It's impossible to get every draft pick right.
The Pittsburgh Penguins would probably like a do-over of the 2022 NHL Draft first round when they took 6-foot-5 defenseman Owen Pickering.
Pickering has struggled to break through at the NHL level, and he hasn't even always kept himself relevant in the AHL.
At this point, it's a situation that feels like it could use a change of scenery. And there's at least one report floating around out there that suggests a trade could be in the cards.
The Athletic recently put out an article in which they named an "under-the-radar" trade candidate from every team in the NHL.
For the Penguins, they picked Pickering.
"Pickering, a 2022 first-round pick, has never made a dent in the NHL and appears to be buried in the AHL," writes The Athletic's Josh Yohe. "The 6-foot-5 defender had a good training camp and could be available for a certain price."
The Penguins couldn't expect a ton for Pickering. If anything, they might either find themselves a future asset, or they could get another player who hasn't quite panned out elsewhere, and swap guys in a back and forth change of scenery move.
Given that the Penguins haven't figured out how to make Pickering work for them, it's unlikely they would regret a trade, even if he pans out elsewhere. It doesn't seem like he'll make it happen in Pittsburgh.
Pickering, a Manitoba-native, was the No. 21 overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.
At the time, he had been playing for the Swift Current Broncos in the WHL. He had just put up nine goals and 24 assists for 33 points in 62 games in his draft year. Pickering was a minus-29 that season, for those who care about that stat.
Pickering got a brief debut at the AHL level after being drafted but mostly spent two more seasons with Swift Current — getting 45 and then 46 points in the two years after he was picked.
He made his NHL debut in 2024-25, putting up a goal and two assists across 25 games with the Penguins. He also had 13 AHL points (2 goals, 11 assists) in 47 games there in 2024-25.
In 2025-26, it was almost entirely AHL for Pickering, who had seven goals and 21 assists for 28 points in 68 games at AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. He played just four games for the Penguins last season.
So far in 2026-27, Pickering has one goal through six games at the AHL level.
It's tough to see where his breakthrough might come, at least in Pittsburgh.
This article was originally published on HEAVY
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