Photo by Randy Feere courtesy of the Medicine Hat Tigers The Pittsburgh Penguins selected Liam Ruck, left, of the Medicine Hat Tigers with the 22nd pick in the 2026 NHL draft in Buffalo, N.Y. on Friday night.

BUFFALO, N.Y. — At the 2025 NHL Draft, Pittsburgh was all over the place after missing the NHL playoffs, drafting three centers who all appear to be hits as of now.

The Penguins returned to the postseason after a year’s absence and General Manager Kyle Dubas was satisfied just waiting for his turn to pick at No. 22, continuing to properly build for an easier transition from their aging stars.

Ben Kindel shocked many when he made the Penguins after being selected 11th overall following an electric Western Hockey League season. Dubas went back to what worked and drafted one of the top prospects out of the WHL again, Medicine Hat’s Liam Ruck, who scored 45 goals and 59 assists for 104 points in 68 games.

Much of Ruck’s production can be credited to playing with identical twin brother Markus, who Dubas will likely try and grab before another team can split up the duo. Liam is the skilled finisher around the net, while Markus is the playmaker.

Liam played on the top line of Medicine Hat the year before with Gavin McKenna and saw great production. The question for Markus was whether or not he could produce without his twin, while that concern was not there with Liam who proved capable last year.

If Pittsburgh can’t snag both brothers they still are landing a nice piece to the prospect pool who will be able to be a great middle-six scorer someday at the NHL level.

— — —

The draft saw a few surprises with the biggest coming from the hosting Buffalo Sabres who decided to go off the board at No. 4, taking their favorite defenseman, Daxon Rudolph, ahead of consensus top-ranked Chase Reid of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. Everything went as planned with Toronto taking Gavin McKenna first, San Jose selecting Ivar Stenberg and Vancouver picking its coach’s son Caleb Malhotra third overall.

Buffalo began a trend of teams taking their guy in the top 10, the Rangers followed up with workhorse Alberts Smits at No. 5, Calgary picked left-handed defenseman Carson Carels and Chase Reid was finally picked by Seattle.

Two-time Stanley Cup champion Matt Cullen saw his son, Wyatt, selected at No. 10 by the Nashville Predators, surprising some as he flew up draft boards late in the year. New Jersey then caught some off guard with Swedish center Alexander Command at No. 12 and Anaheim grabbed Nikita Klepov with the 15th pick, both going ahead of their consensus rankings.

A little less predictable was the Sabres taking Ilia Morozov with the 20th pick, a capable two-way center from the University of Miami (Ohio).