My anticipation heading into the NHL draft was that the Pittsburgh Penguins would use one of their two first-round draft picks while parlaying the other for a player who could bolster the 2025-26 roster.

Instead, they ended up acquiring a third pick in the first round and using all three Friday night on forwards: Ben Kindel (No. 11, Calgary Hitmen), Bill Zonnon (No. 22, Rouyn-Noranda) and Will Horcoff (University of Michigan).

That was unexpected. As was the fact they drafted 13 players over the weekend. During this week’s “Madden Monday” podcast, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X echoed that stance.

“I was surprised they actually wound up picking 13 guys,” Madden said. “At some point, it clutters the system. It won’t this year because those guys will all be playing juniors and in college. Nonetheless, that’s a lot of guys drafted one year. But overall, yeah, I like the draft.”

In particular, Madden gives a thumbs-up to the selection of Zonnon.

“I really like the Zonnon kid,” Madden said. “He’s a really good third-line type player. Big. Just enough skill. All that stuff. So if you wanted to pin me down for one pick I really liked, it was that guy.”

One thing Madden found interesting is the commitment from Dubas to put that much stock into building for the future. In other words, if Sidney Crosby — to say nothing of the fans — was expecting to use some of those draft picks as capital to help at the NHL level this year, it didn’t happen.

“Now reality shows up for Sid, and he’ll have to see just how bad this team is — even though it doesn’t look like he’s ever going to leave, despite those rumors starting again,” Madden said. “Maybe this coming season will give him pause because the team is going to be really bad. … I think he’s going to finish his career here, but I think how this team is this year will test him if anything ever will.”

Also, during the podcast, Madden and I discuss the T.J. Watt contract situation, the Pirates’ sweep of the Mets, and the death of Dave Parker.

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Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com or via X. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.