Mock Drafts & PHN Projections: Penguins Could Have ‘BIG’ Night

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Mock Drafts & PHN Projections: Penguins Could Have ‘BIG’ Night

Mock Drafts & PHN Projections: Penguins Could Have 'BIG' Night — Mock Drafts & PHN Projections: Penguins Could Have ‘BIG’ Night

Dan Kingerski · Pittsburgh Hockey Now

Thu, Jun 26, 2025 ·

8 min read

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The 2025 NHL Draft begins in less than 36 hours, but the picture painted by the final mock drafts regarding who might be available to the Pittsburgh Penguins is only slightly less muddled than string theory on a seventh-grade algebra education.

Early in the week, it appeared the Penguins would be robbed of the chance to select a center, instead settling for one of the defensemen who highlight the second tier of the draft. However, things shifted again over the last couple of days as intel, information, and misinformation leaks.

Instead of one of the centers, could the Penguins get one of the best wingers in the draft? Could Jake O'Brien lose his recently acquired top-six pick projection and fall all the way back to the Penguins?

If the latest mock drafts are to be believed, both situations are possible. Barring trades, a few teams directly in front of the Penguins could veer off the previously established map and select one of the defensemen projected in the 10-15 range, and such selections would further drop talent like O'Brien, or even James Hagens, who is suddenly the subject of a lot of chatter.

It's probably misinformation, perhaps from a team hoping to shake another team's confidence in him so that he drops a few spots or a team hoping to inflate the trade value of their pick.

It's the Draft, and anything goes.

Mock Drafts

Sam Cosentino's Mock Draft for Sportsnet might excite Penguins fans. Cosentino predicted Seattle Kraken will select Radim Mrtka at No. 8 and Buffalo will take Justin Carbonneau at No. 9. That flip both dropped Hagens to Anaheim at No. 10, then O'Brien to Penguis at No. 11.

Cosentino also projected Victor Eklund at No. 12.

This is probably the best case scenario for the Penguins, walking away with one of the best centers in the draft, O'Brien, and one of the best wingers, Eklund.

Cosentino Mock Draft:

Islanders : Matthew Schaefer
Sharks: Anton Frondell
Blackhawks : Michael Misa
Mammoth: Porter Martone
Predators: Roger McQueen
Flyers: Caleb Desnoyers
Bruins : Brady Martin
Kraken: Radim Mrtka
Sabres: Justin Carbonneau
Ducks : James Hagens
Penguins: Jake O'Brien
Penguins: Victor Eklund

PHN Thoughts: Carbonneau leaping into the top 10 is a difficult projection. We'll respectfully disagree, but there is some merit as Buffalo has plenty of young centers, and took the small Zach Benson 13th overall in 2023. It does make sense to select Carbonneau, a bigger winger, but it's still a bit of a leap. We're also dubious the talent-poor Kraken would pass on players like O'Brien and Eklund.

Button Mock Draft:

TSN's Craig Button has a more stable mock draft that resembles the recent trends without big changes. Button also has one of the centers falling to the Penguins, and his algorithm is predicated on Hagens going to Nashville at No. 5.

However, Button thinks Brady Martin will be the big riser in the '25 draft.

Unlike Cosentino, in Button's mock draft, Hagens didn't fall, but Roger McQueen, the 6-foot-5 center with soft hands and surprising speed, did. Button also projects a thumper defenseman to the Penguins at No. 12.

Islanders: Matthew Schaefer
Sharks: Michael Misa
Blackhawks: Anton Frondell
Mammoth: Brady Martin
Predators: James Hagens
Flyers: Porter Martone
Bruins: Caleb Desnoyers
Kraken: Radim Mrtka
Sabres: Jake O'Brien
Ducks: Jackson Smith
Penguins: Roger McQueen
Penguins: Kashawn Aitecheson

PHN Thoughts: Notice that Button projected the Penguins to pass on Eklund, instead selecting physical defenseman Kashawn Aitcheson. It's an interesting idea that has some merit. This would be a classic decision: Needs vs. Best Available. Eklund would be the best available, and this is the type of decision that creates draft table fights.

Like Cosentino, Button's mock draft should make the Penguins quite happy.

ESPN Mock Draft by Rachel Doerrie:

Doerrie put together a unique mock draft that veered off the map, especially for the Penguins. Would the Penguins really pass up Brady Martin if he were available? Doerrie is an analytics expert and peppered her analysis with advanced projections.

Islanders: Matthew Schaefer
Sharks: Michael Misa
Blackhawks: James Hagens
Mammoth: Porter Martone
Predators: Anton Frondell
Flyers: Roger McQueen
Bruins: Caleb Desnoyers
Kraken: Jackson Smith
Sabres: Jake O'Brien
Ducks: Victor Eklund
Penguins: Carter Bear
Penguins: Radim Mrtka

PHN Thoughts: Bear is a prospect we have not yet previewed, but he's a high hockey-IQ player who projects to the wing. Doerrie dropped Martin to 13th in her draft model, but our belief is that if Martin is available, expect Penguins GM Kyle Dubas to leap at the chance to select him. Bear would be a nice consolation prize if all of the centers are off the board, and he is a bit of a Dubas-type player because of his heady play at both ends of the ice, and he's got a bit of physicality, too.

We think Doerrie had it spot on until passing on Martin.

JFresh Mock Draft:

The analytics guru has a draft that would kickstart the Penguins' rebuild with 50,000 volts. Could two of the top centers fall to the Penguins? JFresh thinks so, but the lynch pins of his theory are a bit of a stretch. First, the Philadelphia Flyers must select Ivan Ryabkin, one of the most talented but most frustrating prospects in the draft. He has the talent to be a top-five pick, but has been slapped with the dreaded labels of inconsistent or lack of a work ethic, and thus is otherwise projected to go after No. 20. His other breaks from other drafts are teams taking defensemen Aitcheson at No. 7 and Mrtka at No. 8.

If those two things were to happen, in the words of Samuel L. Jackson, hold onto your butts. The big center and the little center coming to the Penguins would set the Penguins' rebuild forward by years.

Islanders: Michael Misa
Sharks: Matthew Schaefer
Blackhawks: Anton Frondell
Mammoth: Brady Martin
Predators: Caleb Desnoyers
Flyers: Ivan Ryabkin
Bruins: Kashawn Aitcheson
Kraken: Radim Mrtka
Sabres: Victor Eklund
Ducks: Porter Martone
Penguins: James Hagens
Penguins Roger McQueen

PHN Thoughts: It would be an exciting night for the Penguins and Penguins fans if this one were on the mark. However, no matter how talented Ryabkin is, screwing up on a sixth overall pick is a good way to get fired, or at very least turn the fanbase against you, which usually hastens getting canned. Flyers GM Daniel Briere has done a nice job rebuilding the Flyers quickly, and if they want to make that pick, they can easily trade down to do so.

That's the first unlikelihood.

It's also imaginable but unlikely that the center bereft Boston Bruins would pass on both Hagens and McQueen. Any GM that has called around the league looking for help in the middle has found an immutable fact: There are very few centers available. That's why we project a run on middle men in the first round.

PHN Mock Draft, 1-12

Islanders: Matthew Schaefer
Sharks: Michael Misa
Blackhawks: Anton Frondell
Mammoth: Caleb Desnoyers
Predators: Brady Martin
Flyers: Porter Martone
Bruins: James Hagens
Kraken: Jake O'Brien
Sabres: Kashawn Aitecheson
Ducks: Victor Eklund
Penguins: Roger McQueen
Penguins: Jackson Smith

Reasons: We selected Smith over Mrtka because of one factor: Mrtka is good at everything but great at nothing. His high floor should be attractive to teams, but the Penguins have both the time and space to gamble on getting a better player. Smith might be better than Mrtka, or he might not be–we're taking the risk on getting a speedy defenseman who likes the puck.

Marcus Pettersson types are quite valuable, but they're also somewhat affordable.

With McQueen, the Penguins get their center, too. We've previewed McQueen, and there is a lot to like. He needs to clean up a few areas of his game, notably his bad habit of gliding. Fortunately for him, when you're that tall, gliding still carries speed. His offensive acumen and ability to get around defensemen with a quick step or a shoulder dip, as well as distribute the puck, make him a no-brainer at No. 11.

We've been surprised that most mock drafts do not have the Kraken taking a center, especially when there are a couple who project as solid No. 2 centers, if not average top liners. The Sabres and Ducks have young talent. What they lack are the spices and proper complements of a winning team, so it would make more sense for one of them to snag Aitcheson and Eklund, who is a spunky winger with a scoring touch.

We also can't imagine Hagens falling below No. 7, though if the Penguins want to create scenarios in which a center drops to them, it wouldn't be hard to leak their interest in Smith, Mrtka, or Aitcheson and half-heartedly try to trade up for one of them.

The post Mock Drafts & PHN Projections: Penguins Could Have 'BIG' Night appeared first on Pittsburgh Hockey Now .

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