Penn State hockey received its newest OHL recruit with a commitment from 20-year old center Kaden Pitre on Saturday afternoon:
Pitre played for the Flint Firebirds of the OHL from 2022 until 2025, where he tallied 101 points (44 goals and 57 assists) in 167 games. He was traded
to the North Bay Battalion in November of 2025 and posted 37 points (13 goals, 24 assists) in 37 games. He played with current Penn State defenseman Nolan Collins with the Firebirds during the 2024-25 season.
The Tampa Bay Lightning selected Pitre in the sixth round of the 2024 NHL Entry Draft, though the Lightning’s signing rights expired on June 1. He will re-enter the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
Pitre will join Penn State for the 2026-27 season. As he is a more defensive center, he will likely assume a bottom six role at Penn State. He can be relied on to finish his checks and brings the physicality most teams need from their depth forwards. We will see if his offensive game can develop in Guy Gadowsky’s high-pressure system. Shea Van Olm and Luke Misa spent long stretches of last season playing bottom six minutes after playing in the OHL the year prior, and both struggled to find their offensive game until later in the season. It would not surprise me to see the same trend with Pitre.
