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3h ago

Penguins Select Liam Ruck With 22nd Overall Pick

The club added a goal-scoring winger who will continue in juniors and is committed to the University of North Dakota for 2027–28.

PHOTO COURTESY PITTSBURGH PEGNUINS Medicine Hat Tigers forward Liam Ruck was selected 22nd overall by the Pittsburgh Penguins on Friday in the first round of the 2026 NHL Entry Draft.
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Overview

  • Pittsburgh took Medicine Hat winger Liam Ruck with the 22nd overall pick on Saturday, June 27, 2026.
  • Ruck scored 104 points (45 goals, 59 assists) in 68 WHL games in 2025–26 and is praised as a high-IQ finisher and net-front threat by multiple scouts.
  • Scouts flag below-average skating, light frame and physical projection as the main development concerns that Ruck must address to reach the NHL level.
  • Markus Ruck, Liam’s twin and a primary playmaker who finished second in WHL scoring, remained available after Round 1 and Pittsburgh holds the No. 39 pick with the option to sit or trade up to try to reunite the brothers.
  • The selection fits GM Kyle Dubas’s recent approach of drafting productive junior scorers and letting them develop on a set timeline, which keeps pressure low and makes a twin reunion a feasible roster move later this weekend or in upcoming trades.