Penguins Trade Bennett; Welcome 6 New Players During NHL Draft
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The Pittsburgh Penguins will welcome six new players next season and say goodbye to one.
The Penguins picked six new players and traded one current player Saturday during the second day of the 2016 NHL Draft. Goaltender Filip Gustavsson, right winger Kasper Bjorkqvist, and defensemen Connor Hall, Ryan Jones, Niclas Almari and Joe Masonius will join the Pens, while current Penguin right winger Beau Bennett will leave to join the New Jersey Devils.
The #Pens 2016 NHL Draft class includes:
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 25, 2016
2 Americans
2 Finns
1 Swede
1 Canadian pic.twitter.com/xExXiT6sNT
After a quiet first day of the Draft, the Penguins made their first two selections in the second round, choosing 18-year-old Gustavsson from Sweden for the 55th overall pick of the Draft and 18-year-old Bjorkqvist from Finald for the 61st overall pick.
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In the third round, the Penguins traded Bennett to New Jersey for the 77th overall pick, when they selected 18-year-old Hall from the Kitchener Rangers of the Ontario Hockey League.
For the Pens' fourth pick and the 121st pick overall, the Penguins picked 20-year-old Jones from the Lincoln Stars of the United States Hockey League during the fourth round. In the fifth round, for the 151st overall pick, the Penguins selected 18-year-old Almari from Finland.
At the end of the sixth round, for their final planned pick of the Draft and the 181st selection overall, the Penguins selected their fourth new defenseman, 19-year-old Masonius.
In addition to the Pens' picks, fans also awaited news regarding long-time goaltender Marc-Andre Fleury. Leading up to the weekend, rumors were flying that Fleury would be traded, but Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford put those rumors to rest.