And Without Further Ado, the Rest of the Penguins Draft

I am not going to waste time with much of a prologue here. Instead, I will jump right into it. Introducing Isaac Belliveau, the Pittsburgh Penguins 5th Round Draft Pick.

Scouting Report
Belliveau would appear to be the perfect Defenseman for Mike Sullivan. The lefty out of Quebec reputed to be strong offensively but soft defensively. And a word of caution, those numbers he put up in 2019 – 2020, understand he was playing with Alexis Lafreniere and quite often on the Power Play (PP).

Playmaking: hockeywizscouting notes how enamored they are of how Belliveau can “[walk] the blue line to create shooting and passing lanes.” Ben Kerr of The Last Word on Hockey writes “He has excellent vision as well as the passing skills to create scoring chances for teammates. He is also poised with the puck, controlling it at the line. Belliveau does a good job of surveying the ice, quarterbacking the play, and picking the right option.” Danny McGillicuddy of the Draft Analyst writes, “He sees the play in advance, placing tape to tape passes to lead the team to easy zone breakouts. Once in the offensive zone, his teammates better have their sticks on the ice and be ready for a pass from the gifted blue-liner. He will freeze the goalie by faking a shot then throw no look passes through the seam to the offside winger.”

Skating: There was some difference of opinions on Belliveau’s skating; hockeywizscouting noted that they were impressed, but Kerr reported “he needs to work on his edgework and agility.” McGillicuddy would seem to agree with Kerr, “He does not possess a wow factor with his skating….. His skating is not the best, but he gets to where he needs to be at the correct time.”

Shooting: Opinions also differed on Belliveau’s shooting. The hockeywizscouting site likened Belliveau to many of the Penguins’ Defensemen already on this roster, writing that he needs to improve his shot velocity. However, Kerr writes “His slapshot and one-timer are also very hard and accurate.”

Defense: The hockeywizscouting site likes Belliveau’s gap control and positioning as well as his ability to use his stick to break up plays. Kerr also likes Belliveau’s position but his rap on the kid’s skating (edgework and agility) makes him vulnerable to “quick lateral movements and rapid acceleration”. Furthermore, both hockeywizscouting and Kerr note that Belliveau needs to get stronger and more physical in the defensive zone as well.

Powerplay: It didn’t hurt to be playing alongside Lafreniere on the PP and with his skating and playmaking ability, Belliveau would appear to be a candidate for the Quarterback of the PP.

Versatility: He has already displayed the ability to play the right side of the defense, since Rimouski was teeming with left-handed Defensemen.

Endurance: MCGillicuddy noted that he can log tons of ice time. However, I am not sure how much I like comments like that. I, personally, do not want ice time eater. I would rather players play shorter shifts and do something with their ice time rather than pace themselves for long shifts.

Projection: At hockeywizscouting, they project him as a top 4 defenseman.


The Pittsburgh Penguin 1st Pick in the 7th round, Ryan McCleary

Scouting Report:
At the tender age of 17 years, McCleary is a long-term project. The good news is that as young as he is and with only 18 WHL games under his belt, he was able to get noticed by Central Scouting who rated him 141st among North American Skaters.

Bloodline: McCleary’s father played 192 Games for the Ottawa Senators, Boston Bruins, and Montreal Canadiens. He scored 8 Gs, 23 Pnts, and had 134 PIM and was a -30.

Penguin Connection: former Penguins Head Coach Mike Johnston is the Head Coach, Vice President, and General Manager of the Portland Winterhawks, McCleary’s junior team. In an interview McCleary was quoted as saying, “I skate a little too high sometimes, so Mike (Johnston) has tried to get me lower when I’m skating and have more powerful strides,”

Assistant general manager and associate coach Kyle Gustafson, who also coaches Portland’s defensemen, was quoted saying, “The things I like about Ryan are his offensive instincts,” Gustafson said. “He anticipates the play well, willing to jump up ice and contribute offensively. He is doing a lot of things that are smart with the puck and makes a lot of nice plays in the middle of the ice.”

Transition Game: Elite Prospects writes, “Transition’s where McCleary’s impact is most felt, and it’s through activation and deception rather than explosiveness. He deceives forecheckers with his eyes, looks to pass through pressure to create space up the ice, and accelerates out of his passes to join the rush.”

Weaknesses: skating and if McCleary’s interview is any indication, he may know that he has to work on it.

The Penguins 2nd Pick of the 7th Round, Daniel Laatsch

Scouting Report:
Sorry, I couldn’t find a whole lot about Laatsch. The only thing I have found so far was a little self analysis, “I just feel like my timeframe is a little bit longer so that extra year just to develop and put on a little weight and get bigger, faster, stronger just helped me to be prepared for last year and coming into this year,”

All I can say is that I like his size (6’-5”, 195 lbs). His size may mean he will take a little longer to develop, but I am so sick of miniature defensemen. Furthermore, posting a +23 must mean Laatsch is able to do something right.

The Penguins final Pick of this year’s NHL Entry Draft, Kirill Tankov

Scouting Report:
I couldn’t find anything in writing, but I did find some videos. Granted, the videos are highlights and not full game films, but the kid looked good stickhandling the puck between opponent’s legs and driving the net. However, let me temper that with a sour note, his opponents were players in the MHL, Russia’s Junior League. I must say, the clips piqued my interest, they were exciting to watch, but let us see how it develops.

Post Script: I apologize for the Auto fill, my computer original wrote Further Review instead of Further Adieu and I didn’t catch it at first.