Penguins make swap of draft choices with St. Louis

Well, it’s something to talk about in August at least, STL gets their second rounder back from Pittsburgh

As if to prove they are still at work in summer, the Penguins and St. Louis Blues have made one of the more…interesting trades that you will see.

Pittsburgh had acquired the Blues’ second round pick in the transaction that saw Kevin Hayes join the Pens. But now STL has moved to get their pick back in 2025 and delay Pittsburgh getting a second rounder until 2025. For their troubles, Pittsburgh upgrades with a fifth round pick turning into a third.

From the team:

The Pittsburgh Penguins have acquired St. Louis’ 2026 second-round draft pick and Ottawa’s 2025 third-round draft pick from the Blues in exchange for their own 2025 second-round draft pick back (acquired by PIT in Kevin Hayes trade) and Pittsburgh’s 2026 fifth-round draft pick, it was announced today by President of Hockey Operations and General Manager Kyle Dubas.

These little wheelings and dealings usually go down at the NHL draft, but instead in the dead of summer we get a little news story.

The Penguins have a lot of time in their rebuild, so they can accept kicking out a 2025 second round pick out to 2026 in order to move up a few rounds on the other end of the transaction.

The more interesting piece of the equation is why did STL want their 2025 second rounder back? Did they just want that pick, are they preparing an offer sheet where they might need it for compensation? The questions about why this makes sense for them is more intriguing. From the Pens side, at the cost of some patience and time they get more favorable draft spots. Logical, but not as exciting as the angle about why the Blues felt the need to get their 2025 second round pick back.

UPDATE: St Louis did have the intrigue, making the ever-rare move to send an offer sheet out. In fact, they sent two to the same team!

After all these moves now, Pittsburgh currently has the following draft picks in the upcoming future:

2025: Their own 1st, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th round picks…As well as now STL’s 3rd round pick and NYR’s 5th round pick (Reilly Smith trade).

—Pittsburgh lost their second round pick to Montreal in exchange for the contracts of Jeff Petry and Casey DeSmith that they send to the Canadiens in the 2023 Erik Karlsson trade.

2026: Their own 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th and 7th…As well as STL’s 2nd, and SJ’s 3rd

—The Pens traded their fifth round pick today, and dealt their sixth rounder to CBJ for Emil Bemstrom. Pittsburgh picks up SJ’s third from the Karlsson deal and today acquired the Blues’ pick

2027: Their full compliment (1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th) plus NYR’s 2nd (Smith trade) and NYR’s 4th (Chad Ruhwedel trade)

—

The 2026 draft is shaping up to be a major one in Pittsburgh, the Pens already have five picks in the first three rounds.

For next year, the Pens move out of the second round due to this trade, but at least keep a presence of three picks over the course of the first three rounds, with the added bonus of a higher pick down the line.

It’s not that big of a deal, but any news in August is something to keep the juices flowing.