PHN Penguins Prospect Rankings: The Next Core, No. 1-5

There is a new top of the heap amongst the quickly expanding list of Pittsburgh Penguins prospects.

In 2023, top goalie prospect Joel Blomqvist was No. 2, and defenseman Owen Pickering was the new top prospect. Blomqvist is still in the top five, but PHN no longer projects Pickering as the top dog. Because of his plateaued development and the influx of talent, Pickering fell to seventh this year.

READ MORE: 2023 Penguins Prospect Rankings, a New Top of the Heap

The unique part of the 2024 rankings, compared to every previous season, is the depth. As we have ranked the top 15, even our list of five prospects outside the top 10 could include players who play NHL games.

Blomqvist, 23, could have punched his ticket to the NHL this season with a stellar playoff performance for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, but he’ll need a little more time to marinate with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins. Make no mistake, the clock to his NHL debut is counting down, but there is a player who projects to be more impactful.

READ MORE: 2024 PHN Prospect Rankings 6-10: Real Talent, Exiting Long Shot

The Penguins’ quest to add more prospects received an upgrade earlier this month when president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas was able to lure Wes Clark from the Toronto Maple Leafs to be the vice president of player personnel. In the process, director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor moved on, making a lateral move to accept a position with the Colorado Avalanche.

Clark’s pedigree of finding and selecting prospects at the draft over the last several years has been superior.

Our prospect list was different this season. In addition to estimating a prospect’s countdown to their NHL debut, we equally weighted their potential impact. By this formula, a fourth liner who is ready to play in the NHL would not rank as highly as a talented 18-year-old who might be three years away.

The list had a few rankings that surprised even me. 2022 first-round pick Owen Pickering was ranked seventh, and the top-five list includes one player who might not see a Pittsburgh Penguins sweater until 2027 or later.

2024 Top 5 Penguins Prospects

5. Sergei Murashov

The Russian goalie was the Penguins’ fourth-round pick in 2022. He was originally listed at 6-feet, but is now listed at 6-feet-2, and that’s the least of his growth.

Murashov has dominated the competition at both the Russian junior level and in a short KHL stint last season. It’s one thing to post a .930 save percentage in the Russian juniors, but it’s an accomplishment to post a .925 save percentage in six KHL games for a top team.

READ MORE: Penguins Rookie Camp Gets Intense; Standouts & Surprises

Murashov was a late add to the Penguins Development Camp in early July and backstopped his team to the Michel Briere Cup–the annual camp championship. He was a man against boys.

“He was disgusting,” Pickering said.

There was a buzz in camp about him. Everyone knew the gaudy numbers, but his play in the games was exceptional. He’s a tenacious goalie with high-end athleticism, but he also knows how to play the position. Murashov didn’t put himself out of position, and he didn’t swim in the crease; he held his ground.

The Penguins very well may have something special here, but his immediate future is cloudy—he has not yet decided to play in Russia or North America for 2024-25. Even if he comes to North America, the Penguins’ depth chart is full. For the moment, he remains a tantalizing prospect who could be a significant part of the post-Core Three era.

Projection: Starting NHL goalie.

4. Vasily Ponomarev

The Penguins acquired him from the Carolina Hurricanes in the Jake Guentzel trade, along with NHL forward Michael Bunting, prospects Ville Koivunen and Cruz Lucius, and a 2024 second-round pick (Harrison Brunicke).

We haven’t seen much of Ponomarev since his arrival because he suffered a serious high ankle sprain with the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins just four games after arriving. However, the word on Ponomarev is an intense player who gets after the puck and has playmaking ability.

He’s another C/LW combo package.

In 2022-23, his rookie season with the Chicago Wolves, he posted 46 points and scored 24 goals. He had 30 points in 40 games split between three AHL teams last season, but he was caught in the fight between Chicago and Carolina, in which Chicago declared themselves independent, and Carolina did not have a direct AHL affiliate.

He could be a third or fourth liner with the Penguins this season and provide some offensive pop from positions that have not produced much in the Penguins’ lineup for several years.

Projection: Third-line center with double-digit goals potential.

3. Tanner Howe

Howe is currently auditioning for Team Canada at the Summer Showcase amongst a sea of first-round picks.

Howe was the latter of the Penguins’ two 2024 second-round picks (46th overall) but was selected above some dynamic offensive talent. It’s hard not to be intrigued by a winger who models his game after Brad Marchand and has the numbers at the juniors level to back it up.

First, he’s got a little spark. He knows how to play to the crowd, and he enjoys it. After telling reporters at the combine that he looked up to Marchand, he told Pittsburgh reporters—with a smile—that he looked up to Sidney Crosby. He’s a scrappy left winger who was Connor Bedard’s linemate with the Regina Pats and managed to keep his offensive totals up after Bedard left.

Howe, 18, scored 28 goals last season and registered 77 points. He also lit the lamp 36 times, playing beside Bedard in 2022-23. Howe isn’t a physically imposing winger at 5-foot-10, 182 pounds, but he uses everything he has to get to the net. Then he’ll scrap to stay there as he did in the development camp, where he scored a pair of goals just feet from the paint.

He’ll scrap anywhere, actually. His skating is solid, too. He could be a top-six LW who brings energy and stirs the pot, and we think he could be here sooner rather than later.

Because of his November 2005 birthday, he can turn pro next summer.

Projection: Second-line LW who can score 20 goals and become a fan favorite. NHL Debut in 2025-26?

2. Joel Blomqvist

Blomqvist, 22, was a standout with the WBS Penguins in his rookie North American season. Before his call-up, Penguins defenseman Jack St. Ivany recounted to PHN that Blomqvist was the team’s best player, and it’s heart–and that’s why St. Ivany so vigorously defended any players near the crease. (That night was also the first night we sounded the bell that St. Ivany was on his way soon.)

READ MORE: Penguins Report Card, Full Joel Blomqvist Scouting Report

After a couple of seasons with Karpat of the SM-liiga, he made the jump to North America, and he produced. In 45 appearances, Blomqvist had a .921 save percentage, setting some tongues wagging.

The 6-foot-2 goalie is steady. Poised. He can read plays and move quickly. Perhaps most importantly, he will battle when he isn’t at his best, or his team is struggling in front of him.

At his season-ending press conference, Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas specifically singled out Blomqvist as a player who could—with a strong AHL playoff performance—be in the NHL this season. However, Blomqvist wasn’t sharp in the playoffs, and the WBS Penguins were bounced in two games.

The Penguins re-signed Alex Nedeljkovic to share the crease with starter Tristan Jarry, so we’ll have to wait a little while longer to see Blomqvist at the NHL level.

“That will give Joel Blomqvist a little chance to breathe,” Dubas said at the draft of signing Nedeljkovic.

But it would seem Blomqvist is the key variable in the Penguins netminding future, and when he’s ready, it figures that Dubas will make room.

Projection: Full-time NHL job in 2025-26. Starting goalie material.

1. Brayden Yager

The 2023 14th overall pick, he was the Moose Jaw Warriors team leader and No. 1 center who led his team to its first-ever WHL championship and Memorial Cup.

The interesting thing about Yager is even when he seems out of the offensive play, he racks up points. Moose Jaw stacked a lineup around Yager, including offensive defenseman Denton Mateychuk (Columbus), Jagger Firkus (Seattle), and Matthew Savoie (Edmonton). The almost exclusively offensively-minded players relied upon Yager to protect them defensively.

Yager can also whip the puck at the NHL level.

He’s got NHL-level skating, shot, and playmaking ability.

There are some soft edges to Yager’s game that he’ll need to harden, such as being a little harder in the corners, and he tended to drift in the defensive zone, but those are easily workable things. The biggest knock PHN has is that he tended to hang back even when he could have joined the offensive play.

READ MORE: Scouting Brayden Yager in Person; What the Penguins Have on the Way 

The general feeling around Moose Jaw was that Yager would return for 2024-25, but given the Penguins’ desire to get young players around captain Sidney Crosby for the youngsters’ benefit, it’s quite possible the Penguins rush Yager to the NHL and let him work on his game here.

After 35 goals and 95 points in 57 games with Moose Jaw, there’s not much more to be gained at the juniors level.

Projection: Nine-game NHL tryout in 2024-25. Solid second-line center.