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.<\/p>\n
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).<\/p>\n
That was unexpected. As was the fact they drafted 13 players over the weekend. During this week\u2019s \u201cMadden Monday<\/a>\u201d <\/a>podcast<\/a>, Mark Madden of 105.9 The X echoed that stance.<\/p>\n \u201cI was surprised they actually wound up picking 13 guys,\u201d Madden said. \u201cAt some point, it clutters the system. It won\u2019t this year because those guys will all be playing juniors and in college. Nonetheless, that\u2019s a lot of guys drafted one year. But overall, yeah, I like the draft.\u201d<\/p>\n In particular, Madden gives a thumbs-up to the selection of Zonnon. <\/p>\n \u201cI really like the Zonnon kid,\u201d Madden said. \u201cHe\u2019s 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n 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 \u2014 to say nothing of the fans \u2014 was expecting to use some of those draft picks as capital to help at the NHL level this year, it didn\u2019t happen.<\/p>\n \u201cNow reality shows up for Sid, and he\u2019ll have to see just how bad this team is \u2014 even though it doesn\u2019t look like he\u2019s ever going to leave, despite those rumors<\/a>\u00a0starting again<\/a>,\u201d Madden said. \u201cMaybe this coming season will give him pause because the team is going to be really bad. \u2026 I think he\u2019s going to finish his career here, but I think how this team is this year will test him if anything ever will.\u201d<\/p>\n Also, during the <\/a>podcast<\/a>, Madden and I discuss the T.J. Watt contract situation, the Pirates\u2019 sweep of the Mets, and the death of Dave Parker.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n More sports<\/p>\n \u2022 Mark Madden’s Hot Take: Enough with the bogus Sidney Crosby trade rumors<\/a> Tim Benz is a Tribune-Review staff writer. You can contact Tim at tbenz@triblive.com<\/a> or via X<\/a>. All tweets could be reposted. All emails are subject to publication unless specified otherwise.<\/p>\n
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