Pittsburgh Penguins Take Daniel Sprong In Second Round Of NHL Draft
By Larry Snyder
The Pittsburgh Penguins went for offense as they selected Daniel Sprong, 18, of the Charlottetown Islanders in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Saturday with the 46th-overall selection in the second round of 2015 NHL Entry Draft. The event was held at the BB&T Center near Miami, Florida.
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The Amsterdam, Netherlands native contributed 39 goals and 88 points in 68 regular season games for Charlottetown last season. His family moved to Montreal, Quebec when he was seven years old.
Sprong took the ice for all 10 of Charlottetown’s games in the 2015 QMJHL playoffs. He led the Islanders with seven goals and tied for the points lead with 11, helping the team to its first playoff series victory since 2004.
The 6-foot, 180 pound forward was rated 20th overall among North American Skaters by NHL Central Scouting and 26th overall by International Scouting Services. Among other experts across the internet, The Sports Network’s concurrence of scouts ranked him 33rd overall and Sportsnet had him 21st overall. ESPN’s Corey Pronmann liked him at 17th overall. EliteProspects.com has this to say about the Pens’ choice, “dynamic skating ability, is a creative passer, and has incredible puckhandling ability.”
Pittsburgh Penguins
Looking back, the Black and Gold did not have a pick in the first round as it was dealt to the Edmonton Oilers Friday, Jan. 2, 2015 along with left wing Rob Klinkhammer in exchange for left wing David Perron.
They were also without their third-round selection because it was part of the March 2014 trade that brought center Marcel Goc from the Panthers to Pittsburgh.
Last but not least, the fourth-round pick was sent along with center Zach Sill to the Toronto Maple Leafs Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015 for left wing Daniel Winnik. That left the Penguins with picks in the second, fifth, sixth, and the seventh rounds.
Leading off on Friday was the Edmonton Oilers with the first pick, who selected Connor McDavid of the Erie Otters. The Buffalo Sabres followed at No. 2 and took Jack Eichel from Boston University. The Arizona Coyotes chose McDavid’s teammate, Dylan Strome from the Otters with the third selection overall. Rounding out the first five were the Toronto Maple Leafs, who went for Mitchell Marner of the London Knights, and the Carolina Hurricanes, who tapped Boston College defenseman Noah Hanifin.
.@sprong97 on becoming a #Pens player: "It's unbelievable. I have no words to describe it." pic.twitter.com/YAUNbgItCJ
— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 27, 2015
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