As the Pittsburgh Penguins enter a transitionary period, one where they are putting far more emphasis on the youth movement and development, fans are going to have a lot more reason to pay attention to the next several drafts.

This past summer, the Penguins had selected three players in the first round for the first time since 1984.

Fans are seeing the picks from drafts past. Benjamin Kindel, taken 11th overall this year and Harrison Brunicke from 2024 are some of the rookies that have seen NHL ice this season for the Penguins.

However, two of those other players come from an odd, almost entirely rightfully negatively remembered time in Penguins history. Both players were selected in the 2022 draft, at the height of the Ron Hextall/Brian Burke era in Pittsburgh.

Owen Pickering, Hextall’s lone first round pick during his time in Pittsburgh, made his NHL debut last season and has already skated with the Penguins this year. Even though the defenseman has still shown some growing pains and was recently re-assigned to the AHL, he is still projected to be a big part of the team’s blue line down the road.

Meanwhile, goaltender Sergei Murashov has rocketed through the organization’s prospect rankings. He is one of, if not the prospect fans are most excited about, and with Tristan Jarry out for a minimum of three weeks, we’ll see Murashov get a little runway in the NHL.

Now, three years is not enough time to properly evaluate a draft class in the NHL. But, since some of the team’s investments from that era are starting to pay off, I decided to take a look at that entire draft class and see where each player is now.

In 2022, the Penguins still had their playoff streak intact, although it would end in about nine months (thanks, Ron). Their strategy regarding draft picks still often involved firing picks into the sun.

As such, the Penguins had just five picks that summer. Before we get into who the Penguins selected, here’s where their missing picks went.

• 53rd Overall: Traded to Anaheim as part of a four-asset package to acquire Rickard Rakell
• 86th Overall: Traded to Los Angeles with a 2023 third rounder for Jeff Cartrer
• 214th Overall: Traded to Florida as a pick swap deal. The Panthers got this pick, and the Penguins got the 223rd pick in 2023

Additionally, the Penguins had acquired a sixth round pick from Chicago in a deal that sent forward Liam Gorman to the Blackhawks.