With the draft getting closer, it’s time to start looking at some of the players who should realistically be available when the Penguins are on the clock.
In my previous article, I talked about two players I most want Pittsburgh to target: twin brothers Liam and Markus Ruck. I also went over how the Penguins could potentially land both of them without even needing to trade up, considering Markus may still be available in the early second round.
I’m very high on both prospects, and honestly, I think they are the best possible path forward for the franchise in this draft. If you haven’t read that article yet, I’d recommend reading it before this one — “Click Here” to check it out.
Let’s start with probably the most commonly projected pick for the Penguins. Really interesting player here. Morozov is one of the youngest players in college hockey. He’s already a big, strong player at just 17 years old, standing 6-foot-3 and weighing around 200 pounds.
At Miami University, he put up 8 goals and 12 assists for 20 points in 36 games. Those are definitely solid numbers for a 17-year-old playing college hockey.
He possesses an absolutely wicked one-timer, but there are to many moments where he’ll whiff on shots or struggle handling passes cleanly. At times, his puck control can look rough, which may point to him still adjusting to the pace and speed of the game around him.
That’s something that can become concerning when projecting players to the NHL level, because issues with processing speed and puck control under pressure don’t always translate well upward if you’re already struggling with it at the College level, even if that is a big step above Junior play. Still, context matters here. He’s only 17 years old and already competing in college hockey, which is an impressive accomplishment in itself, so there’s definitely room for patience and development.
So though his one-timer is powerful, another issue is the accuracy just isn’t there consistently. A lot of his shots end up spraying wide or missing quality lanes entirely, so the shot often looks more lethal than the actual results suggest. At this stage, you’d want to see more of those attempts either hitting the net or becoming legitimate scoring chances.
That’s one of the bigger concerns for me when projecting his game forward. Accuracy and finishing touch are areas that can improve, but historically they’re also some of the harder skills to significantly develop. It’s a bit of a natural instinct skill set — either you have that precision or you don’t. Of course improvement is always possible, but usually these traits don’t drastically change over time.
He plays hard and fast, which I’m always a fan of, and he’s definitely capable of driving the puck to the net. His skating is solid, though nothing that completely blows you away. There’s no “buttery smooth” skating here, but honestly that’s a fairly minor gripe when projecting him to the pros. I think it’ll improve just fine as he develops.
His stickhandling is also pretty solid, though he tends to rely on one or two moves rather than being overly creative with the puck.
Overall, he looks decent. Playing college hockey at such a young age is definitely intriguing, and there’s clearly a lot of room for growth here in a positive way.
That said, I don’t necessarily see a future star at this point. He’s the kind of prospect where it’s still hard to tell exactly what direction he’s headed in. There’s upside there, but also a lot that still needs to come together.
Hurlbert is probably considered the Penguins’ second most likely projected pick behind Morozov. Honestly, depending on the rankings or mock drafts you look at, the two might even be viewed as a coin flip.
He’s a fairly smooth skater, but to me, he just doesn’t have the level of speed I’d want, and that’s a pretty big issue in my eyes. He’s great at dancing through traffic or skating around the perimeter in the offensive zone, almost like a budget Lane Hutson at times, and he works the boards really well on his edges, a little Crosby esque in that regard.
He’s definitely capable of making plays happen, whether it’s by working the boards or simply holding onto the puck until a lane opens up or a defenseman overcommits. He has really good vision and can find difficult passing lanes consistently. His confidence with the puck and belief in his playmaking ability really stand out when you watch him.
My biggest concern is whether his game actually translates effectively to the professional level. At the junior level, everything looks impressive. He processes the game well, creates passing lanes, makes high-end plays, finds dangerous scoring areas, and has the puck skills to control possession and maneuver through defenders.
The problem is that the pace of it all feels a step behind what’s needed at the NHL level.
I’m not entirely sure if Preston shows up in most mock drafts for the Penguins, and honestly, he seems to be all over the place in terms of projection. Some have him going in the mid-twenties, while others push him into the early-to-mid second round. A lot of that variance comes from a strong start to the season, followed by being stuck on a awful team — and then later getting traded to an even worse team.
Despite that, he still put up strong numbers in my eyes considering the circumstances. In 46 games, he recorded 18 goals and 26 assists for 44 points. Being just shy of a point per game on two struggling teams with weak supporting talent says a lot to me.
I’m including Mathis Preston here because, first of all, he’s one of the players I’d target if the Penguins don’t end up acquiring Liam and Markus Ruck. Second, he just feels like the type of player this organization would take a swing on — similar to the way they approached a pick like Ben Kindel.
The main reason I like him is the offensive upside. I see real high-end potential there. He plays with a motor, competes hard, and can hit effectively. In terms of playmaking, he looks miles ahead of the junior level at times — so much so that his teammates don’t always anticipate or finish his plays, sometimes they’re not even in the correct position. That ties back into the situation he’s been in, playing on some very terrible teams.
He’s also a fantastic skater: smooth, agile, and confident on the puck. Unlike some of the other players mentioned earlier, he can absolutely undress defenders when he wants to. He drives play, dictates pace, and can move the puck up ice with ease. When he’s on, he’s extremely difficult to separate from the puck.
His hockey IQ and vision are also very high. He sees everything developing around him and processes the game quickly, which is a major positive — a lot of players at this age simply don’t have that.
On the downside, while he reads the game well, he tends to overcommit at times, leading to turnovers or forced plays. There’s also a consistency issue in his compete level. It’s almost like it takes him time to get going, or he’ll start hot and then fade in and out of games. Along the boards, he can be inconsistent as well — one shift he’ll throw a big hit, the next he’ll shy away from a battle. He leans heavily on his skating, puck skills, and playmaking to drive his game.
He’s also an elite shooter, but the issue is that he doesn’t always choose optimal shooting lanes or situations. He’ll shoot from just about anywhere. I’m not going to over-criticize that, though, because it’s something that can be refined at the AHL or NHL level with proper coaching, and I do expect improvement there.
Overall, outside of Liam and Markus Ruck, Preston is one of the more intriguing swing picks for the Penguins. We’re talking about a player with legitimate superstar potential — someone who, in a different development path, might be considered a top-three type talent. But circumstances have pushed him down boards: bad teams, constant system changes, and inconsistency in his compete level.
I think scouts are underrating way too heavily because of that. Yes, the inconsistency is real, but the upside is also very real. He’s a true boom-or-bust type player, no question. But in the Penguins’ position, I think that’s exactly the kind of swing they should be taking — when you’re in the Penguins position, you take your shot, punch your lottery ticket.
I’m going to keep this list at four players. I will follow this up with a part two or three, but for now, these are my top options — three players who are commonly projected to be taken by the Penguins, and one I think they might target specifically, and one I would personally hope they take.
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Caleb
I haven’t really seen anything linking Command to the Penguins yet, but I really haven’t had much free time to keep up with everyone’s fantasies.
The game I watched for Command was Feb 22 against Vaxjo HC U20.
This was a hard game to watch. It was beyond choppy. Neither team looked could pass the puck or receive a pass. Passes were routinely behind the target, forcing the player to have to slow down to take the pass or try and direct the puck to their sticks with their skates as if they were playing soccer. On the rare occasion that a puck did go tape-to-tape, the receiver was clutching their stick to hard, and the puck would bounce off – perhaps they were simply not expecting it.
The Goalies were really bad, scoring on them should not be considered a feat. They both had nervous feet and would have a hard time tracking the puck if they had motion sensors and radar in their helmets.
As for Command
Skating – He was strong on his skates and fought through checks and drove the net. However, he was far from agile on his skates. He took long, lazy, wide arching turns, and his first three steps were slow. He will need to work on this.
Stickhandling – He seemed to lose control of the puck a lot and had opponents take it off his stick, on multiple occasions. He did get better with that as the game wore on.
Physicality – Command’s strongest point. He powered through checks, including a nice bull move along the boards to drive the net and score.
Face-Offs – He did win his share of FO but none were clean wins (or loses). Wingers routinely had to jump into the circle to determine who won the draw.
Defense – Very defensively responsible for most of the game, dropping back to cover the point seamlessly. He also came back down low to support his defenders. However, he took a couple of minuses in the game. On the PP he was playing point when his team gave up a SHG and he looked a little lost on the play. He also took another minus on an earlier play. Although he came back down low to support, he got caught being nonaggressive, looking like he didn’t know who to cover or hit.
Scoring
The Goal he scored did come off a strong play along the boards and move to the inside, I can’t help but wonder if there was a better goalie, if the puck would have been stopped. He did place the shot well, high to the far side, as I wrote earlier, neither goalie was impressive.
Conclusion
If the Pens got him with a second round pick, I could be OK with that but I don’t see why anyone would want to use the 22nd pick on him.
Hey OTR.
So there isn't any articles, at least that I know of linking Command to the Penguins. And anything of a journalist implying that would be total speculation as I've never seen anyone having inside information on a teams draft board. It's just onine talk from twitter, facebook, youtube etc I'm referring to. Anywhere I see posts or comments about it essintally. Since those are usually the people who read my articles haha, no sports media read what I write, though I'm suspicious ONE we know might be, hint hint.
Caleb,
The game I watched Hurlbert play was Mar 20 against Vancouver. This game was played at a much better pace. Hurlbert had a Hat Trick.
Skating
Like Morozov, Hurlbert looked very agile on his skates, good turns, crisp edges. He reversed his skating direction a couple of times on a dime. I am not sure if he is faster than Morozov but this game was played at a very high pace and Hurlbert did blow past a couple of players
Stickhandling
Unlike Morozov, Hurlbert looked like he relished opportunities to show off his moves. He didn’t take the puck into tight spaces but kept a good gap between himself and opponents, giving himself space to be creative. At least a couple of times he passed the puck to himself, once between his own legs and then once off the boards to get open. He also tried to pull a Svechnikov/lacrosse move that the Goalie stopped, but Hurlbert was quick with it (I don’t know if he could get away with it in the NHL but it did work in the WHL). The only time I saw him not able to handle the puck was on a high bounce off the boards in the attacking zone, he tried to get a one-time shot off but couldn’t control it for a good shot. (he actually started that play with a good transition pass from his own zone)
Physicality
Not really physical. He made some decent plays with a quick stick breaking up passes in the D-zone as well as breakout attempts in the O-zone. He didn’t really go to the net but hung around the bottom of the FO-circle. He picked an opponent’s pocket with some back pressure. However, he got knocked on his wallet a couple of times, once in the neutral zone when he should have had greater inertia.
Face-Offs
Johnny on the spot to support his centerman on every FO that he wasn’t positioned high for a one-time shot. He also won the only draw I saw him take. IN the D-Zone he jumped quickly to cover the point when they lost the draw.
Passing
Had sharp passes but his linemates couldn’t always handle them. He set one teammate up with a nice saucer pass that his fellow forward fanned on.
Shot
Had a quick release on a cross ice-pass to pot his first goal in the game. That shot was sweet. He beat the Goalie short side.
His second goal came on desperate play by a teammate who got lucky, reaching back to knock a loose puck between a defender’s legs to Hurlbert wide open in front. He slipped the puck past the Goalie from about six feet. However, it wasn’t a question of a great shot but shotty Goaltending.
He completed the Hat Trick late in the game on a very bad angled shot, off a fat rebound. I’ll give him props on this one because the angle was so narrow.
Hurlbert did have a nose for the puck and scored three goals, but I am not sure how his game will translate. The Penguins have enough perimeter forwards and I am not so sure he won’t join that crowd.
Caleb,
When I watched Morozov’s game against Omaha from Feb 28
Neither Miami (Morozov’s team) nor Omaha impressed me as elite teams. Therefore, I want to say that it would be to temper all opinions good or bad to the level of overall play.
Face-Offs
Yes, he has really good size, particularly for a 17-year-old. For a young kid he held his own in the face-off (FO) circle – at least 50% maybe a couple points over. Going along with his FO ability, possible leadership abilities were on display – Morozov got waived out of the circle but still set up a play for his replacement and it almost worked. The kid taking the draw did win the puck cleanly back to Morozov, but it looked like Morozov opted not to shoot but to pass. Maybe he didn’t think he had a clean lane to the net?
Skating
His skating wasn’t exceptional, he didn’t blow past anyone, but he had good balance and agility, while his speed kept him with to maybe a half a step ahead of the play. He did show a good burst of speed to get open when he scored his only Goal of the game.
Offense
I didn’t see him get many shots off. Both of the attempts I saw were on in tight plays around the net with blown defensive coverage. On the one opportunity he did score a pretty Goal with a forehand to back hand move with that burst of speed I noted above (in the 2nd frame). And again, as I mentioned, the play was really due to a defensive breakdown by Omaha, but Morozov read the play and jumped right up, took advantage of the gaffe and shook the goalie out of his proverbial euphemism. The second attempt came on a play where Morozov found himself alone in front. He had trouble handling the puck and from the camera angle I couldn’t tell if he missed the net or the Goalie shrugged it off.
Stickling Handling
I didn’t see Morozov ever really take charge of the puck and deke his way through traffic. There was one power attempt where he dipped his shoulder and tried driving the net, but he lost control of the play. Other than that, whenever Omaha challenged him, Morozov opted to pass the puck or dump it.
On at least one play, dumping the puck deep was a really smart play. Morozov was at the end of shift, and he was dangling at the attacking blue-line. If he had lost the puck, Omaha would have easily had an odd-man break.
However, he gave me the impression that he just didn’t have the confidence in his stickhandling.
Physicality
Morozov did go to the front of the net with regularity. More importantly, he initiated contact on many of those occasions. On the other hand, when he himself was challenged, Morozov looked more than reticent to take the hit. Perhaps that was attributable to his age. I also didn’t see him win any puck battles cleanly. A couple of times Miami maintained possession in the end, but it wasn’t a clean win.
Defensively
Positionally, Morozov looked fairly sound. He covered the point seamlessly when his D-man jumped up and held the line. He got back into the play during transition. He didn’t clear the zone until the puck was safe. He picked up his man and kept his head on a swivel, looking for trailers. My only complaints came in the 3rd period when Miami was trying to preserve a 1 Goal lead. Rather than skate a rebound out of danger or dump it to a safe corner for later retrieval, Morozov chose to blindly back hand it back toward the blue-line giving an Omaha defenseman a point shot. And then later with time winding down, he twice iced the puck rather than trying to dump it with just enough force to get the puck just inside the Omaha blue-line so that they would have to clear the zone and regroup, eating up precious minutes on the clock.
Perhaps if his linemates could have passed the puck better they could have made more noise, but overall passing in the game was off - players had to seriously adjust the skating to catch the puck. Or perhaps, if Omaha had a better team they could have exploited Miami's off target passing. So, as I wrote at the top, take it for what it is worth. Neither team was stellar, but that is what I observed.
Hey OTR.
I think his face-off work is solid, especially for 17, and I think due to his size that's something that will actually be an attribute, can lean down in the face-off and use his body to win.
And that forehand to backhand move is what I referred to in my articles during his stickhandling, that's about one of his only moves, like I said, not very creative on the puck. And you're correct, he is not confident in his stick handling or his shot. He prefers to defer, hence the only 8 goals. When you can blast the puck with no accuracy, you tend not to want to shoot it. Hence why that's one of my biggest concerns with him.
Everything you said about his physicality and defensively is spot on. If you put it all together though, does this kid look like a player the Pens want to swing on in the first? Yea there is upside and room to grow because he's 17 vs Collage players, but is there enough to be like, "Yea I see a 1st round player worthy talent in the future". I don't see it. I see a possible solid Top 9/Middle Six or a 4th liner. The Penguins need to swing for guys they think are steals with star potential, hence why I'm high on the Ruck twins or Preston. I'd be disappointed if they go Morozov or JP like what's been projecting, luckily I think Kyle and his scouts are not interested in these two.
But I digress...
As I mentioned in your other post, with the drop off in talent by the time the 22nd pick comes along, I wouldn't be upset if Dubas trades his first for two of Calgary's four 2nd round picks using one to grab another future Goalie.
Skinner is UFA and stunk out loud int he regular season and playoffs. Having given Jarry a contract, I wouldn't put it past Dubas to re-sign him but that would be even dumber than His Jarry signing.
Silovs is RFA and even though he played 2 good game out of 3 playoff games, still is horrible with rebounds and long shots, particularly on the glove side. The only time he thrives is on bang-bang plays in tight, where his big frame blocks the net like that Walrus in the net on that commercial.
Blomqvist is also RFA. He outplayed every Goalie in the system the past two preseasons but was completely disrespected two years ago and probably would have been again last season had he not been injured, giving the team plausible deniability over their inability to assess goalies. Therefore, I could see Blomqvist choosing not to re-sign and/or possibly taking a contract with a team like Edmonton who may be looking to sign him out from under the Pens.
Gauthier is having a great Kelly Cup run but is a UFA-6. I can see him jumping ship too for the way he has been treated by management. He was coming off two super solid ECHL seasons of 0.923 and 0.928 Sv% But Dubas chose not to re-sign him right away. The kid signed an amateur contract with WBS and was demoted to Wheeling because Dubas chose to keep Filip Larson (0.876 Sv% this season). It was only after Gauthier started standing on his head that Dubas reached out to him and re-signed him to a Penguins' contract. So I can see him giving the Penguins the airs as well.
That only leaves Murashov and D'Aigle currently under contract for next season. Murashov may eventually be as good as MAF, if the team gets him a good goalie coach and not Chiodo. Moreover, Goalies often only have two or three good seasons in them anymore, so a team always needs one waiting int he wings.
Hey Caleb.
Excellent article as always. My expertise when it comes to draft-eligible players could fill a thimble (a very small one) and I so appreciate the knowledge and insights you provide. Preston, indeed, sounds intriguing.
I've come to trust your judgment implicitly when it comes to evaluating talent. We've come a long way since Evan Rodrigues... :)
Rick
Hey Rick.
Appreciate the high praise, and we have come a long way from Rodrigues indeed haha.