MONTREAL -- The Penguins entered Day 2 of the draft with just four picks, one in each of the last four rounds.
They liked one player on their draft board so much that they acquired an extra pick to ensure they got him.
The Penguins sent the signing rights to forward prospect Liam Gorman to the Blackhawks in exchange for an additional sixth-round pick -- pick No. 167.
Gorman, 22, was the Penguins' sixth-round pick in 2018. Last year was his second season at Princeton, though his third year in school after Princeton didn't play in 2020-21 due to COVID. He's still a ways away from even turning pro, and to say that he's a long shot to make the NHL in the near future is an understatement.
The Penguins took the pick they acquired from Chicago and used it to address the weakest position in their prospect pool: Right-handed defensemen. They selected 6-foot-3, 194-pound blueliner Nolan Collins of the Sudbury Wolves in the OHL.
Last season was Collins' rookie OHL season. He played 65 games for the Wolves, recording four goals, 14 assists, a minus-1 rating and 56 penalty minutes.
Wolves head coach Craig Duncanson told the Sudbury Star before the draft that he thinks Collins can grow into just the kind of blueliner that playoff teams need.
“I have been watching the Stanley Cup playoffs and big defensemen who play well defensively and block shots and clear the front of their net seem to be a formula that works really well,” Duncanson said. “I just think he can grow into one of those menacing defensive defensemen who move the puck and can be a jack of all trades, but he really pays attention to his own end and I thought he did a remarkable job this year. If nobody takes him in the draft, it will just cost them more to get him down the road when they have to sign him as a free agent. I’m fairly confident in that.”
Collins said in a video on the Wolves' social media pages earlier this season that he thinks his skating is one of his strengths, as well as his defensive zone play and first pass. He's looking to continue to add an offensive dimension to his game, but doesn't shy away from moving up and joining the rush now.
"I make sure the puck stays out of our net first and foremost," Collins said. "And once I can complete that, get the puck moving up the ice to the forwards quick and try to jump in and be that fourth guy coming high."
Collins said he tries to model his game after that of Montreal's Joel Edmundson because he's a "good, defensive, shutdown guy."
Penguins director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor said on Friday that he also thinks Collins moves well for someone his size, and "brings some grit and some physicality to the back end."
"He's a player that we're excited about," Pryor said.
SCOUTS SAY
Wolves coach Craig Duncanson: “He’s 6-3, 190 pounds, but what I really like about Nolan and how I think his game really translates to the next level is he’s a really good skater, a deceptive skater and he’s got good speed, and he’s also very intelligent. You watch the way he lifts the guy’s stick just before he gets the puck. He’s hard to forecheck against, because he’s got a lot of natural deception in his game and he’s able to skate and to get out of trouble. He doesn’t get beaten too often one on one and he’s physical, he’s got that other element in his game and he’s tough to play against, not the kind of guy who will back down from anybody.”
Wolves general manager Rob Papineau: "He is a big, skilled, mobile right shot defenseman. He skates very well and plays a physical game."
