The Pittsburgh Penguins have opted to retain their first-round draft pick for this year’s draft, according to Pierre Lebrun of TSN.
They will instead send their first-round pick in 2021 to the Minnesota Wild to complete a trade they made in February for forward Jason Zucker.
A condition of a transaction the two teams made on Feb. 11 called for the Penguins to chose what year they sent a first-rounder to the Wild.
After the Penguins were eliminated from the postseason last week by the Montreal Canadiens, they were entered into the NHL’s draft lottery on Monday and ended up with the 15th overall selection.
Because of the league’s hiatus as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, the draft will be held Oct 9-10 and will be staged remotely.
The Penguins have not had a selection in the top 15 since 2012 when they acquired the eighth overall pick from the Carolina Hurricanes and selected defenseman Derrick Pouliot.
