NHL Prospect Watch: Pittsburgh Penguins

Ahead of the 2025-26 hockey season, we’re diving into the WHL prospect pool for each of the NHL’s 32 teams. This series will highlight current and former WHLers who are signed to an NHL contract, have recently been drafted by an NHL team, or meet the NHL’s definition of a rookie.

Today, we’re checking in with a crew of up-and-comers hoping to help Pittsburgh Peng-win.

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Harrison Brunicke

A fractured wrist prevented 19-year-old Harrison Brunicke from playing out a whole season with the Kamloops Blazers, but the 6-foot-3, 203-pound defender still netted five goals and 25 assists for 30 points in 41 games. Brunicke still led all Blazers defencemen in scoring and finished sixth on the team in points and assists. He also made his professional debut with the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, adding two assists in 10 regular-season games and a goal and assist in two postseason tilts. The Johannesburg-born, Calgary-raised rearguard was selected with the 44th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Draft and signed his three-year, entry-level contract just weeks later. While his wrist injury prevented him from taking part in Hockey Canada’s World Junior Selection camp in December of 2024, he’s since impressed at the World Junior Summer Showcase and could be a top-pairing defender for the 2026 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Pono rips it from the circle!

Harrison Brunicke also registers his first pro point with the primary assist! pic.twitter.com/meDHp386w0

— Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (@WBSPenguins) March 29, 2025

Kale Dach

The Dach-tor is in. Pittsburgh’s 2025 seventh-round pick is gearing up for his first WHL season with the Calgary Hitmen after plying his craft with the Sherwood Park Crusaders. The 5-foot-11, 172-pound centreman picked up 22 goals (including 10 powerplay markers) and 65 assists for 87 points in 54 regular-season games. Dach, from Fort Saskatchewan, Alta., finished second on the Crusaders in points and third in goals. Dach was drafted by the Hitmen in the fifth round (95th overall) of the 2022 WHL Prospects Draft.

Congratulations to incoming Hitmen Kale Dach on being drafted by the @penguins in the #NHLDraft! pic.twitter.com/k9QQNbVP6k

— Calgary Hitmen (@WHLHitmen) June 28, 2025

Max Graham

Farewell, captain! Kelowna Rockets ‘C’ Max Graham is graduating to the pro ranks after more than 200 games over five seasons in the WHL. The 6-foot-3, 209-pound winger bagged 13 goals (including one game-winner and a shorthanded strike) and 22 assists for 35 points in 34 regular-season games in a campaign truncated by injury. Graham still finished seventh in points on the Rockets. Originally selected by the New Jersey Devils in the 5th round, 139th overall, by the New Jersey Devils in the 2024 NHL Draft, Pittsburgh acquired his rights in a multi-player deal in March of 2025. The Kelowna, B.C. product inked a two-year contract with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in July.

Max Graham with the wheels!

@Kelowna_Rockets pic.twitter.com/6Nbib7hId9

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) November 6, 2024

Tanner Howe

Nineteen-year-old Tanner Howe got off to a blistering start with seven points (6G-1A) as captain of the Regina Pats 10  games into the season, but found himself on the road to Calgary as the centrepiece of a blockbuster deal. Playing alongside his now-fellow Penguins prospect Ben Kindel, Howe racked up 12 goals (including a hat trick against the Moose Jaw Warriors in Calgary’s Teddy Bear Toss game) and 27 assists for 39 points in 37 regular-season games. helping the Hitmen pull off their best regular season in a decade and come within one win of clinching the Eastern Conference title. The 5-foot-11, 182-pound winger added another nine points (2G-7A) in six playoff contests before going down with an injury in the second round and having surgery to repair his ACL. The gritty Prince Albert, Sask. product also battled through taking a puck to the mouth during the 2024 World Junior Summer Showcase, which limited his time at his first Penguins training camp, though he got into preseason action against the Buffalo Sabres and scored a goal for Canada at the 2025 IIHF World Junior Championship. Drafted by Pittsburgh 46th overall in the second round of the 2024 NHL Draft, Howe signed his ELC shortly afterward. He’s expected to return to the ice as soon as January of 2026.

Ben Kindel to Carter Yakemchuk to Tanner Howe.

'Nuff said.@WHLHitmen | @penguins | @Senators | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/wvNFOD3aq2

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) February 26, 2025

Peyton Kettles

No one stood taller than Peyton Kettles in Swift Current this season. The 6-foot-5, 196-pound blueliner with a coveted right-hand shot notched five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 53 regular-season games,  and while the Broncos hope to unlock a more offensive side of his game, Kettles was extremely effective as a punishing physical presence with the ability to strip the puck away from his opponents. The Broncos bowed out in the first round of the 2025 WHL Playoffs, with Kettles chipping in a pair of helpers in five games. The Winnipeg, Man., product was also part of the Canadian squad that earned gold at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup, lighting the lamp once in five games. Kettles was snapped up by the Penguins with the 39th overall pick in the second round of the 2025 NHL Draft and recently celebrated his 18th birthday.

Get yourself a blueliner that can lay the boom AND tickle the twine.

A.K.A. Peyton Kettles.@SCBroncos | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/ZSSWM5ui1o

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 27, 2025

Benjamin Kindel

It was a breakout season any way you slice it for sensational centreman Ben Kindel in 2024-25. The 5-foot-10, 182-pound pivot erupted for 35 goals and 64 assists for 99 points in 65 regular-season games while setting a Hitmen record for longest point streak with a 23-game tear (15G-30A) that stretched from November 8, 2024, to January 12, 2025. The alternate captain finished seventh in the WHL points and assists race and found another level in the postseason with a team-leading eight goals (highlighted by back-to-back overtime winners) and seven assists for 15 points in 11 tilts. Calgary fell to rival Lethbridge in a bitter Game 7 in Round Two, but Kindel didn’t have time to mourn as he hopped on a plane to Texas and promptly potted a goal and six assists in five games to lift Canada to a gold medal at the 2025 IIHF U18 World Championship. It marked the second gold medal of the season for the 18-year-old Coquitlam, B.C., product, who already won gold at the 2024 Hlinka Gretzky Cup (1G-1A). Kindel was a no-brainer for Pittsburgh at 11th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft and signed his first NHL contract 10 days later. To the surprise of absolutely no one, Kindel was also among the invitees to the 2025 World Junior Summer Showcase. Kindel will enter his third full WHL season with heightened expectations and with a growing leadership role in Calgary after the departure of former captain Carson Wetsch to the 2026 Memorial Cup host Kelowna Rockets.

Q: Which WHLer finished seventh in League scoring with 99 points in 65 games and is eligible for the 2025 NHL Draft?

A: Ben Kindel – duh!@WHLHitmen | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/MOsPalJYn6

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 27, 2025

Ryan Miller

After helping the powerhouse Portland Winterhawks reach the 2024 WHL Championship Series, Ryan Miller helped prove that the Hawks were still a major threat in 2024-25. The 5-foot-11, 174-pound winger set new career highs with 16 goals and 15 assists for 31 points in 50 regular-season matches. He tied for third on the team in game-winning goals (four) and finished fifth in goals. The Medicine Hat, Alta. product tacked on another 13 points (4G-9A) in 16 playoff matches to knock off the Prince George Cougars and regular-season champion Everett Silvertips to reach the Western Conference Championship for a second straight year. Miller, 18, scored the fastest goal to open a game in the 2025 WHL Playoffs when he tickled twine just 15 seconds into Game 4 against Prince George- and eventual double-overtime win for the Hawks. The Penguins selected Miller with the 130th overall pick in the fifth round of the 2025 NHL Draft.

In 13 days, it’s [Ryan] Miller time!@pdxwinterhawks | #NHLDraft pic.twitter.com/qyt4uJAbtx

— Western Hockey League (@TheWHL) June 14, 2025

Owen Pickering

Rangy defenceman Owen Pickering waited less than seven minutes to snag his first NHL point with an assist on a Jesse Puljujarvi tally en route to a 4-3 shootout win over San Jose on November 17, 2024. The 6-foot-5, 200-pound rearguard suited up for 25 games with Pittsburgh and ended up with a goal and a pair of helpers at just 21 years old. He had another 13 points (2G-11A) in 47 twirls with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and was named to the 2025 AHL All-Star Classic in his first full pro season. The St. Adolph, Man. product has a strong case to make the opening night roster for Pittsburgh this fall. Pickering, the 21st overall pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, played parts of four seasons with the Swift Current Broncos, including two campaigns as captain. He played more than 200 games for the Broncos, amassing 133 points (27G-106A) and helping the team return to the WHL Playoffs in 2024 for the first time since winning it all in 2018. He was named to the WHL Central Division First All-Star Team in 2023 and 2024.

Pure joy.

Congratulations on your first NHL point, Owen Pickering! pic.twitter.com/BspyC4nG03

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) November 17, 2024