The top-25 under 25 continues with the Penguins’ top pick from the 2024 NHL Draft.
The 2024 version of our PensBurgh Top 25 Under 25 countdown continues with the team’s top draft pick from the 2024 class.
Graduates and departed players from last year’s list
The best of the rest
#25: Raivis Ansons
#24: Kirill Tankov
#23: Isaac Belliveau
#22: Taylor Gauthier
#21: Chase Pietila
#20: Emil Jarventie
#19: Kalle Kangas
#18: Joona Vaisanen
#17: Filip Kral
#16: Mac Swanson
#15: Jonathan Gruden
#14: Cruz Lucius
#13: Emil Pieniniemi
#12: John Ludvig
#11: Mikhail Ilyin
Next up on our top-25 under 25 is one of the newest members of the organization and the Penguins’ top pick from the 2024 NHL Draft class.
Not only is Brunicke immediately one of the Penguins’ top prospects, he also has the potential to be something of a trail blazer as he tries to help put South African hockey on the map.
If he can make it to the NHL he would be just the second player ever from South Africa to make the NHL, joining former Washington Capitals goalie Olaf Kolzig, and the first ever skater to make that leap. But Brunicke isn’t just a potentially fun piece of trivia. He is also a legitimate NHL prospect that fills a massive need in the Penguins’ system.
Prior to his selection the Penguins farm system was lacking in viable right-handed defense depth, and he immediately becomes the top such prospect. He spent the development camp playing alongside former first-round pick (and top overall defense prospect) Owen Pickering, a duo that could one day have a future together in the NHL.
Brunicke projects as a two-way defenseman but has some serious offensive instincts that were on display this past season in the Western Hockey League with the Kamloops Blazers.
The 2023-24 season was a huge breakout year for him offensively, going from just eight points in 59 games the year before all the way up to 21 points (10 goals, 11 assists) in only 48 games. He also had a strong showing at the U-18 World Championships with four points (one goal, three assists) in seven games.
Brunicke is still a little raw and is probably a ways off from being a meaningful contributor in the NHL but he does have legitimate top-four potential if everything goes as planned and he reaches his ceiling.
The Penguins already signed him to a three-year entry-level contract shortly after selecting him.
When Kyle Dubas took over as the Penguins’ general manager the idea was always going to be that he would work to start ushering in a new wave of talent and keep an eye on the future. So far in two drafts the Penguins have added some promising young players to a prospect pool that was alarmingly thin in recent years. The 2024 class saw the Penguins add two players within the top-50 picks in the draft in Brunicke and forward Tanner Howe. Both are already among the team’s top prospects and Brunicke already cracks our top-10 of the 25 under 25 for this year.
