Penguins go after defense in NHL Draft
CHICAGO — Twelve hours after addressing the toughness void on their NHL roster, the Penguins went about replenishing their prospect pipeline at the draft.
Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford and his scouting team started by choosing a pair of defensemen, a position he said was a priority.
The Penguins used their second-round choice, acquired from St. Louis in a swap of picks in the Ryan Reaves trade the night before, to select defenseman Zachary Lauzon from Rouyn-Noranda of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League 51st overall.
Next up in the third round, 93rd overall, was blue liner Clayton Phillips from Fargo of the United States Hockey League.
“We have a very specific style of play that we like to play,” Penguins director of amateur scouting Randy Sexton said. “We like defensemen that are mobile, have great vision and can move the puck.”
Said Rutherford: “The way the game is played today, it's important to have (mobility).”
Lauzon, 18, is 6-foot, 187 pounds and captained Rouyn-Noranda this past season. He had three goals and 18 assists to go with 90 penalty minutes in 63 regular-season games. His work earned him the Kevin Lowe Award as the QMJHL's best defensive defenseman, an award Penguins defenseman Kris Letang won in 2007.
“You never know what to expect,” said Lauzon, who had interviewed twice with Penguins management before the draft. “I wasn't expecting to be drafted this early, so I'm very happy and just can't believe it.”
When asked to provide a self-assessment of his game, Lauzon said, “I think I'm a good two-way defenseman, but what stands out in my game is my defensive play. I'm very physical. I compete very hard. I'm excellent in my one-on-one battles, so that's what I'm going to try to bring to the Penguins.”
The 5-foot-10, 180-pound Phillips will turn 18 on Sept. 9. He will return to Fargo this coming season and eventually play at the University of Minnesota. He had seven goals and 13 assists in 56 regular-season games for Fargo this past season.
Phillips already has ties to the Penguins. Minnesota associate coach Mike Guentzel, the father of Penguins winger Jake Guentzel, helped recruit Phillips to play for the Golden Gophers. Minnesota hired Penguins amateur scout Scott Bell as an assistant coach June 12.
The Penguins added two more defensemen in the last two rounds. In the sixth, they took Finnish puck mover Antti Palojarvi. In the seventh, with the final pick in the draft, they chose 6-3 Will Reilly, who had 15 points as a freshman at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute last season.
They took two European forwards in the fifth round, adding Slovenian winger Jan Drozg 152nd overall and Swedish center Linus Olund 155th.
Patrick Williams is a freelance writer.
