PITTSBURGH, PA - DECEMBER 14: Sergei Murashov #1 of the Pittsburgh Penguins defends the net during the game against the Utah Mammoth at PPG PAINTS Arena on December 14, 2025 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Joe Sargent/NHLI via Getty Images) | NHLI via Getty Images

Now that the 2026 NHL draft is over, and a new league year has started, let’s reset the organization’ with a deeper dive of contracts beyond the NHL roster.

It can be hard to wrap your head around it all, so think of this as a Top 25 Under 25 primer to place players in certain levels to describe their spot in the pecking order for next season.

We’ll set the stage for the upcoming list of the top talent in the organization by first looking at exactly which young players are around the Pittsburgh pipeline these days, in no specific order and based off players who either have NHL contracts or appear on the Pens’ reserve list.

NHL level (or close)

Ville Koivunen
Rutger McGroarty
Joel Blomqvist
Owen Pickering
Sergei Murashov
Avery Hayes
Tristan Broz
Harrison Brunicke

—All of these players should see some time in the NHL next season. It might be temporary and require injuries to other players to receive those opportunities in some cases, but this is the top level of player right on the verge of getting their shot to play in the big league. Then again, this group covers a lot of ground: Murashov could be the NHL opening night starting goalie and Koivunen could be waived in September, with a lot of middle ground in between of players who might get squeezed back to the AHL due to a numbers game of high quantity of NHL bodies.

AHL level

Tanner Howe
Bill Zonnon
David Gustafsson
Oliver Okuliar
Melvin Fernstrom
Atley Calvert
Mikhail Ilyin
Jake Livanavage
Phil Kemp
Chase Pietila
Finn Harding
Daniel Laatsch
Gabriel D’Aigle

—Much of this group will make up the backbone of the WBS team in the AHL for 2026-27. There’s a chance some of these players could get a game or two in the NHL if all the conditions aligned right, but this is mostly the young players who need to develop or the older players who are depth.

Lower non-pro levels (Canadian Junior, NCAA)

William Horcoff
Peyton Kettles
Brady Peddle
Charlie Trethewey
Joona Vaisanen
Quinn Beauchesne
Travis Hayes
Carter Sanderson
Ryan Miller
Jordan Charron
Luke Devlin
Mac Swanson
Kale Dach
Zam Plante
Liam Ruck
Markus Ruck
Pierce Mbuyi
Parker von Richter
Matvei Nikonovich

—A lot of names here go in a “check back in 2-3 years” type area for long developmental, mostly made up of 2025 and 2026 draft picks. Some players on this list should be moving into the AHL segment within time, all dreaming of one day advancing it beyond that. All have possibility and hope but at this point it will take a lot of time, effort and further development to get towards being finished products.

Europe

Kalle Kangas
Emil Jarventie
Kirill Tankov
Tomas Galvas

—The Pens haven’t focused a lot in Europe lately when it comes to bringing on young players via the draft. Assistant GM Amanda Kessel recently confirmed that second round pick from 2026 Galvas would stay overseas for the upcoming season in 2026-27. None of the rest of the list is on the NHL radar at all these days.

Oliver Okuliar

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