will have to deal with in his first season running their bench, it might mean Dubas made a bit of a reach that could prove to be a costly gamble in a few years.<\/p>\n Projecting how teenaged hockey players will develop over a period of years is difficult enough; there\u2019s no good reason for Dubas to lower the odds of the Penguins\u2019 first-rounder ultimately having an impact as a pro by failing to pick, simply put, the best player available.<\/p>\n There is, however, one position that the Penguins should prioritize in the draft on an annual basis.<\/p>\n Or close to it, anyway.<\/p>\n For if predicting how 18-year-old forwards and defensemen will turn out is difficult \u2013 and it really is \u2013 accurately projecting the future for most young goaltenders can seem virtually impossible.<\/p>\n That\u2019s part of the reason the Penguins should consider getting at least one in just about every draft, much as college football teams try to secure a quarterback in each recruiting class.<\/p>\n