Both of the Penguins’ second-round picks from this summer’s draft class are under contract.
Just eight days after signing forward Tanner Howe to his three-year entry-level deal, the Penguins on Thursday signed defenseman Harrison Brunicke to his three-year entry-level contract. The contract will begin when Brunicke, an 18-year-old right-handed shot, turns pro. Players coming from Canadian major junior hockey are eligible for the AHL either when they’re 20 or have accumulated four seasons of at least 25 games. Assuming Brunicke doesn’t make the jump to pro hockey until he has AHL eligibility, he will turn pro in 2026-27. The contract he signed today will slide and not count toward the 50-contract limit until then.
“So excited to sign my first NHL contract with such an incredible organization,” Brunicke wrote on Instagram of the signing. “Thank you to everyone that has supported me along the way.”
Brunicke was the higher of the two second-round picks the Penguins had this summer at 44th overall. The pick was the one the Penguins received from Carolina in the Jake Guentzel trade.
Brunicke, listed at 6 foor 3 and 196 pounds, scored 10 goals and 11 assists in 49 games with the WHL’s Kamloops Blazers last season.
“I’m a two-way defenseman,” Brunicke said of his game at the draft. “I like to be used in all situations, whether it’s playing against top pairings or top lines, getting hemmed in your zone and playing defensive shifts, or trying to play up top and hemming teams in their zone and hemming them in offensively.”
I’ll have a story later this week on Brunicke from my interview with him at development camp.
