Penguins’ Draft Guru Wes Clark Breaks Down Top Picks, Strategy

There were 13 draft picks over seven rounds. The already league-leading total grew, and grew some more as Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas traded down a couple of times and traded away Conor Timmins to the Buffalo Sabres for a second-round draft pick.

A pair of marathon draft sessions later, the Penguins had their biggest draft haul since 1994 when the team selected 14 prospects over 11 rounds. However, the Penguins tallied 13 over just seven rounds, including a trio in the third and fifth rounds.

Future years will reveal that there were some steals and some busts, though the Penguins’ staff supporting Dubas clearly did not agree with public draft guides and scouting services on most of their early picks. The Penguins eschewed public rankings by selecting Ben Kindel 10 slots ahead of his consensus ranking at No. 11, and the same goes for Will Horcoff, whom they selected 24th overall while the scouting services generally placed him in the mid-second round.

The man behind the curtain of the Penguins draft is vice president of player personnel Wes Clark.

By his account, Clark has been with Dubas for nearly 20 years. The pair goes back to Dubas’s days with the Soo Greyhounds, and Clark has recently been instrumental in some of the Toronto Maple Leafs’ draft success. Leading their draft tables when they selected players such as Matthew Knies and Fraser Minten in the second round, and Easton Cowan in the first.

His record is such that draftniks who disagree give pause when Clark makes the pick. Such was the case with Kindel, whom Dubas said Clark championed for most of the past season. While many fans were still ruffled after the Penguins passed up a half dozen players who were ticketed for selection in the area of 11th overall, some reversed course when Dubas explained Clark’s interest.

Per annual custom, the Penguins’ player personnel leader spoke to the media at the Penguins’ downtown draft headquarters outside Market Square, where they conducted the two-day blitz to replenish the prospect pool. Since he joined the organization last summer, this was the first time Clark spoke to Pittsburgh media.

For readability, PHN has rearranged the order of the questions that the media scrum posed to Clark to describe the picks in order of selection. Clark does speak in concise fragments.

Q: When you drafted Ben Kindel 11th overall, that surprised some. Kyle said you were on him for much of last season. What did you see in him and his progression that made you want to take him at 11th?

An Extreme characteristic of his is intelligence. His hockey sense relative to this class is elite. (He had) 99 points. Understands the game at a super high level. Just a big belief in Ben in terms of the upside. He influences the game on both sides of the puck. Yeah, we think the upside is sky-high, and we’ll do our best to help him improve in the areas he needs to improve in and see where it goes.

Q: What about 22nd overall pick Bill Zonnon?

Billy Zonnin is a high-work-rate, highly competitive player. Played center this year. He’s played wing in the past. (He has) tremendous athletic upside. Got to know him a little bit there in Buffalo (at the NHL Scouting Combine). You see the look in his eyes. He’s got that dog mindset. So he’s the type of kid who helps you win hockey games.

Q: And Will Horcoff?

The progression in his game from the start of the year to the end of the year, from going to the program in Michigan, was immense. He’s super athletic at 6-foot-5. Still very early in his development curve, and the mentorship and guidance that obviously he’s gotten from his old man (former NHL player Shawn Horcoff) is a big benefit. I think that will only go leaps and bounds for Billy there as he continues to develop. I love the upside there.

Q: Peyton Kettles, second-round pick. Why did you trade up to get him? 

Extremely young for the draft class. He’s 6-foot-6, right shot, elite defensive stick, super competitive, tough. I mean, he checks a lot of the boxes, trying to improve certain qualities on the back end here with the depth we have in the prospects.

Q: Charlie Trethewey in the third round–Obviously, he’s a product of the Pens Elite program and has some Pittsburgh roots. Just what went behind that selection?

Charlie came into the year with big expectations, projected as a first-round pick. He’s a national program kid going to BU (Boston University). We liked the upside as a two-way guy. He makes a really good first pass, strong defensively, intelligent, and competitive. We liked the path. So I mean, it’s obviously a bonus when he comes up from the Junior Penguins program.

Q: You selected goalie Gabriel D’Aigle. He played on the worst team in the QMJHL. What about him in that situation did you like?

Our goalie guy, “Sir” Jon Elkin, had him really high on the board. So, we trust John with the goalie evaluations. We try to stay out of that, and it just lined up where we were able to get him.

Q: Travis Hayes is Avery Hayes’ brother, and Avery was hoping the Penguins would select Travis. How would you describe fourth-round pick Travis?

Probably not too dissimilar to his brother. Super competitive, hungry, really good shooter, loves to score goals, and strong at the net. So, very similar to Avery. Underdog mindset. Yeah, I like the upside.

Q: You guys drafted some big bodies and some physical players. Was that a common theme, something you were looking for in this year’s draft?

I mean, you’re looking for everything, right? I think it’s sometimes just the way it lines up. You know, you learn through the dos and don’ts over your career. And obviously, Peyton Kettles was a guy that we really liked in that spot. Brady Peddle (in the third round) is another big left-shot D that provides a ton of defensive utility. And Charlie Tretheway, another defenseman, not as big but can influence the game on both sides of the puck, like I said earlier. Love the path, and we’ll see where it goes with him.

Q: This is your first full year with your organization, reunited with Kyle. Just how did you guys, from Day 1 when you joined the organization, decide to tackle this project, in terms of trying to rebuild or restock the prospect pool?

I think everybody knows where the organization is at, right? So, you know, working with Kyle, it’s close to two decades that I’ve worked with him, and our alignment is critical. We believe in a lot of the same things in terms of process, and control the things that we can control. This year was great. I mean, I can’t complain. It’s a great organization, great ownership. Thirteen picks this year. We’ve got a number of picks next year, a number of picks the year after that. You do your best to execute on those picks and continue to try and make this club better and expedite it as quick as we can.

Clark spoke about the depth picks and the new transfer rules, allowing players to turn pro after just one season of college hockey, regardless of their birthdate (prompting many players to leave junior hockey so they can turn pro one year earlier).