Rounding out the Draft

Outside of the over-hype and drawn out process that is the first round of the NHL Draft, Day 2 always moves in a more timely manner.  I can't speak much for this year's draft, but when I was up in Montreal last year the first day took about three hours to get through 30 picks.  On the second day, rounds two through seven took just as long, if not slightly less.  Fact is, every team knows who they want in the first round, with the exception of maybe seeing a guy taken off the board a pick or two before them.  But really, the game plan is hardly ever one sided and back-up picks are always considered in situations like that.  The rest is just for the show of it all, and by that I mean the TV broadcast.

With that said, Day 2 of the draft is over and done with.  After the jump, a quick, abbreviated look at who the Pens picked.

With six picks in the draft, the Pens selected four forwards and two defensemen.  They also traded away their seventh pick for the second consecutive year, this time to San Jose in exchange for a seventh rounder in 2011 (which will likely also be traded, given the evidence as of late).

In the third round, 80th overall, the Pens selected Bryan Rust out of the United States U-18 team.  He's a 6'0 forward who won gold with the U-18 team in the junior championships last go around.  I remember watching him play and thinking he was pretty fluid on his feet.  For that whole brotherly connection that tends to be prevalent in the league, his brother Matt was also selected 101st overall by the Panthers

In the fourth round, 110th overall, the Pens selected another forward, Tom Kuehnhackl.  Central Scouting had him ranked as the No. 8 European skater.  He's a product of the German league and will play for the Windsor Spitfires next season in the OHL.

Fifth round pick, 140th overall, the Pens selected Kenneth Agostino.  Aggy is a local product from my home state of NJ and attended Delbarton, which is a fairly prominent hockey program in the state.  He was voted the high school player of the year for three straight seasons by a former newspaper employer of mine (won't use their name - eat it), and joins Craig Adams in that whole "smart guy playing hockey" group, as he will attend Yale next season.

In the sixth round, the Pens used their first pick to grab a defenseman; Joe Rogalski of the OHL's Sarnia Sting.  This is where I admit I have zero information on him and won't even pretend to know a thing about him.

And with Pittsburgh's final pick in the sixth round, they selected another defenseman, Reid McNeill.  He played with the OHL's London Knights last season.

On thing that really sticks out about the Penguins' draft picks this time around is that McNeil is the only player out of all the picks to hail from Canada.  I'm always enamored by and fully support the surge of hockey in the US.  I've covered some local high school games in NJ and the one thing you'll hear every coach and player talk about is how "in X amount of years, US-born hockey players will (insert something positive here)."  Good to see.