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Highly regarded prospect on Kyle Dubas's radar as NHL Draft approaches

It is no secret that Penguins GM Kyle Dubas really likes what he has been seeing from top 10 prospect Jake O'Brien. He has scouted him several times this season and recently with one of his team's playoff games.
ByTyler Miller|
Sep 18, 2018; Lucan, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas on his laptop before the start of their game against the Ottawa Senators at Lucan Community Memorial Centre. The Maple Leafs beat the Senators 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images
Sep 18, 2018; Lucan, Ontario, CAN; Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas on his laptop before the start of their game against the Ottawa Senators at Lucan Community Memorial Centre. The Maple Leafs beat the Senators 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images | Tom Szczerbowski-Imagn Images

It should come to nobody's surprise that Jake O'Brien has been flying up draft boards in the recent months and it has caught Kyle Dubas's eye. The Penguins figure to finish in the top 10 or so in this year's NHL Draft and O'Brien figures to be available when the Penguins come to the podium to make their selection.

O'Brien would be quite the get as Penguins need center prospects very badly and he plays center and has a nose for the game. He can get to the dirty areas, he can score, and he has a hell of a shot. This is quite the player that the Penguins would love to draft with their top 10 pick.

The Penguins 4 game winning streak a bit ago doomed their chance of a top 3 pick, but O'Brien is still a hell of a consolation prize

A few short months ago, it looked like the Penguins first-round pick would land in the top 3 range as they lost a ton of games and were jumping teams at the bottom of the standings.

But their 4-game winning streak not long ago, derailed their chances of drafting Michael Misa, Matthew Schaefer, and Porter Martone. But having a chance to land Jake O'Brien is quite the prize in it's own and is totally worth it.

O'Brien has been tearing up the stat sheet this season. In 66 regular season games, he had 32 goals and 66 assists. So far in 6 playoff games, he has 2 goals and 5 assists.

Penguins need to lose their last 3 games, so they have a great chance at selecting O'Brien

Make no mistake, having Sidney Crosby still on the team and performing like he is still in his prime, makes this goal a tough task. Players like Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang, the Penguins core three, will never try to lose games.

All they have known their whole careers is winning. They were born to win, they have winning DNA with 3 Stanley Cups to their names. But if the Penguins really want to speed up this rebuild or retool or whatever term Dubas wants to use, they need to lose these last 3 games of the season.

They have a very good chance of losing 2 of the 3 as one is the Devils and one is the Capitals, whom are both playoff teams in the Metropolitain Division. They could easily beat the Penguins, but the Bruins who the Penguins play Sunday, have lost a lot of games and look like they are not trying anymore outside of David Pastrnak.

Fingers crossed the Bruins can find a way to beat the Penguins Sunday to give the Penguins a way better chance at drafting O'Brien.

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