Trading the 14th Overall Pick Remains the Penguins Best Option

The Pittsburgh Penguins should still look to trade their first-round pick in 2023.

The 2023 NHL Draft Lottery results are here, and the Pittsburgh Penguins will remain at pick 14 in the opening round on June 28th. While they were not in the running for the first overall pick and projected superstar Connor Bedard, they did have a 1.5% chance to move up to the fourth overall pick on Monday night. 

The Penguins, however, stayed put in the draft order and will now refocus on finding their next general manager. One of the first questions for that eventual hire will be whether or not they should trade the Penguins' highest draft pick since 2012.

It's not a horrible dilemma, as the Penguins' aging superstars have continued their terrific performance into their late 30s and appear capable of leading a team on a playoff run. The one issue that the team ran into this season was the depth. Trading away the 14th overall pick would go a long way to improve the Penguins' supporting cast.

There is a case for keeping the pick. The Penguins have one of the worst prospect pools in the NHL and desperately need to rebuild their farm system. Years of sacrificing the future for Stanley Cup rings will do that to a franchise. But how successful have prospects drafted 14th overall been in recent drafts?

Let's ignore the most recent drafts, as it's hard to tell if a prospect has worked out after only a season or two. Players drafted between 2014 and 2019 at the 14th selection consist of Cam York, Joel Farabee, Cal Foote, Charlie McAvoy, and Jake DeBrusk. 

While DeBrusk and McAvoy have become impactful pieces for the Boston Bruins, the time it would take the Penguins' 2023 selection to make a similar impact does not outweigh the impact that a potential trade return could make during the remaining years of the Sidney Crosby era.

There will come a day when the NHL Draft will be the most important part of the Penguins' offseason, but this is not one of those years.

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