Following an extremely favorable start to the NHL Draft Lottery on Monday that saw our Penguins in the thick of the hunt for the top overall pick, those fickle lottery balls turned coat and sank us all the way to eleventh, two slots worse than our ninth overall regular-season finish. One slot ahead of Mike Sullivan’s Rangers.
Hey, all’s fair in love and lottery balls, right?
Given that this isn’t a particularly deep draft, it isn’t likely the Pens will be in line to select an impact player come June 27. In fact they’ll likely be landing a Tier 4 talent, a bubble top and middle of the lineup guy.
Still, I sure don’t mind the kid ranked 11th among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, Brady Martin. A 6’0” 186-pound, 18-year-old center from the Soo Greyhounds of the OHL, Martin is noted for his hard-driving, physical play.
That alone would be enough to sell me. IMHO we desperately need to upgrade our compete level and willingness to battle. The fact that Martin also popped 33 goals and 72 points in 57 games for the Greyhounds doesn’t hurt, either.
Of course, there’s that Kyle Dubas-Soo connection as well.
Here’s the kid’s draft profile, courtesy of Corey Pronman of The Athletic.
Martin is a highly likable center who has been impressive in the OHL and for Team Canada this season. He’s a very skilled forward who has the one-on-one abilities to beat a lot of NHL defensemen. He’s creative as a puck handler and his offensive IQ impressed as the season went along even if not his calling card. His skill is appealing, but it’s the combination of his skill with his compete that gets evaluators excited. Martin has a true hardness in his game, attacking the high-percentage areas and is an extremely physical player. His skating is fine and his stride isn’t the most technically sound but he has enough natural quickness to get around at the higher levels. He could be a second line center who is a matchup player and makes life hellish on opponents.
Pronman went on to liken Martin to the Panthers’ Sam Bennett, who I’ve long coveted.
Maybe there’ll be some joy in Penguie Land after all.
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I will go into more detail later Rick, but the players who am thinking about right now are, Radim Mrtka (RHD), Jake O'Brien (C), Lynden Lakovic (LW), Jackson Smith (LHD), or Justin Carboneau (RW), depending on who is still available. These are the players most sites figure going somewhere between the 9 - 13 in the up coming draft.