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Penguins identical twin draft picks have chance to join very small club
Markus Ruck. USA TODAY Sports via Reuters Connect

Penguins identical twin draft picks have chance to join very small club

By Adam Gretz  |  Last updated Jun 27, 2026 1:14 PM ET
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Identical twin brothers Liam and Markus Ruck were two of the most fascinating prospects in the 2026 NHL Draft. Not only because both were regarded as borderline first-line talents, but also because of the fact they are identical twins who have only ever spent four days apart from one another. 

Their hockey journey to the NHL Draft has seen them consistently play on the same team and the same line.

There is a chance that journey could continue all the way to the NHL after both were selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins this weekend. 

Liam and Markus Ruck could join small group of identical twins to be NHL teammates

The Penguins selected Liam with the No. 22 overall pick in the first round on Friday night, and then followed that up by selecting Markus with the No. 39 overall pick early in the second round on Saturday.

There was a belief that teams wouldn't have seen much value in separating them, so when the Penguins selected Liam on Friday, and only had 17 picks before their next pick, there was a strong assumption nobody would take Markus.

Nobody did. 

The twins are expected to play the 2026-27 season with Medicine Hat Tigers of the Western Hockey League before playing college hockey at North Dakota the year after. That timeline probably has them at least two years away from making the NHL (which is to be expected for players selected in that range).

If they do make it to the NHL, they would become the fourth set of identical twins to play for the same team in NHL history.

  • Rich and Ron Sutter played as teammates with the Philadelphia Flyers starting with the 1983-84 season. Rich was originally drafted by the Penguins in 1982 with the No. 4 overall pick, while Ron was the No. 10 overall pick by Philadelphia. The Penguins eventually traded Rich to the Flyers to reunite the twins. Rich scored 149 goals in 874 games, while Ron scored 205 goals in 1,093 games. 
  • During the 1995-96 season Chris and Peter Ferraro played together as members of the New York Rangers. The Ferraro brothers were not as successful in the NHL as the Sutter brothers, as Chris appeared in just 74 NHL games while Peter played in 92. 
  • In 1999, the Vancouver Canucks pulled off a series of trades to hold the No. 2 and 3 overall picks in the NHL Draft, where they selected twin brothers Henrik and Daniel Sedin. They ended up playing 17 years together and had matching Hall of Fame careers, leading the Canucks to a Stanley Cup Final.

The jury is obviously still out on the Ruck brothers, but based on their production in the WHL they have big-time offensive potential. Liam is the goal-scorer of the two and possesses one of the best shots in this draft class, while Markus is more of a playmaker. 

They were the top scorers in the WHL during the 2025-26 season, with Markus recording 108 total points (21 goals, 87 assists) and Liam recording 104 points (45 goals, 59 assists). 

The Penguins are going through a rebuild and have rapidly improved their farm system over the past couple of years. The addition of the Ruck brothers not only add a potentially great story, it also adds two potentially strong offensive contributors in the future. 

Adam Gretz

Adam Gretz is a freelance writer based in Pittsburgh. He covers the NHL, NFL, MLB and NBA. Baseball is his favorite sport -- he is nearly halfway through his goal of seeing a game in every MLB ballpark. Catch him on X @AGretz

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