Penguins Select Defenseman Scott Harrington from the London Knights in the Second Round

The Steelers load up on linebackers. The Pirates have so many pitching prospects in the lower minors that they find it hard to get each one of them innings. The Pirates then draft more pitchers. The Pens already have a lot of defensemen and are short on scoring wingers. So, they draft two more defensemen.

Then you draft BPA. These kids are a few years away. In a few years, we won’t know what the big league club will look like. Martin/Orpik will both be getting older. you would expect Despres to have established himself as an NHL top-4 defenseman. My guess is one of the AHL guys will make it as a 5/6.

That gives you in three years:

Letang/Michalek
Despres/?
AHL/?

If you assume Orpik or Martin is still playing at a high enough level then you can slot them in besides Despres. Morrow starts his NHL career on the third pairing while being a PP QB. Kind of like how Goose was brought along. Whichever of Martin/Orpik is deemed replaceable you trade. You have Harrington developing in the AHL. He’d be the first call-up in cas of injury. Next year, he debuts on the third pairing/PK.

Or something else happens, a top four gets injured and loses all their value or Despres game fails to translate to the NHL, and you have top flight depth.

Here is an article on Harrington from the Kingston Whig-Standard outlining some of the scouting of the Pens scouting staff and providing a little more background on Harrington. I’ve pasted it below, too, in case the link doesn’t quite work or doesn’t link after a while. Sorry for the long post as a result

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=3188797

Oh what a feeling
By MIKE KOREEN, THE WHIG-STANDARD
Posted 1 hour ago
In the nerve-racking days leading up to the National Hockey League Entry Draft, Scott Harrington passed the time by doing background checks on some of his favourite players.

One of those players was Chicago Blackhawks star defenceman Duncan Keith.

“I started Googling some players and I did see he went 54th (in the 2002 draft),” the 6-foot-1, 200-pound Harrington said of the similar-sized 2010 Norris Trophy winner, Stanley Cup champion and Olympic champ (six feet, 190 pounds). “I thought at the start of the two-day (draft), it would be cool to go some-where around where he went.”

Well, the Kingston-born, London Knights rearguard got his wish and then some. Like Keith nine years ago, Harrington was the 54th name called in the NHL pick parade on Saturday in St. Paul, Minn., going to the 2009 Stanley Cup champion Pittsburgh Penguins in the second round.

The Blackhawks, coincidentally, had spent some significant time talking to Harrington, 18, prior to the draft. But so had Pittsburgh, which did some hard research before taking Harrington well above his final ranking by North American Central Scouting (98th among North American skaters).

A few weeks ago, Penguins assistant director of amateur scouting Randy Sexton came to Kingston to meet Harrington for a bite at East Side Mario’s. Then, less than a week before the draft, Penguins scout David McNamara, a longtime fixture at Ontario Hockey League rinks, placed a call to Denis Duchesne, who coached Harrington in his final three years of minor hockey.

“It’s funny,” said Duchesne, now the general manager of the Kingston Kimco Voyageurs.

“I talked to Scott’s dad (Pat) halfway through the week and he thought St. Louis and Chicago were interested. I just said if I was in Vegas, I’d go with Pittsburgh.

“They were really interested in him. They wanted to know what he’s like off the ice, does he drink, does he party. They were really interested in details. … I just said he’s the easiest kid to deal with.”

While Harrington’s Central Scouting ranking had slipped to 98th from 67th at mid-term, he said he didn’t worry about that number too much. Still, he acknowledged he was plenty anxious sitting in the Xcel Energy Center on Saturday morning with his dad, his mom, Cindy, his younger sister, Holly, his dad’s best friend, Dean Sauriol and Dean’s son, Kyle.

Everything changed when Penguins general manager Ray Shero stepped to the microphone.

“When they said OHL and London Knights, we all felt like it was going in slow motion,” Harrington said. "I was kind of shocked at the beginning. I didn’t really know what round I’d go in or what team would pick me.

“It was pretty tense,” Harrington added. “To go in the second round was a bit of a relief.”

Next, Harrington went down to the arena floor to meet Shero, Penguins coach Dan Bylsma and the rest of the Pittsburgh braintr ust. Soon after, he put on a Penguins jersey and cap.

“Seeing him in a Penguins jersey was the best feeling,” Pat Harrington said. "We were hoping for the best and as a family, we don’t feel he could have gone to a better organization.

“As a family, you think of all the years we’ve (been watching) him play. As a young boy, you talk about it, but you don’t really think it’s possible. As he went on to be more recognized, you start thinking if his name is going to be called. We’re just really excited about it.”

The list of those to thank was long. Scott and his dad mentioned Duchesne, his London billets, Sylvie and Dave Favell, Knights coach Dale Hunter and GM Mark Hunter among others.

Duchesne exchanged text messages with the stay-at-home defenceman after the selection.

“He said ‘I really appreciate everything you’ve done for me and that I couldn’t have done it without you,’” said Duchesne, who watched with pride in 2009 when Harrington was called up to the Vees after his minor midget team was eliminated and played a major role in helping the junior A team advance to the national semifinals.

“I just told him ‘I didn’t have to do anything. You did it all yourself.’”

“It’s good for Scott and it’s good for the city. He’s going to make Kingston proud.”

Harrington is the highest born-and-raised Kingston and area player selected since Bryan Allen went fourth overall to the Vancouver Canucks in 1998.

Harrington has put up modest numbers in two OHL seasons (36 combined points), but he’s not known for his offence. He played major minutes for a Knights team that got very young as the season progressed this year.

“We just like the way he plays,” Sexton told the Pittsburgh Tribune- Review. “He played for Canada on both under-18 teams last year and handled himself well. He has more defensive focus than offence, but he’s not incompetent offensively.”

Harrington will go to a rookie camp in Pittsburgh on July 11 before heading to the Canadian national junior summer camp in Alberta next month.

“They have so many superstars and it’s been such a successful team,” Harrington said of the Penguins, who employ two guys named Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. “It’s very exciting to think I might have an opportunity to play for them in the future.”

Duchesne wouldn’t bet against Harrington doing just that.

“I told Pat I don’t need an autographed Sidney Crosby jersey,” Duchesne said. “I said ‘Just make sure you get me a signed Scott Harrington Penguins jersey.’”

mkoreen@thewhig.com twitter.com/mkor1980