It’s officially draft day in the National Hockey League.

It snuck up on us rather quick after the Stanley Cup Playoffs was extended as long as it was, thanks to the lengthy travel and seven game series thriller. However, now here in Pittsburgh we can really see the team dig into their offseason.

That will start at The Sphere in Las Vegas, where Penguins President of Hockey Ops and General Manager Kyle Dubas and his front office will dig into their seats and settle in for a long night, given that the team has no first round pick this year.

As with any season, lots of picks changed hands and the Penguins were no exception. Overall, Pittsburgh has six draft picks, but only four of those picks are originally their own.

Had Carolina reached the Stanley Cup Final, the Penguins would have had an extra pick. But if you’d like more details on that stipulation, I have just the piece for you.

So with this jumble of picks that Dubas has to work with, I wanted to make a little primer of where all of the team’s original picks went, and where all of the other picks came from.

First Round, 14th Overall (Traded on August 6th, 2023)

Pittsburgh’s own first round pick belongs to the San Jose Sharks this year, as a result of the conditions of the Erik Karlsson trade before the start of last season.

Those two pieces were involved in a 12-asset deal that included three teams, but saw the Penguins part with a first round pick to bring in the reigning Norris Trophy winner who scored 102 points the season prior.

The pick was top ten protected, meaning had the Penguins’ first rounder been anywhere in the first ten picks, Pittsburgh could have retained it and sent an unprotected 2025 first rounder to San Jose.

But the loss in the draft lottery made that decision obsolete for the Penguins.

Update: the Sharks have traded this pick, along with the 42nd pick, to the Buffalo Sabres in exchange for the 11th overall pick.

Second Round, 46th Overall (Traded for on March 7th, 2024)

The only pick the Penguins received in the Jake Guentzel trade to Carolina, Pittsburgh will have two picks almost back to back midway through the second round.

The Penguins have their own pick at 44th overall (their highest pick in this year’s draft), and now have an extra second rounder at 46th. Interestingly though, this pick actually originally belonged to Philadelphia, hence its spot within the second round,

This pick was originally traded as one of three picks traded from Philly to Carolina in exchange for the signing rights to defenseman Tony DeAngelo.

Ironically, DeAngelo would end up back with the Canes a year later, but this pick wound up in the hands of Kyle Dubas.

Third Round, 79th Overall (Traded on March 3rd, 2023)

Our first mention of the dreaded Ron Hextall comes in this pick. Back at the deadline in 2023, Hextall was looking for ways to get some cap space.

The Brock McGinn signing hadn’t panned out, and after the Penguins had already waived him, Hextall was able to get the Anaheim Ducks to take on his $2.75 million cap hit.

Hextall had to pay a third rounder (this pick) to get the Ducks to take the money, and got defenseman Dmitry Kulikov as a rental. Kulikov played just 6 games with Pittsburgh before injury sidelined him for the rest of the season.

As a free agent, he reunited with another old team of his in Florida, where he became a Stanley Cup Champion with the Panthers.

Fifth Round, 143rd Overall (Traded on March 3rd, 2023)

Another ill-fated Hextall trade, this pick was the low cost to reunite Nick Bonino with the Penguins.

After years of being away and ending up with the San Jose Sharks, Bonino was added for essentially a fifth round pick back at the deadline in 2023. Bonino was funneled through Montreal from San Jose, who could retain half on his contract, before he was sent on his merry way back to Pittsburgh.

It was an incredibly weird trade at the time, and also a very short-term one. Bonino would play just 3 games in his second stint with the Penguins before suffering an injury that kept him out for the rest of the season.

As a free agent, he did not stick with the team, signing a one year deal with the New York Rangers before being released midway through the season.

This is the second pick of the Penguins’ that the Sharks own, with the aforementioned first rounder being in San Jose’s possession.

Seventh Round, 223rd Overall (Traded for on June 29th, 2023)

Our final pick happened on the draft floor last year, when the Penguins and New York Rangers swung a pick swap deal.

The Rangers, looking to move up, offered their 91st overall pick back in 2023 and threw in a seventh round pick in next year’s draft (this pick) to move up a whole one spot to 90th overall.

New York took defenseman Drew Fortescue with that selection, while Pittsburgh took defender Emil Pieniniemi with the following selection.

Now, the Penguins have an extra pick for that work in this year’s draft.

(Featured photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)