The Rangers eliminated the Hurricanes on Thursday in Game 6 of the second round of the playoffs with a 5-3 win in Raleigh, ending the Penguins' hopes of having a first-round pick in the upcoming draft. The Hurricanes had a 3-1 lead entering the third period, but a natural hat trick from Chris Kreider in the third period gave the Rangers the win. A late empty-net goal from Barclay Goodrow put the game away.
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The Penguins received a conditional second-round pick that originally belonged to the Flyers in the Jake Guentzel trade, with the stipulation that it would upgrade to the Hurricanes' own first-round pick if the Hurricanes reached the Stanley Cup Final. With the Hurricanes eliminated, the Penguins will receive that second-round pick, ranked No. 44 overall. The Penguins also had the potential to receive a 2025 fifth-round pick in the trade had the Hurricanes actually won the Cup.
Guentzel had four goals and five assists in 11 postseason games with the Hurricanes, in addition to his eight goals and 17 assists in 17 regular-season games following the trade.
The Penguins have six picks in the upcoming draft: Two second-round picks (44th overall from the Flyers, and their own at 46th overall), their own fourth-, sixth- and seventh-round picks, and the seventh-round pick that originally belonged to the Rangers. Their first-round pick went to the Sharks in the Erik Karlsson deal, their third went to the Ducks in the trade that unloaded Brock McGinn's contract and brought Dmitry Kulikov to Pittsburgh last sason, and their fifth-round pick went to the Sharks in the Nick Bonino trade last season.
The draft will be held June 28 and 29 in Las Vegas.
