Faceoff Factor

Penguins Select Simon Despres With 30th Pick

Matt Bodenschatz | Pittsburgh Penguins

Jun 27, 10:27 AM | Hype this story!

As indicated by general manager Ray Shero in yesterday’s Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the Penguins stayed out of trade discussions and focused on drafting the best player available.

That’s where Simon Despres entered the picture. The Penguins used the 30th overall pick to select the large defenseman out of St. John’s.

FF’s Jesse Marshall, Michael Farkas and Alex Kirshner had him ranked 17th in their Entry Draft Top 30 Prospects.

Per Kirshner, “Despres is hulking defenseman with good size and strength. He clears his own crease very well (an NHL goalie’s dream) and has taken a liking to sticking up for his teammates. The most underrated aspect of his game is his puck-moving ability, which has drastically improved over the years. He makes a very sound breakout pass. Despres went from 14 to 32 points between his last two campaigns with the St. John Sea Dogs. His nasty physical edge reminds some of Chris Pronger and is justified in that comparison by his 74 penalty minutes last season.”

Last night on the Draft Day LiveBlog, Farkas added that “Despres is an effortless skater, especially for a big man. Teammates with fellow Penguin prospect Alex Grant. Very big, defensive player with a physical side to his game. Has untapped offensive potential that is stifled a bit with the Sea Dogs. Negatives are that he may have physically matured so early that his physical dominance is neutralized now, his advantage may be gone. Not the smartest player on the ice and isn’t in a program that has very good coaching.”

The size both mentioned is considerable. At 6’4, he weighs 205 pounds and projects to add more weight as he matures.

Left on the board were Landon Ferraro, a speedy sniper out of Red Deer, and Stefan Elliot, an offensively gifted defenseman, both of whom would have projected to better fit the Penguins’ needs, both now and in the not-so-distant future.

Despres, as Marshall put it in a phone conversation with me following the draft, “is neither a good nor bad pick. He was the best player available, and that is and was Shero’s plan all along.”

Marshall also indicated that, the way things have gone in the first round, one or several players on his first round Wish List could slip to the Penguins, who have the 30th pick in Round Two and the third pick in Round Three.

Only time will tell how the rest of the draft will play out for the Penguins, but one thing is for sure: Shero won’t be drafting by position or need, but rather by his scouting department’s pre-draft rankings. The best available player will be chosen.