The Penguins will keep their 2020 first-round pick and trade their 2021 first-round pick to Minnesota to complete the Jason Zucker trade.
TSN's Pierre LeBrun was the first to report the Penguins' decision, which came after Jim Rutherford met with director of amateur scouting Patrik Allvin on Wednesday.
The 2021 first-round pick is unprotected, which means the Wild will get the pick no matter how high it is.
The Penguins' 2020 first-round pick will be No. 15 overall as a result of losing the second phase of the draft lottery on Monday, when the Rangers won the No. 1 overall pick. The other seven teams eliminated from the qualifying round were seeded No. 9 through No. 15 overall based on the inverse order of regular season points percentage. Because the Penguins had the best regular season record of any of the teams, they were given pick No. 15.
The first-round pick at No. 15 will be the highest the Penguins have selected since they selected Derrick Pouliot No. 8 overall in 2012.
The 2020 draft will be held virtually on Oct. 9 and 10.
To continue reading, log into your account: