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Standout Player Turns Heads at Penguins Camp, Earns High Praise from Director of Player Development
Joona Vaisanen was a late round pick for Pittsburgh in 2024, but now, it appears the young blue liner is turning heads at Penguins development camp.
In the 2025 NHL Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins landed plenty of future NHL talent, and while their prospect group hasn't been lauded like others around the league, they've certainly got some intriguing names ready to step up and impress.
If this re-tool/rebuild is to go well, Kyle Dubas and the organization need to hit on some late round picks, and it appears that they may have done that in the 2024 NHL Draft.
According to Director of Player Development Tom Kostopoulos, 2024 sixth-round pick Joona Vaisanen was turning heads at Penguins Development Camp, coming in and looking even better than they had hoped.
"I think we all know and expected a lot, and he didn't disappoint. I thought he looked really good out there and captained his team to the win, so it was good."
The 20-year old defenseman was a solid pick late in the draft, and after he tallied 4 goals and 26 points for Western Michigan University a year ago, optimism began to climb for the Finland native.
Now, Kostopoulos noted that he was also the captain of his team at development camp, and with good size combined with this leadership, it's easy to see why those in the organization are so high on him.
Vaisanen is going to need another big season ahead to climb up the prospect ranking pool in the Penguins organization, but hearing this glowing feedback about his performance, it's safe to say that they may have found a key piece of their blue line of the future.
| POLL | ||
JUILLET 7 | 73 ANSWERS Standout Player Turns Heads at Penguins Camp, Earns High Praise from Director of Player Development Will Joona Vaisanen be an NHLer for the Pittsburgh Penguins? | ||
| Yes | 57 | 78.1 % |
| No | 16 | 21.9 % |
| List of polls | ||