It’s officially another season, another prospects ranking for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In years past, this has been a bit easier of an exercise, as there used to be a more clear-cut line between prospects with NHL upside and longshots. However, because of the work that general manager and president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas and his staff have put in during the last several years, the line is blurring a whole lot more – and there is a substantially higher volume of talent in the system.
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This time around, making a top-20 list was challenging. So, a few criteria were put into place: To make our list, prospects must be under the age of 26 and have played less than 50 NHL games. This excludes names such as Ben Kindel, Filip Hallander, Oliver Okuliar, and Alexander Alexeyev.
Forward Avery Hayes made our list at No. 12, and he’s a wildcard-type player who, perhaps more than anyone else in the Penguins’ system, has the ability to climb up an NHL lineup ladder with his style of play and skillset. For No. 13, we’re taking a dive into the skillset of a blueliner drafted this year who has some pretty intriguing upside potential.
No. 11: D Tomas Galvas
If you continue to follow along with our list, you’ll probably notice that there aren’t a ton of defensemen on it. The Penguins have built out a nice prospect pool of forwards and of goaltenders, but they still have their work cut out for them to acquire higher-upside talent on the blue line.
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And one of their 2026 draft selections could, potentially, be one of those higher-upside players.
Galvas, 20, was selected in the second round (54th overall) of this year’s draft, which was his third go-round in the draft process. He was passed on the first two times largely because of his size and due the the lack of growth in some key areas of his game.
Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2026, No. 12: Wildcard Forward Has Potential To Keep Climbing NHL Ladder
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Well, that all changed in his third season with Liberec Bili Tygri HC of the Czech League, when he seemed to put it all together and recorded eight goals and 24 points alongside a plus-16 in 32 games. He also put on a show for Czechia U20 at the World Junior Championship, making himself stand out among overall tournament leaders with three goals and nine points in seven games.
And, when you watch him skate and play with the puck, it’s easy to see why he’s so intriguing as a blueliner.
Some have compared Galvas’s skillset to that of Lane Hutson, which is a pretty high compliment. Even if Galvas’s ceiling isn’t Hudson-esque, there are some similarities.
Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2026, No. 13: Defenseman’s Growth A Revelation For Pittsburgh
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His mobility is beautiful to watch, as he skates effortlessly with his edgework, speed, and acceleration. Galvas is excellent in transition, as he isn’t afraid to skate with the puck on his stick, excels at puck distribution, and has the puck skills to evade defenders. He works the offensive blue line well on the power play, he has some pop to his shot, and he can also break the puck out of his own zone with relative ease.
But, even if the offensive upside is noticeable, his defensive game is where he was experienced a lot of growth over the past year and where the Hutson comparisons end a bit. He’s still risk-prone, but his stick work and ability to clog passing and shooting lanes is a strength, and he is much more engaged defensively in a general sense than in previous years. His size doesn’t help matters for him defensively, but he largely accounts for that deficit with his reads and his ability to disrupt plays.
In some ways, his skillset is not too dissimilar to that of Harrison Brunicke, with the biggest difference between them being size. Otherwise, Galvas plays a similarly high-risk game, but like Brunicke, has the talent to keep developing a better defensive game.
Overall, Galvas is one of few Penguins’ defensive prospects with legitimate offensive upside who could have a ceiling as a top-four defender. He needs to build out his 5-foot-10, 168-pound frame a bit more and continue to build on his defensive game in Czechia this season, but given the organization’s general lack of higher-upside depth on the left side – especially those with the all-around toolset to complement a more elevated offensive ceiling – his lack of size was something worth taking a chance on.
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If Galvas and his mobility on the blue line can give the Penguins a boost offensively and he can reach his potential, he could end up grading as a first-rounder.
The list so far:
– No. 20:D Chase Pietila
– No. 19:C Kale Dach
– No. 18:LW/C Ryan Miller
– No. 17:C Zam Plante
– No. 16:G Joel Blomqvist
– No. 15: C Markus Ruck
– No. 14: LW Tanner Howe
– No. 13: D Finn Harding
– No. 12: RW Avery Hayes
– No. 11: D Tomas Galvas
Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2026, No. 14: Feisty Forward Showing Why He Belongs In Pros
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