The Pittsburgh Penguins have a glaring organizational weakness on the left side, and with the departure of one of their better prospects at the position, the hole becomes even deeper.
When the Pittsburgh Penguins traded defensive prospect Emil Pieniniemi to the Florida Panthers for forward Oliver Okuliar on Saturday, it seemed, in some ways, as a move rather insignificant in the grand scheme of things.
And, really, it just might be: Pieniniemi put together an okay but far from standout 2025-26 season between the Wheeling Nailers and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton (WBS) Penguins, and that was all after he refused to report to Wheeling after training camp and sat out for a spell in Finland. Okuliar, 26, has some potential and played very well en route to a 2026 title run for his SHL team, Skellefteå, but his age and zero-sum NHL experience do him no favors, even if he just signed with the Penguins for next season.
But, even if the move itself ends up being a washout, it's hard to deny that the decision to trade Pieniniemi only made a weak link in terms of positional organizational depth for the Penguins even weaker.
The Penguins have a relatively strong organizational depth chart at a few positions in their system, as their goaltending depth is stellar, their depth at wing is promising, and their center depth is improving quite a bit. However, in terms of defense, the prospect pool is already stretched pretty thin.
Harrison Brunicke is, by far, the organization's most promising defensive prospect, and he is the standout on the right side. Even if he doesn't have much behind him organizationally, there is still Finn Harding and Chase Pietila - both of whom has strong seasons for WBS - as well as farther-out prospects in Peyton Kettles, Quinn Beauchesne, Joona Vaisanen and Charlie Trethewey.
But on the left side, where Pieniniemi was part of the depth chart? Well, other than Owen Pickering, he was, arguably, the organization's most promising prospect. There is NCAA signee Jake Livanavage, who is under contract through the end of next season and could compete for an NHL roster spot. But, beyond that, the Penguins have Daniel Laatsch - probably an NHL longshot - plus Brady Peddle and Kalle Kangas, both of whom are farther out and are also probably longshots.
In other words, even if the right side of the Penguins' defensive prospect pool isn't exactly swimming with high-end talent beyond Brunicke at this point, there is still something there. The left side, however, is very, very thin on both talent and prospects in general, and it is certainly their most glaring area of need organizationally.
So, what now?
Well, the answer is simple and obvious in that the Penguins and GM/POHO Kyle Dubas need to make the left side a priority both through the draft and through the trade market. Luckily, this year's draft is chock-full of higher-upside left defensive prospects such as Carson Carels, Alberts Smits, Malte Gustafsson, and Xavier Villaneuve, the two latter of whom may be available for the Penguins to select at 22.
As far as the trade market? Well, the Penguins have made it clear that they will explore the trade market if there are higher-end young players available who can make an impact now and in the future. But, in the case of left-side defenders, those players have to be available, too.
So, players like Pavel Mintyukov or Olen Zellweger from the Anaheim Ducks might make sense, but one of them has to be on the market first. Maybe Braden Schneider from the New York Rangers makes some sense, but he is a natural right-side defender who would have to play his off-side. Buffalo Sabres' defenseman Bowen Byram has continuously popped up in trade rumors, and given Buffalo's proximity to the cap, they may be willing to deal him for the right price. But would the Penguins pay up?
It is not going to be easy for the Penguins to find any near-term solutions on the left side that fit the bill of the "now and the future." It's not impossible, but there would either have to be a steal in the draft or a lot of moving parts to make it happen.
But the left side is the Penguins' weakest link in their prospect pool, and they need to readily address it in any way they can this summer now that they're another player short in it.
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