The Pittsburgh Penguins select 21st Overall in next month's draft. How have they faired in the first round since taking Sidney Crosby in 2005?
The 2022 NHL Draft is just over three weeks away, and the Pittsburgh Penguins will have a first-round pick for the first time since 2019. Whoever they select with the 21st pick will become the tenth first-rounder taken by the Penguins since Sidney Crosby in 2005.
With that in mind, let's look at the other Penguins' first-round picks since 2005.
Jordan Staal (2006 - 2nd Overall)
Staal was the last piece to the Penguins' young core that would ring at the beginning of the Crosby era.
Staal immediately impacted the Penguins, scoring 29 goals and 42 points in his rookie season. Two years later, Staal centered Matt Cooke and Tyler Kennedy on a line that became integral to the Penguins' victory over the Detroit Red Wings in the 2009 Stanley Cup Finals.
The Penguins traded Staal away to the Carolina Hurricanes in 2012 in exchange for Brian Dumoulin, Brandon Sutter, and a first-round pick mentioned later in this article. In 16 seasons, Staal has totaled 258 goals and 611 points in 1,092 career games and has been the captain of the Hurricanes since 2019.
Angelo Esposito (2007 - 20th Overall)
Moving from the best name on this list to the worst, Angelo Esposito never broke through to the NHL. He didn't even last an entire season as a Penguins prospect.
During the 2007-08 season, Esposito the Penguins traded Esposito to the Atlanta Thrashers along with Colby Armstrong, Erik Christensen, and a first-round pick in exchange for Pascal Dupuis and Marian Hossa.
The 6'0" center bounced from team to team in the NHL minor leagues before finishing his career in Europe. Esposito last played in 2015-16 for Cortina SG of the Italian Professional League, where he scored 38 goals in 31 games.
Simon Despres (2009 - 30th Overall)
Despres was the first defenseman selected in the first round by the Penguins since they selected Ryan Whitney fifth overall in 2002. While Whitney didn't have a spectacular career, Despres couldn't catch his footing on the Penguins' blue line.
After splitting time between the Penguins and their AHL affiliate in Wilkes-Barre for three seasons, Despres was sent to the Anaheim Ducks in exchange for Ben Lovejoy. Despres finished his career playing only 193 games over six seasons. He still plays professionally in Europe for the Berlin Polar Bears of the DEL.
Beau Bennett (2010 - 20th Overall)
After being selected by the Penguins, Bennett played for two seasons at the University of Denver before making the jump to professional hockey. The young right-wing had a promising rookie season in which he scored only three goals but finished with 14 points in 26 games after being called up from the AHL midway through the season.
From there on out, injuries became the primary storyline of Bennett's career. Bennett never played over 50 games in a season with the Penguins and was traded to the Devils in 2016 in exchange for a third-round selection.
Bennett played five more seasons, including his final season with the Tucson Roadrunners in 2019-20, where he scored 40 goals in 55 games. Bennett retired at the age of 29.
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Joe Morrow (2011 - 23rd Overall)
After playing a year in the WHL, Morrow joined the Penguins organization as a highly touted blue liner. Unfortunately, he was traded before he could show it in Pittsburgh. The Penguins sent Morrow to the Dallas Stars at the NHL Trade Deadline for Brendan Morrow.
The Edmonton native bounced around the NHL for a few seasons before heading to Europe to play in the KHL. Morrow finished last season with the KHL's Nur-Sultan Barys, scoring 13 points in 29 games.
Derrick Pouliot (2012 - 8th Overall)
The Penguins used their pick from the Carolina Hurricanes in the Jordan Staal trade on Pouliot. He terrorized the WHL with the Portland Winterhawks, and the Penguins hoped he would transition that into a successful career in the NHL.
Pouliot struggled to continue his offensive production in the pros and couldn't impact the defensive side of the puck as well. He played in only 67 games over three seasons for the Penguins before being traded to the Vancouver Canucks for Andrey Pedan and a third-round pick.
Pouliot played nine games for the Seattle Kraken last season as an injury replacement and will be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Olli Maatta (2012 - 22nd Overall)
After spending the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season with the London Knights of the OHL, Maatta made his NHL debut in the 2013-14 season. Maatta was given an opportunity early that season to stick with the NHL squad and never turned back.
Maatta played six seasons with the Penguins and was a factor in their back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2017 and 2017. After being swept by the New York Islanders in 2019, the Penguins traded Maatta to the Chicago Blackhawks for Dominik Kahun and a fifth-round pick.
Maatta finished his Penguins career with 107 points in 362 games and has gone on to score 29 points in 172 games between the Blackhawks and Los Angeles Kings.
Kasperi Kapanen (2014 - 22nd Overall)
The only player on this list to have two different stints with the Penguins, Kapanen was a highly touted second generation NHLer out of Finland. Kapanen was traded to the Toronto Maple Leafs as part of the Phil Kessel deal during the 2015 offseason.
Rutherford re-acquired Kapanen before the 2020-21 season. After a solid first year back with the Penguins, Kapanen struggled to follow up and had his worst NHL season in 2021-22.
Kapanen scored 11 goals and 32 points in 79 games and missed an opportunity to lead the team with Crosby and Malkin on the shelf with injuries to start the season. Only time will tell if Kapanen is back with the Penguins next year as the 25-year-old winger is a restricted free agent this summer.
Samuel Poulin (2019 - 21st Overall)
The most recent top-round draft pick for the Penguins is still working on making his NHL debut. Poulin has been invited to Penguins training camp for three straight seasons but has yet to crack the lineup during the regular season.
Poulin finished his first professional season, playing 72 games with the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins of the AHL. After a slow start, Poulin picked up his game late in the season to finish with 16 goals and 37 points.
Next season is a big one for Poulin as he could get his first chance at cracking the Penguins' opening night roster.
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