Kyle Dubas continues to do things his way in Pittsburgh

Friday night's first round of the 2025 NHL draft saw the top of the board shaping up pretty much as you would've expected. That was until the Pittsburgh Penguins joined the party.

With back-to-back picks in the upper half of Round 1, Kyle Dubas had the opportunity to further improve a prospect pool that he's been reshaping since he took over in Pittsburgh. After Roger McQueen went 10th overall to Anaheim, analysts, fans, and insiders all had Victor Eklund, Jackson Smith, and Kashawn Aitcheson pegged as the most likely players to be selected by the Penguins at 11 and 12. Instead, Kyle Dubas went in a much different direction, taking forward Benjamin Kindel from the WHL's Calgary Hitmen with his first pick.

Nobody saw that one coming, though Kindel did rack up 99 points (35 goals, 64 assists) in just 65 games last year, so you can understand the vision. But what came next was even more stunning.

Dubas then traded down with the rival Philadelphia Flyers before taking two more forwards in Bill Zonnon (22nd overall) and William Horcoff (24th overall). Similarly to Kindel, Zonnon and Horcoff were both projected to go quite a bit later than where the Penguins selected them.

Dubas also went outside the box with the recent head coaching hire

Zigging when everyone else is zagging has become the norm for Kyle Dubas. We saw that last night, and it was no different during the Penguins' search for a new head coach following the parting of ways with Mike Sullivan.

Mitch Love and DJ Smith sounded like the clear frontrunners for the gig just days prior to the hiring of now head coach Dan Muse. It was another instance of Dubas surprising not only Penguins fans but the entire hockey world.

It just goes to show how much of his own stamp Kyle Dubas has put on the Pittsburgh Penguins.