The Penguins crossed the Atlantic yesterday for four of their final five picks in the NHL draft, taking Finnish defenseman Emil Pieniniemi with their third round choice, Russian center Mikhail Ilyin in the fifth round, Canadian center Cooper Foster in the sixth, Finnish forward Emil Jarventie and defenseman Kalle Kangas with their two picks in the seventh round.
Director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor said they didn’t necessarily plan to go so European.
Pryor was excited to work with and learn from Kyle Dubas, the Penguins’ president of hockey operations who only joined the team a month ago.
Next up for Dubas and the Penguins is the start of NHL free agency, which is tomorrow. Dubas is in talks with the agents for several key free agents, most notably forward Jason Zucker, goaltender Tristan Jarry, and defenseman Brian Dumoulin.
The website CapFriendly.com calculates that the Penguins are entering the free agent signing period with $15,208,158 of salary cap space.
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