Predicting Penguins 2025 First-Round Picks

The Pittsburgh Penguins enter the 2025 NHL Draft with two first round picks. Better yet, they get to make those choices back-to-back as they hold the 11th and 12th overall picks. That puts the organization in position to restock their prospect pipeline overnight. So, what can we expect from the Penguins when they take the podium at the 2025 NHL Draft?

11th Pick

The Penguins have to hope that one of the top forwards falls to them at number 11. The Athletic’s Josh Yohe reported that general manager Kyle Dubas would love to find a way to land 6’3” winger Porter Martone, but that could require moving up into the top-10 at least.

The Penguins have to be patient and take the best forward available at number 11. Operating under the assumption that top offensive prospects like Martone, Roger McQueen, James Hagens, Michael Misa, Caleb Desnoyers, and Anton Frondell will already be selected before the Penguins’ first pick, you might be thinking there won’t be any high-end forwards left. However, that will still leave Brady Martin on the board, much to the Pens’ delight.

Martin is a tenacious forward who projects to be a center at the NHL level, but could also flourish as a top-six winger. He recorded 72 points in the OHL with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, which also happens to be the junior team where Dubas won a Memorial Cup as an executive and put him on the NHL radar.

Not only is he a force on offense, he carries that rambunctiousness on both of ends of the ice. He’s an aggressive forechecker and loves to apply physical pressure when pursuing the puck. He’s comparable to a Travis Konecny or Brad Marchand in terms of his antagonistic tendencies coupled with offensive creativity. He’d be a huge addition to the Penguins’ organization.

12th Pick

With the next pick, the Pens have to prioritize talent and upside. They just brought in their new top forward prospect in Brady Martin, and now they can select a blue-chip prospect for their blue line. That’s why they will add Jackson Smith to their organization.

Smith is a 6’3” left-shot defender who, by my evaluation, is a top-5 player in the 2025 draft class. He’s a slick-skating and mobile defenseman who knows where to fill in on the rush. He’s coming off a 54-point season in WHL, which was nearly doubled the 29 points he recorded the season before.

Smith is just as strong in his own end. With more muscle and mass to add to this large frame, there is a ton of untapped potential to his game. In a few years, he could be the player everyone wonders about, saying “how did he drop so far?” That’s the Penguins’ hopes, at least, as they bring in two new top prospects in the first round.