Penguins reunite Ruck twins with Round 2 draft pick

One day was long enough to keep the Ruck twins separated.

The long-awaited reunion (about 16 hours) of brothers Liam and Markus Ruck came on Saturday during the second round of the 2026 Upper Deck NHL Draft, when the Pittsburgh Penguins pulled Markus off the board, after selecting Liam in the first round Friday.

The brothers will go from being teammates with the Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League to hopefully being teammates with the Penguins in the NHL.

They're the highest drafted twins since the Vancouver Canucks selected Daniel Sedin and Henrik Sedin with the No. 2 and No. 3 pick, respectively, of the 1999 NHL Draft.

Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas had his eye on Markus as soon as he selected Liam, saying that the brothers have spent roughly "four nights apart" throughout their entire lives.

With Markus still available at pick No. 39, Dubas made the move.

After the selection, Markus had a message for Penguins fans.

“I can’t wait to get started with Pittsburgh,” he said in a social media video posted by the team. “I’m so excited.”