Penguins Take Medicine Hat Winger Liam Ruck 22nd Overall in 2026 NHL Draft

The Pittsburgh Penguins chose Medicine Hat Tigers forward Liam Ruck with the 22nd overall pick on the opening night of the 2026 NHL Draft on Friday. NHL commissioner Gary Bettman announced the selection from KeyBank Center in Buffalo, N.Y.

The night was far quieter for Pittsburgh than the previous year's draft. Kyle Dubas, the club's president of hockey operations, worked several trades on the first night in 2025 before making three picks, and he finished that two-day event with 13 selections. This time the Penguins arrived with only five picks in total.

Ruck, 18, is a 6-foot, 176-pound native of Osoyoos, British Columbia. He ranked second in the Western Hockey League in scoring this past season with 45 goals and 59 assists for 104 points in 68 games. That was an increase from 2024-25, when he had 25 goals and 16 assists in 61 games for Medicine Hat.

Only his twin brother, Markus, finished ahead of him in the 2025-26 WHL scoring race. Markus, a left-handed shot, led the league with 108 points, while Liam shoots right. Both brothers are committed to North Dakota, and Liam is expected to begin NCAA play in 2027. The pair appeared prominently in mock drafts: ESPN linked them to Ottawa at No. 25 and Calgary at No. 30, and Sportsnet projected St. Louis would take them at Nos. 15 and 16.

Ruck said he sensed Pittsburgh's interest throughout the year. "Honestly, throughout the year, I felt they were the most interested team," he said. "It means they wanted me throughout the year, and for them to grab me, it's a special moment for me and my family." He said Penguins amateur scout Dan McLean was his point of contact in the lead-up to the draft.

Describing his own game, Ruck called himself "a smart, 200-foot player, competitive guy" with good stick details who is effective in scoring areas. Dubas pointed to more than skill. "It's not just the talent, it's the talent plus just the enthusiasm, the intelligence, how much he loves playing and contributing to a contending team and playing well in the playoffs for them," he said. Dubas added that the club got to know Ruck better during the combine process, and that Ruck will return to Medicine Hat next year.

The draft resumes at 11 a.m. Saturday. Barring trades, Pittsburgh holds Nos. 39 and 54 in the second round, No. 86 in the third and No. 170 in the sixth. The No. 39 pick came from Winnipeg in March 2025, when Dubas sent defenseman Luke Schenn to the Jets; the Penguins also got a 2027 fourth-round pick in that deal. The No. 170 pick came from Nashville in the August 2024 trade that brought forward Cody Glass to Pittsburgh.

Several of the club's original 2026 picks now belong to other teams. Nashville has No. 118 in the fourth round from the March 2025 trade that sent Michal Bunting to the Penguins for Schenn and Tommy Novak. St. Louis holds No. 150 in the fifth round from an August 2024 pick swap. Columbus has the Penguins' original sixth-round pick, No. 182, from a February 2024 deal involving Alex Nylander and Emil Bemstrom. The Blue Jackets also received Pittsburgh's acquired second-round pick in the Dec. 29 trade for forward Egor Chinakhov. Colorado owns No. 214 in the seventh round through the Jan. 20 trade for defenseman Ilya Solovyov.