Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2026, No. 17: Cerebral Center Keeps Pushing Forward In Development

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.

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.

At No. 18, we put the spotlight on forward Ryan Miller, who took pretty significant strides in his development last season. We remain on the forward front for No. 17, where we cover an NCAA center – still unsigned – who continues to improve year-by-year and who has some talent to boot.

No. 17: C Zam Plante

If you’ve seen the name “Plante” a lot in hockey circles recently, there’s a reason for that. The Detroit Red Wings selected Victor Plante in the second round of this year’s draft, and they had also selected Max Plante two years earlier in 2024.

Well, then there’s the third Plante brother, who the Penguins got their hands on in the fifth round (150th overall) in 2022. No, the eldest Plante has no plans to join his brothers in Detroit as of now, even if he remains unsigned by Pittsburgh up to this point.

But, right now, there’s no need to panic, as Zam is set to return to the University of Minnesota-Duluth for another season as Max’s linemate. Both finished in the top-five in NCAA scoring during the 2025-26 season, with Max finishing third (25 goals, 52 points in 40 games played) and Zam finishing fifth (20 G, 51 P, 40 GP). This season, Victor is set to join them in Minnesota, too.

Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2026, No. 18: Center Impressing With Rapid Growth

Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2026, No. 18: Center Impressing With Rapid GrowthNext up on THN’s Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects list is a left winger whose all-around play, tenacity, and sheer will made an impression on the Penguins’ front office last season.

Even if there’s some magic between Zam and his brothers, though, the Penguins believe they have a pretty cerebral center on his own – and he’s a player who keeps getting better every year.

At just 5-foot-9, 172 pounds, size is obviously a bit of a concern for Plante as he moves forward in his development. However, not only is Plante good in all three zones, he’s also a cerebral player, with his playmaking ability standing out above all else. Even if his brother, Max, is probably the most talented of the brothers, Zam is the one largely driving play on that line.

The Penguins have – especially under Dubas – been drawn to high-IQ players, and Plante is certainly one of them. His creativity, soft hands, vision, ability to expose the soft areas of the ice and create in tight spaces, and distribution skills could certainly lend to him being a solid complementary piece, perhaps even a middle-six playmaker. After all, he said upon getting drafted that he models his game after Jake Guentzel, who managed to work around his size to become one of the NHL’s most creative and effective wingers.

Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2026, No. 19: Forward Looking More Like Late-Round StealNext up on THN’s Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects list is a seventh-round draft selection at center who continues to build out a two-way game and could turn out to be a late-round steal.

Of course, Plante has quite a long way to go to get even close to Guentzel’s level, and beyond his size, he does still need to build a more pronounced defensive game and improve his skating. But his NCAA production cannot be ignored, especially within a league that is notoriously lower-scoring.

Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos commended Plante’s impressive showing at the team’s annual development camp this summer and commented on Plante’s competitiveness being second to none within the organization.

“I feel like any game you put this kid in, he excels at,” Kostopoulos said following development camp. “Five-on-five, he thinks his way out. Four-on-four, he makes plays. Three-on-three, I thought he stood out probably more than anyone [during the final tournament in camp]. Just his creativity, his hockey sense… then he can finish and can make plays.

“One of the interesting and cool things about development camp is that we get to know these kids off the ice, too, so we put them in competitions all throughout the week. And, I mean, he won the cornhole tournament. We’re at a bowling alley, and he won’t sit down from the bowling. We do trivia, he’s all over the answers. It seems like anything we play, he’s involved in, and guys gravitate to him. He just seems to like competing and winning. From my experience, when you have kids and players like that, it’s not a coincidence that they end up on winning teams and that they end up doing well. He’s a good kid to have.”

Top-20 Penguins’ Prospects 2026, No. 20: Defenseman Continues To Make Steady ProgressLanding at No. 20 on the THN – Pittsburgh Penguins Top-20 Prospects List for 2026 is a defenseman whose growth last season lent to him rising up the ranks.

Obviously, in order for Plante to make it at the NHL level and at the professional level in general, he will have to continue carrying that winning mindset with him. He will also have to find ways to use his creativity against bigger, better, stronger, and faster professional competition, which is something that the NCAA experience should help segue him into. Even if the potential for a higher ceiling is there, the floor also remains relatively low.

But he is off to a running start, and he only keeps improving. If Plante can find a way to hone his current skillset in professional hockey and translate that into continued production, he could become a key complementary piece of Pittsburgh’s future down the line.