Pittsburgh Penguins 2025 Draft Target: Jackson Smith

Smith’s offensive game is still developing, but he showed more confidence and willingness to engage from his point spot in the offensive zone. He was a strong power-play specialist for the Americans, thanks in large part to his vision and smooth skating to open up lanes and chances for his teammates. On the defensive side of the puck, he could work on his game, but he constantly uses his reach and body well in transition. He keeps opponents in low-dangerous areas with his stick work, and his gap control is very solid when an opponent does come driving towards him on a rush.

Overall, Smith has every bit of skill in his game to be a major difference maker at the NHL level with his size and superb skating ability. He may be a bit raw offensively, but his production and play will develop and improve with time and more confidence.

What Others Are Saying About Smith

“Although he’s scoring at a fairly high level, Smith’s point-scoring isn’t quite what stands out. Notably, he has shown impressive puck-moving potential in Tri-City, aiding the flow of games. Zone exits are a regularly overlooked aspect of a defenseman, but they might be one of the most valuable—he has shown great poise in this department. Smith gets a lot of puck touches, and he is depended upon to advance it up the ice.” – Justin Giampietro, The Hockey Writers

“He’s a big guy who’s a very good skater, good on his edges, very elusive for his size, and is able to skate the puck out of the defensive zone, out of trouble, and then transport it down the ice and be very effective offensively….But he’s a better defensive player than he probably gets credit for. He’s pretty good in his own zone, has a good stick and the commitment as well to continue to defend first, and then get the puck up the ice, because the next level is just going to get that much harder.” – Tri-City Americans head coach Stu Barnes

Smith’s Fit Within the Penguins Organization

As mentioned before, the depth within the Penguins organization from the left side of the backend of the ice lacks depth, so adding someone like Smith would immediately help add some. With his upside, he would be a player to keep an eye on, and he could end up being a top-pairing defenseman in the near future.

As a player who would need a couple of seasons of further development and maturation to his game, Smith could see himself spending time in the American Hockey League (AHL) before making his way to the NHL full-time. With the track record that the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton organization has with the development of the younger players within the organization over the last few seasons, there is no reason not to believe that they would bring even more out of Smith’s game.

Should the Penguins Pick Smith?

If Smith is available at pick 11 for the Penguins, they would be very happy to have the dilemma of whether to take him or a forward. With the raw talent offensively to go along with the skillset and skating that cannot be taught already in his toolbox, taking Smith with the selection could be too hard to pass up. Helping to solidify the future of the defensive core to match up with the likes of Rutger McGroarty , Ville Koivunen, and others in the forward prospect pool would be very beneficial for the organization.