CRANBERRY, Pa. -- It could be that Samuel Poulin, the Penguins' first-round choice during last week's draft, will mature into a high-impact player.
That his size and skill will allow Poulin to become a genuine difference-maker when he reaches the NHL.
If so, it will raise the total of such players in the franchise's prospects pipeline to one.
Sure, the Penguins have made a habit of adding once-in-a-lifetime talents to their depth chart with stunning regularity during the past 35 years -- Mario Lemieux, Jaromir Jagr, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, anyone? -- but there was no reason to think that trend could carry on forever.
And it hasn't.
With good reason.
After all, a franchise-caliber player tends to be the first guy selected in his draft year, or at least one of the first few choices, and the Penguins -- focused on trying to add to their collection of Stanley Cups since their current run of playoff appearances began in 2007 -- rarely have had any first-round picks in recent years, let alone one of the early picks.
Still, even though the franchise's pool of top-shelf prospects has shrunk significantly during the past decade or so, its developmental system is not bankrupt.
The Penguins actually have a number of young players who could secure steady work with the parent club at some point, and the most promising of them might be left winger Filip Hallander, their second-round draft choice in 2018.
Although he won't contend for a job here in the fall -- Hallander will play for Lulea in the Swedish Hockey League in 2019-20 -- Penguins officials believe he's capable of making it onto the NHL roster in the not-too-distant future.
"We see him as an up-and-down winger with a powerful stride," director of player development Scott Young said. "A strong kid, at this point, who's going to turn into a strong man. A stronger man. ... He's going to be a power forward."
Hallander, who is participating in the Penguins' prospects camp, is 6 feet 1, 190 pounds.
And while the Penguins are understandably pleased about his size, they like the way he uses it even more. Hallander tends to go to the net with malice aforethought, and hangs around there until he either scores or the puck leaves the area.
"I'm a two-way forward who likes to go to the net and put in rebounds," he said.
The Penguins thought enough of his potential that they traded up in the 2018 draft to land Hallander's rights, acquiring pick No. 58 from Colorado for Nos. 64 and 146.
He hasn't given them any reason to second-guess that decision.
Hallander had seven goals and 14 assists in 45 games with Timra in Sweden's top league last season. Those totals seem fairly modest, until it is remembered that Hallander, who won't turn 19 until Saturday, was playing against grown men.
Hallander came up through Timra's system, but because that club has been relegated to Sweden's No. 2 league for the coming season, the Penguins have loaned him to Lulea, which will compete in the Swedish Hockey League.
"He's going to be more comfortable this year," Young said. "So we're going to see where he stands after it."
Hallander quite possibly will move to North America after the coming season and, unlike some European players, shouldn't have much trouble adjusting to the smaller ice surfaces on this side of the Atlantic. Not so much because he has played on them as a member of various Swedish national clubs, but because his game already is tailored to it.
"I think it will actually benefit him, because of his size and strength," Young said. "He's going to get to the net even quicker on the smaller sheet, to get into those battle areas that he's strong in."
And maybe, just maybe, he'll have a significant impact when he gets there.
