Locked On Penguins - Daily Podcast On The Pittsburgh Penguins - PENGUINS SUMMER CATCH-UP! Reviewing the 2026 NHL Draft class!

Episode Date: September 3, 2026

The Penguins made six picks in the 2026 NHL Entry Draft this past June, and if you missed it, we’re getting you caught up! (1:00) Hunter and Patrick begin the Thursday edition of Locked On Penguins with the Summer Catch-Up Series! Today, they’re taking a look at all of the Penguins’ draft picks from the 2026 draft. First, they give you the rundown of the six picks, where they were taken, and why the Penguins were unable to move up on night one. Then, they break down the majority of the picks, (12:45) including Pierce Mbyui, Tomas Galvas, and others. The show ends with the main attraction: the first two picks of the draft, the twins, Liam and Markus Ruck. They discuss where they fit in, their timeline, and why the Penguins selected them. (21:50)Support Us By Supporting Our Sponsors!IndeedNow, you can speed up your hiring process with a $75 Sponsored Job Credit. Just go to https://indeed.com/podcast right now and support our show by saying you heard about Indeed on this podcast. Terms and conditions apply.FanDuelCollege football Saturdays are already packed with reasons to get excited, and this season, FanDuel is giving fans even more ways to get in on every matchup. Join all the action at https://FANDUEL.COM  FANDUEL DISCLAIMER: 21+ in select states. First online real money wager only. Bonus issued as nonwithdrawable free bets that expires in 14 days. Restrictions apply. See terms at sportsbook.fanduel.com. Gambling Problem? Call 1-800-GAMBLER or visit FanDuel.com/RG (CO, IA, MD, MI, NJ, PA, IL, VA, WV), 1-800-NEXT-STEP or text NEXTSTEP to 53342 (AZ), 1-888-789-7777 or visit ccpg.org/chat (CT), 1-800-9-WITH-IT (IN), 1-800-522-4700 (WY, KS) or visit ksgamblinghelp.com (KS), 1-877-770-STOP (LA), 1-877-8-HOPENY or text HOPENY (467369) (NY), TN REDLINE 1-800-889-9789 (TN) Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

We've talked about which players the penguins signed during free agency this summer. We've also talked about which players the penguins traded for and which players they have brought back for this upcoming season. Now let's talk about the players the penguins selected in the 2026 NHL draft for our summer catch-up series. And that's coming up right after this. You're Locked-on Penguins, your daily podcast on the Pittsburgh Penguins, part of the Locked-on Podcast Network, your team every day. Hello and welcome to the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. I'm one of your host, Hunter Hodes. You can follow me on Twitter at Hunter Hodes, joined by my co-host, Patrick Damp.

You can follow him on most social media platforms at Send him for Wet. You can also follow this show's Twitter at L.O. underscore Penguins. And you can find us on Instagram at Lockdown underscore Penguins. And of course, thank you all so much for making this your first listen slash watch of the day. We are free and available on all platforms a bit later on. on the show. We're going to go pretty in depth about the Penguins prospects they selected in the 2026 initial draft. But to start, Pat, we're just going to do a brief overview to catch everyone up on who they selected in that draft back in June. So in the first round, they took

Liam Ruck, who led up the WHL this past season. I will still maintain that if Ryan Lynn had fallen one more spot, I think he would have been to pick, but the Penguins were totally fine with him being selected because they had Liam Ruck right there, and they took him. And if you take one, Ruck Twin, you got to take the other, and they took his twin brother, Marcus, in the second round. Marcus, more of the playmaker, Liam, he has the shot, and it is a disgusting release. In the second round, they took defenseman Tommy Galvis, who was a bit of an over-ager, 20 years old. In the third round, they took for Pierce Bowie, who also has a ridiculous release. In the fourth round, they took another defenseman, Parker von Richter, and then in the fifth

round, a goaltender, Matt Vey, Nikonovic. but Pat, we have to see what team he's going to play for this year because his team from last year is no longer there. So not nearly as many picks this year as last year, but I still overall liked the draft that they had. For sure. I like the what they got where they were because we know now, especially after the first day, Kyle Dubus kind of came out and said, hey, we were looking to move up. The trades just weren't there. we discussed that way back after the draft in June that you could see that the trade market mixed with the official salary cap increases kind of reset everybody's expectations and reset

the trade market. So as much as Dubus wanted to move up from 22nd overall in the first round, And the penguins just didn't have the capital required to break into the top 10 of the draft. But when you put that to the side, you look at the six picks that the penguins went with this year. It seems like a pretty solid haul. We'll talk about more in depth what each of these players bring to the table. But the Ruck twins have a ton of potential. I think, obviously we will again get into deeper analysis of the two of them. Tomash Galvis feels like a player that everybody is kind of waiting for to take the next step.

The penguins are going to be the team to take the flyer. Pierce Bowie, we'll get into it later. That's a name that you should remember. Parker Von Richter and Nikonovic don't know a ton about Von Richter, but as we know, you can never have enough defensemen. And here's the thing about Nikonovic, the goaltender. Once we figure out where he's playing, And he's a pretty talented young goaltender.

So the penguin's organizational strength only continues to get stronger with that pick. So overall, I liked the haul that they got in the 2026 draft. Yeah, starting with the value, I think they got what they could, especially for a team that unexpectedly made the Stanley Cup playoffs this past season. They weren't in a position to draft right near the top 10 or in the top 10. We all know they tried to get into the top 10. there was a lot of rumors about Vigo Bjork and how the penguins really liked him, and there were other rumors about how they were considering trading up for Ryan Lynn,

and hell, they were almost rewarded because he was about to fall to them, and then San Jose trades into the spot literally right above them. The Flyers trade that pick to San Jose, and they were able to snip Ryan Lynn from the Penguins. But they were trying, and you could tell after night one, when the Penguins selected Liam Ruck, Dubus met with the media in downtown, and you could sense that he was pretty miffed. that he was upset that he wasn't able to trade up. He was upset about the prices.

He was just upset, I think, about the trade market in general because they were trying to also add to the NHL roster. And he really hadn't been able to do that yet. Like he was trying to make, you know, I think a big move for a forward and it just hasn't happened because the prices are not to his liking. He doesn't really want to overpay right now. I think down the line he's going to add that player, you know, in his early to mid-20s, that can be a difference maker, but it's not going to be right now.

He's done that brick by boring brick, and you've seen that again this offseason. But value-wise, I think it was there. Another thing that they really seem to prioritize, and this has been a really big theme of West Clark's drafts, hockey IQ. I think it's really been a big theme of all the players they've selected forwards, defensemen. Heck, even goalies, they brought in. Players who have good hockey IQ, very smart, thick than game, well, when they're on the ice, you know, I think that's a big trait that they look for.

And I know scouts and, you know, other director of player, personnel, director of scouting, you know, they look for different things. Because it, you know, depends on the person that's running the draft. But I think with Wes Clark Pat, that's one thing that I think he is definitely a little bit biased towards. And I'm fine with that, to be honest. For sure. It also, the one critique that I have had this summer when we talk about the Penguins draft for this past year, is that we've all kind of lost our attention spans and our memories over the past few years. Obviously, I know an exception to that in 2025 was Ben Kindle,

but you look at the rest of the Penguins draft from 2025, they went size. They got a lot of really big players in 2025. You saw the complaint this year, oh, they went with a lot of smaller players. Well, they're supplementing. That's what they're doing. And that's not the players they got in 2020. were these big lumbering, unable to play, unable to think the game type players.

They just happened to be big. This year, with where the penguins were drafting, the fact that they unexpectedly made the playoffs and fell in the draft because of that, they kind of switched the strategy a little bit. Yeah, Ruck, Galvis, Bowie, von Richter, they're not the biggest players, but you see the way they play the game. They process it really well. They possess certain skills that make up for a perceived lack of size. So I understand in a vacuum that people looked at it and went,

oh, I don't know. They went with some really smaller players. You got to look past the vitals on this. These guys all have value. They all have talent and potential. And especially offensive potential. I think that's one thing they really prioritize as well outside of the hockey IQ, the smarts.

They really looked at offensive potential, especially for someone like Pierce Bowie, the Ruck Twins who lit it up on their team, Tommy Galvis, who is a great skater more on him in just a second as we get to the second segment. That's another thing I think they really looked at in this year's class, and you can't blame them. You know, you want to add more players with offensive upside to your prospect pool, and you definitely have more quantity now. Going forward, it's going to be able to getting that quality to your system because it's really, has improved these last couple of years. And there was an article today in the athletic where you looked at the prospect years

and the penguins are slowly starting to get some names creeping up there, Pat, in terms of, you know, tier one, tier two, two, three, tier four, et cetera. But still missing that one to two players and that tier one to tier two, maybe even tier three, that's the one that you really got to look for next. And I'm sure they're going to be looking for that.

Come next year, potentially, the year after that, etc. But unless you have anything else, else to add. I figured we can get to the second segment. Well, it looks like you know, the thing that I would add was to build off of what you were just saying about the athletic and the prospect tiers is you look at the next three years. They have, they have seven picks in the second round, three picks in the first round. They've also got a lot more prospects in their system. They've got veterans who are on very affordable deals. So you can see what is starting to build here. in what the plan is going to be moving forward.

They are going to use all of this capital to either move up in the draft by sending a veteran to a team that maybe ends up picking higher than expected or they package a prospect and a package of picks to another team to move up in the draft. I get that right now it's a little bit frustrating because they still don't have that blue chipper. They still don't have that one. five star prospect. But when you look at what they have away from just on the NHL roster and even the AHL roster,

you can see the plan starting to build. And there's always go. And I know that a bunch of people will say, oh, if you guys can see it, of course the rest of the NHL can see it. They're not going to throw the penguins a life preserver. It'll happen.

Maybe not as quickly as you want because there's always going to be teams that take a step back. There's going to be teams that. surprise, whether it's your San Jose's, your Buffalo Sabres, et cetera, et cetera, these teams that have young cores in talent and they got to supplement them and you can eventually extract something out of them. So the plan is there. It's starting to build.

It's like you said very early in the segment and what Kyle Dubis said after the first night of the draft, which was this is not going to be a quick 180 turnaround. it is going to be brick by boring brick. Yeah, and I'm with you. We just have to see when they're able to get, you know, that game changer prospect that really vaults above everyone else they have now. Again, it's definitely improved. I'd say it's, you know, average to a little bit above average,

but you really need that game breaker or two that can really lift you maybe into the top 10 and then also, of course, be on the Penguins for years to come. But that's going to do it for our first segment. Coming up in the second segment, Pat and I are going to discuss which of these prospects we're most exciting for. And we're also going to get to our talk about the Ruck Twins. That's coming up right after this. But before we get to that, though, we have to talk about our first sponsor, which is Fandall. College football fans, it's time to put your knowledge to the test with college football pickum from Fandle.

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who is an electric skater, really good in the offensive zone. Let it up for Chequette at the Royal Juniors this past year with three goals and 13 points. Was also close to a point per game with his team in Chequette. Definitely a bit of an overager. As I said, he's going to spend this next season on loan in Chequette. And then once his season comes to an end, he is going to come over, probably finish out the regular season with Wilkesbury and then help them in the playoffs. He's only going to be over there for one more year.

and then he'll be in Wilkesbury, I think full-time. They'll get to adjust to North American ice. But this is a player who, you know, development-wise, I don't think he's going to need, you know, super, super long. Like, for example, the Ruck Twins, you're not going to see them, Pat, for, I think, at least three years, in my opinion. But Tommy Galvis, at least professionally, you'll see him with Wilkesbury by the end of the season,

TBD and whether he makes his NHL debut the season after that. But it won't be long until he's at least in the HL, is going to get pretty exciting. He's already a lot of fun to watch. I'm really curious to see what he does at training camp should he be there. I'm assuming he will be at training camp just because that's usually what happens with players like this. And I'm not saying this is even likely. I'm just putting it out there as a possibility because I've said this about Galvis before on the show. If he has a really good camp, I could see a world where they potentially entice him to come to North America this year,

just because I do think being an overager, there is some hesitation there that, yeah, for two years, he did not get drafted. He went undrafted for two years of eligibility because this was the last year he was eligible to be drafted. Had no one picked him this year, he could have just signed as a free agent somewhere in the NHL with any organization. I do think the most likely scenario is what you laid out. He will go back to Chequia.

He'll play with his team there again for another year. When that season comes to an end, the penguins will ATO him with the baby penguins. He'll play as much as he can there. But being a 20-year-old and watching his tape, he's playing with adults in Chequia. This isn't like the Ruck twins, who we're going to talk about later, where you're playing with teenagers in Canadian juniors. You look at his tape. His skating is really, really good.

He has solid vision. I do think what is going to keep him from coming to North America this year is that he is going to have to adapt to the speed of North American pro hockey, both the smaller ice, the quicker decisions that he's going to have to make. So they're going to want him to hone his skills there. But overall, getting Galvis 54th overall, yeah, his third year of eligibility in the draft, I do think this is a player that we're not going to suddenly turn him into a franchise defenseman. But I do see a world where in three, four years, should he develop correctly, this is going to be the type of player that gets talked about in a way where people go,

how did so many teams miss on this for so long? Yeah, especially if he continues to. to develop his skills offensively as if he continues to be a smart player and potentially get even smarter. I can see that for sure, because as it looks right now with the way that he's produced in Chequay,

the way that he played at the Royal Juniors, feels like they got a little bit of a steal for someone who was not drafted prior to this year again, 20 years old. So very excited to track his progress in Chequia, the Penguins front office, said during development camp that he was going back to Chequia

for this upcoming season. There was a lot of confusion about that because of his ELC. But he's going back to check here. He'll play out this season, and then at the end of the year, once the season is over, and he's done with the playoffs, he'll come over, as you said, Pat, ATO with Wilkes-Berry, finish the regular season with them,

and then I think he'll jump right into it in the playoffs. We've seen that before with other prospects, it won't be any different here. Pierce Bowie, I'm also super excited about him. Plays for the Owens Island attack, third round picked by the Penguins in the draft this past season, and he was awesome for the Owen sound attack. 32 goals, 75 points, 608 games for a team that got boat raced in the playoffs.

His release is disgusting the way that he can kind of fake the windup, but then look for a different angle and then still fire at home. It's disgusting, to say the least. Really strong skater, good offensive instincts, also a pretty smart player, as I've said a lot during this show. I'm excited about him. That's a nice old dart throw in the third round. you know, the third round, it is what it is in the 2026 annual draft.

Hell Pat, honestly, anything outside of the first round kind of is what it is. But I like the dart throw. He's going to be with the Owen Sound Attack this year. And then he's going to head to Penn State the year after that. Very excited to track its progress to. This is another player to me like Galvis. And I know I'm putting a lot of hype on draft picks, but I think it just shows that we're still very much in a world where scouts and pro scouts.

and pro scouting and front offices kind of make themselves a little bit too smart for their own good. He was the OHL rookie of the year at 17. And he is pretty advanced for a 17-year-old. You brought up all the skills that he has. Our pal Jesse Marshall highlighted this when he broke down some tape of them. As a 17-year-old with offensive instincts, there is very much a mentality among a player of that age to just shoot the puck any time it comes on your stick.

But he has a very smart shot selection. And his one-timer is a thing of beauty to the point where to bring that full circle of what I'm talking about, he isn't a player who just lines up in the circle, keeps his stick at ankle height as if to say, give me the. puck and let me shoot it. If he notices that the angle isn't there or the lane isn't there, he'll fool a defenseman to make them think he's going to shoot it. He'll pop it right back to whoever gave it to him, find the lane, and then reset. Doing that as a 17-year-old in the OHL is incredibly impressive. Add in the fact, again, the draft profile for him,

5, 10, 160 pounds. He's going to grow. He's going to get stronger. But he already plays like a madman. He is aggressive. And if he's doing that at this size now, as he only gets bigger, that's only going to make his game more valuable.

If this is another one that I look at, should he develop correctly? It's a player that in a couple years, people were going to look at Dubis and the Penguins and go, they absolutely stole this one under everybody else's nose. Especially if he continues to develop even more as a playmaker. I already like his playmaking ability, but I still think it has even more room to grow.

Watch out for him if that happens. So again, excited to track him this year. Benford Parker von Richter was pretty solid in the OHL this past season, eight goals, 24 points, and 28 games. He was close to a point per game in the playoffs. He's going to the University of New Hampshire. I'm sure this year, like the dart throw, pretty steady in his own zone, but he can give you at least some of the offense as well.

I'll have to see how he does. And then for the goalie, Matt Vayniko Novich, Pat, we just have to see where he plays this year because the team from last year, no longer around, had a 9-39 save, 1.96 GAA. Time will tell where he plays, but the Penguins, they've, you know, been drafting goalies pretty well as of late. You know, one's most likely about to make the team, Gabriel Dague, played on a really bad junior team last year. He is better than those numbers indicated. Hell, he was keeping his team in a lot of games that they had no business being in just because of his talent. And that's basically

yeah, because his defense was not very good, but he's going to play on a better team this year. So I'll trust the Penguins goalie scouts for that one. But I think that's going to do it for this second segment coming up to end the show. I know everyone's waited long enough. Let's talk about the Ruck Twins. And Pat, there's another Ruck brother. He's also playing with them right now. and he looks pretty good. So maybe at some point could the Penguins draft him? Well, we're going to talk about that coming up right after this. All right, we're back here to close out the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast.

I'm one of your host, Hunsler-Hodys, joined by my host, Patrick Damp and Pat. They took Liam Ruck, obviously in the first round, 22 overall. Last season lit it up with Medicine Hat, 45 goals, 104 points, and 68 games, right around point per game in the playoffs. Marcus, his twin brother, was in the second round. 21 goals, 108 points in 68 games, and he was also right around a point per game in the playoffs.

As I said, Marcus, he is a playmaker. He sees the ice really well, but don't discount his goal scoring ability. He has a really nice release. I want to see him use it more. With Liam, you know what you're going to get. His release, it is flat out disgusting. I think it's one of the best releases

in this entire class. He will use it from anywhere in the offensive zone. He's never afraid to let it rip. And seeing these two light it up again and medicine hat this year is going to be a lot of fun before they will head out to the University of North Dakota for the 27-28 season and then for 28-29 assuming they don't go back to North Dakota,

which we'll have to see, they would potentially turn pro that year and probably get some time in the HL before potentially coming up to the NHL. So again, Pat, as I said, you're probably not going to see any of these players for at least three seasons as they continue to develop. But based on what they're doing so far,

I like the gambles with both of them. And as I said, there's now another rock brother. And he's having fun playing with Liam and Marcus. Yeah, it's crazy that there is another rock brother. They all played together in an exhibition game for Medicine Hat. It was pretty cool to see. But just like this is going to be for our hardcore dedicated listeners, I'm going to put another dampism up on the wall right along with Quad A player.

say it with me boys and girls a hundred points is a hundred points no matter which way you cut it Liam had more than a hundred points so did Marcus they both lit it up and this kind of brings it full circle to what you were saying earlier in the show whether it's west Clark whether it's Kyle Dubus they don't often overthink it these are guys who produce at a high level. And I know everybody is going to immediately run right to the Cedine twins, but let's pump the brakes on that. Here's the thing, though, much like a guy like Pierce Bowie in this class, yeah, the Ruck twins aren't that big. Both of them are listed at six foot. We know that's probably getting fudged a little bit because that is just what happens in pro sports. But they both

think the game really well. It's going to make up for a lack of size. And it's not a case of just two finesse players who try to get by on skating and skill. They're not afraid to get physical, though it's not a hallmark of their game. They are smart and shifty enough to survive in a physical environment. And don't get it twisted. Of the leagues in the CHL, WHL is not the Q. It's not a league where it's all offense, all finesse, no defense. They've had to go up against some big boys. So the fact that they're able to produce at the level they do is a good testament to who they are. And then when they head to college, when they are at North Dakota, we know how rough and tumble the NCAA is. So we will see how tough they can be. But I know that

it's a fun novelty that we're all excited for, but I do like both of those picks. Same here. And I'm excited to see them light it up again in Medicine Hat this year. I'm probably expecting 100 plus points again or right around there. The big trick, the big question, I should say, it's kind of what you talked about that. How do they adjust to the NCAA once this season is over, once they develop a little bit more because you're going up against, you know, even better players there? So that's going to be the big question. and how they adjust to that. I'll be fascinated to see because if they play well there too

and they're ready to turn pro potentially the next year, I think people could be getting even more excited. But hey, I don't know if you saw the announcement. You can now watch all the WHL games for free on YouTube this year. So if you want to watch Liam and Marcus Ruck light it up for Medicine Hat, go on YouTube. They are allowing you to watch all the games for free. I know I'll be utilizing that this year.

That's for sure, man. I know that now that we have the Ruck twins in the system, I've got a reason to watch the WHL a lot closer than I have in the past. But yeah, I mean, overall, to kind of put a fine point on this summer catch up episode, the thing that you can say about the Penguins' 2026 draft is VAL. They did really well where they were picking with the picks that they had. Sure, it's disappointing they couldn't move up and get a bigger, name or a prospect that's closer to being pro. But I do think when you look at the totality of who they got in 2026, they aren't players that we're going to see in the next two years.

They're players that we're going to see in the next three to four. But when they get here, should they develop, they will be contributors at the NHL level. Let's hope. I'm ecstatic about it, but let's just hope that they're able to get here and make an impact with the penguins at some point. Not everyone is going to pan out, but if you can get at least a couple of these guys to pan out, maybe even a few of them, you know, that's a success to me, but we'll be here to track all their progress throughout the season and into the future as well. And with that, that's going to do it for the Thursday edition of the Locked-on Penguins podcast. Thank you all so much to take the time to listen to slash watch this one. Pat and I will be back with a fresh episode of

you all on Friday. It's Friday. Yins know what that means. Fan take Friday, send us your questions, send us your takes, and we will talk about them on the show. And then we're fully back to Daly's Monday through Friday next week as the Prospects Challenge is coming up. And then training camp is just about two weeks away from starting. So for Patrick Damp, I am Hunter Hodes. Thank you all for tuning in. We'll be back on Friday.