What happened to the top young players in the Penguins’ organization five years ago? Checking out where they are at today
Five years makes for a natural fitting point to check in on things, and five years ago is already 2020 — if you can believe that.
To get your mind right, back in those days there wasn’t much to Pittsburgh’s prospect pool as the team chased banners. Jim Rutherford traded all the first round picks from 2015-2020, aside from 2019’s selection of Sam Poulin. (Which, in hindsight, he might as well have traded for a boost..). The Pens were lean, The Athletic ranked them 30th out of a then 31 NHL teams, though that lens put a cap on players at 22-years old or younger and naturally the Pensburgh Top 25 Under 25 continues up a few years further.
Now that five years have ticked away, let’s see what happened to the players.
Zohorna was a complete unknown at the time, having just been signed in 2020 as a 24-year old player that spent his whole career at that point in the Czech league. Zohorna’s size and skill were not too bad but his pace and consistency were not there to merit a lengthy NHL career. He played 68 career games over two stints with the Pens, with trips to Calgary and Toronto mixed in. He was a great player at the AHL level but it ended at that point. In 2024-25, Zohorna played in the Swiss league. He’s signed for next season with a Swedish team.
Caulfield, a former fifth round pick of the Penguins in 2019, never played a pro game with the Pittsburgh organization. His rights were traded in 2023 to Anaheim for a fellow minor league player, Thimo Nickl. Caulfield, now 24, has played the last two seasons for AHL San Diego, scoring 25 points in 67 games in 2024-25. He is an impending restricted free agent this summer.
Reilly, a seventh round pick in 2017, spent two years in the Pens’ organization split between AHL Wilkes and ECHL Wheeling from 2020-22. He left as a free agent and bounced around a little, winning the ECHL’s championship Kelly Cup in 2024 with the Florida Everglades. Reilly moved overseas and played in the Czech league in 2024-25.
Drozg, a former 2017 fifth round pick, spent time in the Pens’ organization from 2018-22, playing mostly in AHL Wilkes with one stint in the ECHL. He eventually requested a trade and was sent to AHL Grand Rapids, where he didn’t get much going either. After that, Drozg signed in the KHL and has played in that league for the last three seasons. Drozg continues to find a place on Slovenia’s national teams, including at the ongoing 2025 World Championships.
An undrafted player, Miletic played three seasons for AHL Wilkes from 2018-21. He didn’t make many waves, moved onto a new AHL team in 2021-22 and then played a season in Sweden’s second-tier league in 2022-23 and has not played major professional hockey since.
Svejkovsky, a fourth round pick in 2020, continues the trend of many above. A few unglamorous years in Pittsburgh’s minors led to a trade request that was granted to send him to Tampa’s organization last summer. His stint in AHL Syracuse lasted four games before he threw in the towel and went over to sign with a Finnish team for 2024-25.
Gruden, acquired in the Matt Murray trade, appeared in 16 games for the NHL Penguins – including 13 in the 2023-24 season. But he couldn’t quite grind his way into more than an injury call-up and was eventually buried deep on the AHL depth chart in 2024-25. Gruden was a part of the trade that sent Cody Glass to NJ in March and is set to be a free agent this summer.
Almari, a fifth round pick in 2018, didn’t get much traction in the North American portion of his career. He stayed in Europe for the COVID-impacted season of 2020-21 and only played 19 total games between AHL/ECHL time in 2021-22 before opting to go back to his native Finland and has played in their top league over the last four seasons.
Phillips, a third round pick in 2017, played a grand total of one game in the Pittsburgh organization at the end of the 2021-22 season in Wilkes. He finished up at Penn State that year and moved on to play in the ECHL in 2022-23 for two teams before his pro days ended.
Bellerive, an undrafted free agent, unfortunately never fully recovered from injuries suffered in a bonfire accident in 2018. He bounced around a few years in the AHL including three full seasons with the AHL Penguins but never advanced past that level. Bellerive played in Sweden in the 2024-25 season.
The now-29 year old has played for three different AHL organizations since leaving the Pens at the end of the 2021-22 season. Angello played 31 total NHL games, all with Pittsburgh.
#14: Kasper Bjorkqvist
Unfortunately between injuries and the COVID-season, Bjorkqvist barely played from 2019-21. He decided to sign in Finland instead of staying in the NHL organization in 2022, the Pens retained his rights but he only recorded three points (1G+2a) in 35 games in Finland this season.
The Pens traded Clang and a second round pick to acquire Rickard Rakell in 2022 and that’s proven to be a great trade for Pittsburgh. Clang hasn’t advanced past the AHL level, but is still relatively young (he’s about to celebrate his 23rd birthday in a few days). But in his two full seasons with AHL San Diego the Swedish goalie has yet to have a winning season, record a GAA lower than 3 or have a save percentage above .900% and the bloom on his prospect rose.
If the Pens had to chose between Clang and Blomqvist, it appears Blomqvist was the proper choice. He’s made his way up to the NHL, though his appearances were up and down in 2024-25. He’s only got average size and athleticism and may have a low ceiling but could be a player with an NHL future.
Puustinen’s seemingly had a hot/cold relationship professionally with the Pens, or at least how they’ve viewed him. He’s been mostly productive at the AHL level but issues with his size, pace, consistency and all-around play have dimmed his future at the top level. Puustinen only got 13 games in the NHL in 2024-25 (including several throwaway games at the end of the season) compared to 52 in 2023-24. His Pittsburgh career doesn’t look pointed in an encouraging direction but he remains under contract for next season.
Well, this projection was a dud. Maniscalco had the tools and was coming off a great NCAA career but spent most of his time in the ECHL from 2021-23 while he was in the Pens’ organization. He didn’t play anywhere in 2024-25.
Lee did fairly well in his two seasons in Wilkes from 2020-22 but it was clear he wasn’t going up the ranks. He decided to go play in Russia and has been in the KHL for the last three seasons.
The rare success story! O’Connor worked his way up the ranks, eventually scoring 16 NHL goals last season. He had an up-and-down 2024-25 that saw him traded to Vancouver with another player on this list we’ll talk about a little later. O’Connor cashed in with a $5 million contract over two years ($2.5m cap hit) with the Canucks.
Legare, 24, had his best AHL season on his third team — although “best” is relative considering it was for 17 goals and 25 points in 69 games. For some unknown reason, the Devils called Legare up to the NHL mid-season and played him three games (0 points). He hasn’t been able to score much at the AHL level but appears to have modified his game to be a checking/physical forward in order to achieve upward mobility.
The main return from the Phil Kessel trade, Joseph played quite a long time in Wilkes from 2019-22. He put together a pretty decent NHL rookie campaign in 2022-23 (21 points in 75 games) but wasn’t able to build on that and hung around the fringes of the lineup until last summer when the Pens didn’t qualify him. Joseph signed with St. Louis, but didn’t play well there and they traded him back to Pittsburgh, where he helped fill a lineup spot for 24 games last season. Joseph’s looking back at free agency this summer, either restricted or unrestricted depending on Pittsburgh’s next decision with him.
Poulin’s career never got on track, due to injury he only played 18 total games in an all-important second pro season in 2022-23. Injuries and off ice (mental health) items cost him much of 2023-24 as well. Last season in 2024-25, Poulin had his best AHL season (43 points in 57 games) but has only made 13 NHL appearances and is still looking for his first career goal. He’s signed for next season.
McCann had another successful season in Seattle, putting up 22 goals and 61 points this year to lead the team in assists and points. Somewhat amazingly, McCann is the Kraken’s all-time leader in goals and points, and the latter is by a mile. Only one player (Vince Dunn, 59 points back) is even within 65 points of McCann.
Pettersson might be the cream of the crop for this list, signing a $33 million contract with Vancouver while coming off making $21 million over the last six seasons. He’s got a full no movement clause for the next three seasons so he should be settling into Vancouver for the next little while following the second in-season trade of his career.
Kapanen’s up and down, winding career took him to waivers to leave Pittsburgh and get picked up by St. Louis. They too would eventually waive him and he landed in Edmonton, where he’s been everything from a frequent healthy scratch to sharing the ice at the same time as Leon Draisaitl and/or Connor McDavid. What a world!
#1 John Marino
Marino got traded to New Jersey and after a few seasons the Devils shipped him out to Utah. A back injury kept Marino out for much of the 2024-25 season but he should be a decent-sized part of the Mammoth next year.
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Pretty wild that from this list only three players (Blomqvist, Puustinen, Poulin) remain with the organization for one reason or another, and none of them are full-time NHL players in their own rights.