Second Round and Beyond

After selecting Evgeni Malkin second overall in the 2004 NHL Draft, the Penguins literally won the lottery and took Sidney Crosby with the first overall selection the following year.
Ever since then, the team has embarked on a franchise-record streak of 14 consecutive playoff appearances, which represents the longest active postseason streak among all NHL teams, and have won three Stanley Cups during that time. But those Stanley Cups don't come without sacrifices.
In their continuing quest to achieve the ultimate goal, the Penguins have had to give up some first-round draft picks over the years. Because of that, along with the restrictions that come with being in a salary cap era, a perennial contender like the Penguins has to focus on collecting assets outside of the first round of the NHL Draft and subsequently developing them - and they've done so successfully.

From Kris Letang, Bryan Rust, Jake Guentzel and Brian Dumoulin to Tristan Jarry, Teddy Blueger, Sam Lafferty and Anthony Angello, there are plenty of later-round picks that have found success with the Penguins.
And once those later-round picks are in the organization, the development process is of the utmost importance, because those players are most likely going to need time. So it's a process that requires a lot of patience, but the Penguins have proven that it works.
Take Rust, for example. The team knew he would be a 'marathon prospect,' but his speed and tenacity were too alluring to pass up, so the Penguins drafted him in the third round (80th overall) in 2010. From there, he played four seasons of college hockey at Notre Dame, mostly under the radar of Penguins fans, but not of Penguins staff.
Unbeknownst to most, Rust really struggled during his sophomore campaign, posting just 11 points as his play appeared to be regressing. His confidence was low, but consulting with members of the development staff allowed him to break through as a junior. "Conversations with them helped me get my head straight," Rust said.
We all know how the next chapters of Rust's story played out.
After going back-and-forth from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton of the American Hockey League to Pittsburgh his first two professional seasons, Rust ended up playing a huge role in the Penguins' back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2016 and '17 and finished last season as the team's leading goal scorer.

Brian Dumoulin is another example of how long the process can take, as he ended up spending the majority of his first three professional seasons in WBS.
The defenseman was originally drafted by Jim Rutherford and his staff in the second round (51st overall) by the Carolina Hurricanes in 2009. Three years later, the Penguins acquired the defensive prospect in a trade at the 2012 NHL Draft.
At the time, Dumoulin was just 20 years old and had recently finished his junior season at Boston College. But Pittsburgh's scouting staff had liked Dumoulin for a while, and so they lobbied Ray Shero to include him in the deal.
From there, the Penguins took their time with Dumoulin. He spent the entire 2012-13 season with WBS, playing 73 games. He went on to spend the majority of the next two seasons in the AHL as well, playing a handful of games with Pittsburgh over that span.
Dumoulin's first full season in Pittsburgh ended with him anchoring the top D pair alongside Letang as the Penguins captured the Stanley Cup. Dumoulin played an even bigger role in 2017, leading the team in average time on ice and average shorthanded time on ice as the team won their second straight championship. He has since become a key member of the roster and a team leader.
Meanwhile, the day after the Penguins pulled off the trade that landed Dumoulin in 2012, they drafted Blueger - also in the second round (52nd overall).
The forward out of Shattuck-St. Mary's went on to play four years at Minnesota State, and then three full seasons with WBS, displaying the tireless work ethic he has become known for the entire time to get his game ready for the NHL.
Blueger finally got his first call-up in 2019, making his Penguins debut on Jan. 30 and scoring his first career goal the following game. He's someone the current scouting staff points to as an example of a player they knew would need a lot of teaching and learning over the years, but one they felt had enough traits to reach the NHL.
Like Blueger, Jarry just earned a full-time roster spot with Pittsburgh this past season after the Penguins traded up to acquire him in 2013, sending picks No. 50 and 89 to Columbus in order to secure the 44th slot in the second round, which is where they took the goaltender.
At the time, then-assistant director of amateur scouting Randy Sexton said this about Jarry: "We see a potential starting goalie." And while it took six years for that to happen, Sexton's words ultimately came to fruition this past season in a big way.
Jarry was named an NHL All-Star, finishing in the top-10 among all league goalies with a .921 save percentage (tied-8th), 2.43 goals-against average (9th) and three shutouts (tied 8th) as he set career highs in games played (33) and wins (20).

Players like Letang and Guentzel maybe didn't take quite as long to develop, but they were both still third-round picks. Letang was taken 62nd overall in 2005, while Guentzel was chosen 77th overall in 2013 - which, coincidentally, is the Penguins' first pick in the upcoming 2020 NHL Draft.
It's crazy to think that an elite talent like Letang would slip down that far, but going into the 2003-04 lockout, obstruction had slowed down the game and dried up the scoring. The league had a plan to crack down, but no one knew if the plan would actually stick.
That meant teams questioned whether players like Letang, who possessed tremendous skill and skating ability, would thrive in this new NHL with his relative lack of size.
"Teams were still thinking the old ways. They didn't know what (the new NHL) was going to look like," Letang said. "The big defensemen, strong guys, were the key there. Teams started taking more chances in the second and third rounds with smaller defensemen that skate."
That's exactly what Pittsburgh did with Letang, and it's a credit to their scouting staff at the time, because it's a move that ended up giving the Penguins their franchise defenseman.
They also took a chance on Guentzel. Teams also questioned whether he could overcome his lack of size despite his obvious skill and hockey sense. But former Penguins amateur scout Scott Bell
had zero doubts that Guentzel would be in the NHL
.
Well, not only has Guentzel made it to the NHL - he played a starring role in Pittsburgh's 2017 Stanley Cup championship as a rookie and has quickly developed into one of the league's elite goal scorers.
Guentzel has also become the oft-mentioned 'winger for Sid' that the Penguins had searched for through free agency and trades. Turns out he had been there for a few years - added through the draft and developed in the system.

And of course, there's no question the Penguins wouldn't have won either of their back-to-back Cups without Matt Murray, also taken in the third round - 83rd overall - in 2012.
Getting even further into the draft, the final rounds are absolutely critical to a team like the Penguins, and it's important to make every pick count, even if it's a seventh-rounder. And the scouting staff approaches those picks with a competitive fire. As director of amateur scouting Patrik Allvin has said, "If we only have three picks, we want to make sure we nail those picks."
They try to look for different characteristics where they know the player might not be perfect today, but a few years down the road - with the team's help - they might have enough traits that can get them to the NHL. Basically, they are trying to project the type of player these 17- and 18-year olds will be when they're 24 and 25 years old.
They did that with Tom Kuhnhackl (fourth round, 110th overall, 2010); Josh Archibald (sixth round, 174th overall, 2011) and Scott Wilson (seventh round, 209th overall, 2011) - who all contributed in some way to Pittsburgh's back-to-back Stanley Cup championships.
On their current roster, the Penguins' later-round picks include Lafferty (fourth round, 113th overall, 2014); Anthony Angello (fifth round, 145th overall, 2014); and Dominik Simon (fifth round, 137th overall, 2015).
Not to mention John Marino, who finished eighth in Calder Trophy voting after a terrific rookie season, was drafted in the sixth round (154th overall) by Edmonton in 2014.
Marino shows how the work of the scouting and player development staffs doesn't end at the draft as they are attending countless games throughout numerous leagues. They have to keep an eye out for players who stand out and that might have slipped through the cracks, like Conor Sheary.
After four years at UMass-Amherst, the Penguins signed Sheary to an AHL-only deal in 2014 because they saw potential. After leading the team in scoring, he was signed to a two-way NHL contract, and became a two-time Stanley Cup Champion.
Other undrafted players the Penguins either signed directly or eventually brought into the organization are Zach Aston-Reese and Brandon Tanev, and going back even further, Chris Kunitz and Pascal Dupuis.
The fact that the Penguins have continued to compete for Stanley Cups year after year in the salary cap era is truly is a testament to the scouting staff, development staff and management - who oversee the whole entire operation.
And you never know - Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford might make a move leading into this year's draft, set for Oct. 5 and 6, that will bring a higher pick back into the equation. But no matter what happens, the Penguins scouting and development staffs will be ready to help the team continue contending for its ultimate goal no matter what the picks are.