Penguins miss out on young prospect as division rival signs him

The Penguins are always looking to add to their prospect pool as the NHL Draft approaches with round one this upcoming Friday night. They were in the race for another young forward prospect out of the KHL in Maxim Shabanov but ultimately lost out to their rivals the Philadelphia Flyers.

The Flyers ultimately won the Shabanov sweepstakes and thus ended a pursuit to add him to the rising Penguins prospect pool. Shabanov is also good friends with current Flyers forward Matvei Michkov so signing with the Flyers made sense.

Having Shabanov would have been nice but Penguins attention shifts to the draft

Yes, having Shabanov would have been really nice for the future of the team, but with the team missing out, they need to focus on round one of the draft on Friday night.

They will know if they are receiving the number 12 pick from the New York Rangers on Wednesday night when Rangers general manager Chris Drury lets Kyle Dubas know if he is keeping it or sending Dubas his 2026 first-round pick.

Along with waiting to find out if he is receiving the 12th overall pick this year, the Penguins also own the 11th overall pick this year and need to decide if they'll select a player with it or try to trade it to trade up into the top 10.

Shabanov would have been a nice complement for Malkin's final season

It would have been really nice to have Shabanov play on Evgeni Malkin's wing and play second-line minutes as Malkin has been looking for good linemates for quite some time now.

Shabanov and Malkin are also both from Russia so they could have formed a nice connection there and really helped the Penguins find some offense.

But Shabanov will likely play on a line with Matvei Michkov in Philadelphia and form a dynamic duo with him, oh well, the Penguins shift their focus to the draft now.