Since there were no upsets for conference final teams in the NHL playoffs (gah) the Penguins won’t advance their selection and are locked in at 22nd overall for the draft. With the event approaching in about a month, some rankings, mock drafts and other tidbits are starting to creep up.
Now that the venerable Bob McKenzie is fully retired (double gah), Craig Button has the prominent TSN rankings. They are his own analysis and not that of a consensus of scouts like McKenzie used to compile. The range of players around 22 makes for some interesting points about which players could be around when it is the Pens turn to pick.
Jaxon Cover, ranked 28th by Button, is a fascinating subject that will be a fun watch for the draft and beyond. Cover has a unique origin story, the Grand Cayman native has very little ice hockey experience but was able to hone his skills in an unusual way and has become a fast riser on draft boards. He scored 52 points in 67 OHL games with London in 2025-26, in truly his first season of high-end competition for his age level. It’s rare for a hockey prospect to matriculate out of thin air this late in the process but Cover has gotten himself on the radar in a major way with his skills and starting to find a place at high levels.
Cover, a recent commit for Penn State, is understandably still a very raw player, though his puck skills and 1v1 ability carrying over from a strong roller hockey base make him intriguing for NHL teams given his athleticism and how quickly he’s proven himself in a short period of time. Cover seems more like a player who would be have to be selected with the Pens’ first pick (22nd) because he may well be off the board by the time they get to their second turn to pick (39th) given his stock rising so quickly.
The Athletic did a two-round mock draft. Cover went 49th here, which might give a little hope that Pittsburgh could swing for the fences on a boom/bust type of pick in the second round if the draft breaks similarly to this.
The projected 6’3” center Ilia Morozov (no relation to former Penguin first round pick and current KHL President Aleksey Morozov) in the first round, then Finnish defenseman Juho Piiparinen and 6’7” goaltender Filip Ruzicka in the second round. Mock draft accuracy in May can obviously be of a spurious nature at best, though it’s interesting to see some names get placed in draft pick spots.
