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Top 25 Penguins Prospects, 16-20; A Big Goalie and Serious Depth
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- Top 25 Penguins Prospects, 16-20; A Big Goalie and Serious Depth
Top 25 Penguins Prospects, 16-20; A Big Goalie and Serious Depth
For the first time in Pittsburgh Penguins ' recent history, there are enough prospects to fill an entire Prospects Tournament roster without calling upon college depth players, minor leaguers, and deep long shots.
In fact, the PHN Top 25 Penguins prospect list started at No. 25 and has a handful of honorable mentions. Read No. 20-25 and honorable mention prospects here .
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As we get into the top 20 prospects, there are immediately a few names who are already on the NHL radar. In regard to building depth, Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas has done an extraordinary job of piling up the prospects. Whether or not he and his team, led by vice president of player personnel Wes Clark, have selected the right players in trade and draft is another matter. And sadly, hindsight and "I told you so's" will be prevalent.
However, the Penguins don't need 25 prospects to hit. They need a few handfuls to reach premium potential and a handful to reach their expected ceiling.
Of course, 13 draft picks in the 2025 NHL Draft are a good start. From a sheer mathematics perspective, the team should hit on one or two surprises to offset the flops.
Penguins Prospect Rankings, Nos. 16-20
No. 20: Gabriel D'Aigle
D'Aigle, 18, is a large, athletic goalie working his way with a terrible team in the QMJHL. Even he admitted to PHN, "When we win, I have to play a great game."
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He has worked and trained with Penguins legend Marc-Andre Fleury , and he shares some traits, good and bad. His athleticism was immediately noticeable in the Development Camp. For a 6-foot-4, 202-pound goalie, he moves like a cat. Clark told the assembled media following the draft that "Sir Jon Elkin," the Penguins' organizational goalie coach, was very high on D'Aigle and no one argued.
The Penguins selected D'Aigle in the third round.
However, the left-catching goalie's game is a bit of a mess. His angles were well off during camp, and he gave up goals in drills and scrimmage that should have been easy saves had he been in position. Instead, he was too often a foot wide or a foot to the center, in both examples, leaving too much net for shooters.
Yet he also made some highlight reel saves, too.
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If he puts it together, the Penguins have something special. He's this far down on the list because he has so much work to do, and it will take a few years, at least.
No. 19: Charlie Trethewey
The brief product of the Pens Elite program when he was 14 is back home. With family populating the Mt. Lebanon area, he's almost a hometown boy. Trethewey was with the Team USA National Development Team and will go to Boston University in the fall.
He's an all-around defenseman whose stockiness will serve him well. At 6-foot-1, 200 pounds, he doesn't lack for size, but he will need to sharpen his skating and, as all young defensemen, get better at anticipation. He did not have a standout camp and played far too tentatively in the scrimmage.
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Perhaps he will evolve into a stay-home defender at the next level, or he just needs a bit more confidence to let both ends of his two-way game fly. It's not always easy coming home.
No. 18: Travis Hayes
Avery Hayes's younger brother, Hayes, 18, has spunk and tenacity, as well as a rough game that works in his favor. The Penguins' 2025 fifth-round pick has a good relationship with the puck. He controls it well from the middle of the ice, and it finds him when he doesn't have it. He had numerous pokes and chances near the net-front in the 4v4 Development Camp scrimmage.
Despite the crowded low zone, the puck had eyes for him, and he knew how to find space. Perhaps the professional scouts will have better verbiage, but he showed that he could be a solid organization depth piece. He's a center now, but in the long run, he could potentially show up at PPG Paints Arena as a bottom-six winger.
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No. 17: Brady Peddle
Peddle, 18, was one of the Penguins' 2025 third-round picks (91st overall). He's a 6-foot-3, 203-pound angry defenseman who isn't afraid to inflict a bruise … or three.
Peddle isn't a standout performer, so his performance at the recent Development Camp was somewhat muted. He's a defensive zone defenseman who will play one more season at Waterloo of the USHL before heading to Michigan State for the 2026-27 season.
No. 16 Joona Vaisanen
Already the third right-handed defenseman on our list, Vaisanen is the quintessential under-the-radar, long-term project. He's 20 years old from Espoo, Finland, but has played only one season of junior hockey (in the USHL), followed by one season with the Penguins Central HQ: Michigan Tech.
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Vaisanen was the Penguins' sixth-round pick in 2024 and put up a healthy 26 points (4-22-26) in 42 games as a freshman. He seems to have a knack for being in the middle of the play–at Development Camp, when there was a nice little pass or a big play, Vaisanen was at the center of the action.
There are a fair number of scouting reports on him, but they all report the same as we saw: He's got a unique game because he does so many things well, including jumping into the play offensively and taking away passing lanes in the defensive zone.
If he weren't a sixth-rounder, he'd be pushing the Top 10. There's just a little something about Vaisanen that you should watch.
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