Penguins’ Ups and Downs on Day 1 of the Entry Draft

Well, that could have gone a lot worse. Kyle Dubas did manage to get our Pittsburgh Penguins three first round draft picks like I wanted to do (without trading Erik Karlsson – actually, probably a good thing), and he did pick one of the players I wanted, but he passed on probably the one player the team needed desperately.

For those of you who did stay up to watch the draft, Dubas did use the teams allotted pick at number 11, then he traded the Pick acquired from the New York Rangers, through the Vancouver Canucks trade to get two 1^st Round Picks from the Philadelphia Flyers (Picks 22 and 31) that they acquired through trades. He then traded the 31^st and 59^th Picks to the Los Angeles Kings to get the 24^thPick.

Pick	Player	Po	Hgt	Wgt
11	Benjamin Kindel	RW	5’-10”	176lbs
22	Bill Zonnon	LW	6’-2”	190lbs
24	William Horcroff	C	6’-4”	181lbs

With his first pick, Dubas screwed up royally. The one player that could have truly helped his team the most he passed on (Kashawn Aitcheson) and he grabbed an also ran that was rated by just about every scout as a high 20 something pick.

Dubas then appeared to be on a roll when he traded his extra first-round pick for two later first round picks and used the first of those extra picks to select Zonnon. Taking Zonnon was a huge step to recover from the wasted earlier pick. But unfortunately, Dubas then brought the high back down by trading his 31^st pick and 59^th picks and using it to pick a player that he could have easily gotten with the 31^st pick, keeping the 59^th pick.

So, let’s meet our new Penguins

Benjamin Kindel

Kindel is listed by the Hockey Writers (tHW) as being 5’-10”, 176lbs Right Wing – pretty much SOS (Same Old Smurfs). Logan Horn (tHW) rated him as 60^th overall, Andrew Forbes (tHW) rated him as 30th overall, Future Considerations and McKeen’s Hockey rated him 27^th, Bob McKenzie of TSN rated him 25^th, but our brilliant GM knows far more than these guy, he used the 11^th pick to grab this guy he could have easily nabbed with the 31^st pick he garnered from the Flyers, what a waste!

Justin Giapietro (tHW) wrote of him “Kindel isn’t likely to be a lottery pick. … He’d be a nice consolation prize for any playoff team that didn’t quite achieve their Stanley Cup aspirations.”

A nice consolation prize is hardly a rousing endorsement for an 11^th overall pick!

On the plus side Sam Cosentino of Sportsnet noted “Extremely intelligent player who rarely takes a shift off.” And Steven Ellis of Daily Faceoff was quoted as saying, ““Kindel is a dual-threat offensive player. He’s equally good as a shooter and a playmaker and is the driving force of Calgary’s attack. Kindel does a great job of finding open space and exploiting it and he has a shot he can unleash from just about anywhere.”

If Dubas had grabbed Aitcheson and Zonnon first and then got Kindel as a “consolation prize” I would have been ecstatic, making him a centerpiece, hmm..

Year	Team		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
2022-23	Calgary	WHL	1	0	0	0	0	0
2023-24	Calgary	WHL	68	15	45	60	14	2
2024-25	Calgary	WHL	65	35	64	99	39	39
Total			134	50	109	159	53	41

When you look down the Hitmen’s roster, it is easy to see how he got those 64 As.

Bill Zonnon

Zonnon is a 6’-2”, 190lbs, natural Left Wing (LW). He played with the Rouyn-Noranda Huskies QMJHL.

I have written about him before. I have watched several of this kid’s games. He destroys opposing Defensemen on a hard, hard fore check. No wonder Peter Baracchini wrote “He utilizes his 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame and speed extremely well to win battles, create separation from puck and player and establish and dominate a forecheck”

Getting Zonnon was the saving grace of the first round of this season’s draft.

Year	Team		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
2022-23	Huskies	QMJHL	63	16	23	39	12	-3
2023-24	Huskies	QMJHL	68	18	40	58	28	27
2024-25	Huskies	QMJHL	64	28	55	83	32	5
Total			195	62	118	180	72	29

William Horcoff

Horcoff is a 6’-4”, 181lbs, Left-Handed Center who has been playing in the NCAA, University of Michigan (UofM).

Jordan Orith (tHW) wrote of him “Horcoff rarely passes up the opportunity to throw his weight around and uses his physical stature to his benefit on both ends of the ice…. being one of the first guys on the attack and making sure the other team is aware he is on the ice by throwing body checks around.”

Stephen Ellis (Daily Faceoff) noted, “Will loves to put players through the glass whenever possible. He hasn’t put up a ton of points this year, but he’s good in his own zone and is one of the team’s better back checkers.”

Jason Bukala (Sportsnet) was quoted as ““Horcoff is a big body who extends plays below the goal line and sets screens around the crease. His open ice pace is average-plus and he’s adjusting defensively at the college level. He’s a power style forward who shields pucks and opponents.”

So there is a lot to like about this kid, from his size to what the scouts say about him, however, when you look at where he is ranked, you have to start asking yourself (again) is Dubas over-thinking himself.

The lowest I have seen him ranked was 30^th (Ryan Kennedy of the Hockey News) and 31^st (FC Hockey), almost everyone else has him ranked in the 50s, yet Dubas grabbed him with the 24^th overall pick.

Year	Team		GP	G	A	Pts	PIM	+/-
2022-23	USNTDP	USHL	35	5	5	10	16	-15
2023-24	USNTDP	USHL	28	8	6	14	34	5
2024-25	UofM	NCAA	18	4	6	10	6	-4

Summing Up Day 1

Dubas had his ups and his downs on Day One.

If I had to rate the first round I would give Dubas a C. He had a chance to knock the ball out of the park but barely got on base. The worst part of this team is its defense and he had a chance to start addressing it and he passed it up completely.