Pittsburgh Penguins' Top Prospect Proves Doubters Wrong with Red-Hot Start at Michigan
Photo credit: Edit from The Hockey News
When the Penguins selected Will Horcoff in the first round at the 2025 draft, they were criticized, but he is tearing it up in Michigan, with elite production.
The Pittsburgh Penguins were excited to take Will Horcoff in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft with the 24th overall selection, taking the 6'5" center and son of former NHLer Shawn Horcoff.
Scouts adored his hockey intelligence, work ethic, and two-way game, but whether his offense would fully develop was an argument.
That's no longer a concern. In his second year with the University of Michigan Wolverines, Horcoff is one of the top overall players in college hockey.
Will Horcoff already has more points this year than he had all of last season with Michigan
In his first eight games, he's compiled seven goals and four assists for 11 points, already more than his total during his freshman year's four goals and 10 points in 18 games. He's second on the Wolverines in scoring.
One of the biggest contributors to the boom has been his additional use on Michigan's deadly power play.
With his size and positioning, Horcoff has excelled in a variety of positions, everything from screening goalies in the hash mark crease to deflecting pucks up the half-wall.
Four of his seven goals have been man-advantage scores, including a hat trick in a two-game Mercyhurst sweep during which he had five goals.
The Penguins' draft class of 2025 is already looking like something special. Ben Kindel is already doing his thing in the NHL, Bill Zonnon impressed early before injury stopped him, and Horcoff is impressing in the NCAA.
For the Penguins, the trio is the core of a flourishing next generation, and Horcoff's coming-out party is instilling early hope into legitimate excitement for the franchise's future. It's definitely a fun time to be a Penguins fan right about now.
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