The Penguins have reassigned top defense prospect Harrison Brunicke to AHL Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to finish the season, per a release from the minor-league club. His major junior season with the Kamloops Blazers of the Western Hockey League is over after they failed to qualify for the playoffs.
Brunicke, 18, slipped to the second round of last year’s draft, where the Pens selected him 44th overall. However, more than a few public scouts tabbed him as a late first-rounder. Scott Wheeler of The Athletic tabbed him as the No. 2 overall prospect and top defenseman in Pittsburgh’s system – notably ahead of 2022 first-round selection Owen Pickering. Last month, Wheeler also listed Brunicke as the No. 63 prospect in the NHL.
The right-shot defender checks in with an already pro-ready frame at 6’3″ and 203 lbs. A Canadian citizen born in South Africa, he’s been lauded as one of the better skaters in the 2024 class and plays a sound two-way game. His boxcar stats haven’t jumped off the page much on a subpar Kamloops squad, though, and injuries have taken significant bites out of his last two seasons. Nonetheless, he managed a career-best 5-25–30 scoring line in 41 games with the Blazers this year, leading their rearguards in scoring while posting a -15 rating.
Despite his somewhat rocky development, Brunicke still projects as a future second-pairing fixture in Pittsburgh, Wheeler opines. He’ll turn 19 in May, so while he may get a long look to make the Pens’ roster in training camp, it’s far more likely he’ll return to the WHL at some point. That could come after a nine-game trial to avoid burning the first year of his ELC, which head coach Mike Sullivan said they were even considering last fall. He won’t be eligible for a full-time AHL assignment until 2026-27. Pittsburgh signed him to his entry-level contract, which will slide to next season and potentially 2026-27, last July.