On the second day of the NHL Draft, the Penguins swung a trade with Buffalo, sending defenseman Conor Timmins and defenseman Isaac Belliveau to the Sabres for defenseman Connor Clifton and a second round draft pick, which they used to take defenseman Peyton Kettles. The Pens completed the day by taking nine more players, making it thirteen choices overall in the 2025 draft.
Timmins was acquired March 7th from Toronto and skated in only seventeen games with the Pens. he is scheduled to become a restricted free agent on Tuesday. Belliveau was the Penguins’ fifth round draft choice in 2021.
Clifton is a 30-year-old veteran who played the first five years of his NHL career in Boston before skating for Buffalo the last two seasons. He led the Sabres in hits last season with 208. He’s entering the final year of a three-year contract.
Kettles is 6-feet-6 and weighs 194 pounds and in the past has played as a defensive partner of former Penguins top draft choice Owen Pickering with Swift Current in junior hockey. He’s regarded as a tough, physical presence with an “elite” defensive stick, according to Penguins’ top scout Wes Clark.
The other Penguins’ draft choices on Saturday:
- Charlie Trethewey -D- (3rd round, 73rd overall)
- Gabriel D’Aigle – G- (3rd round, 84th overall)
- Brady Peddle -D- (3rd round, 91st overall)
- Travis Hayes – RW- (4th round, 105th overall)
- Ryan Miller -C- (5th round, 130th overall)
- Quinn Beauchesne -D- (5th round, 148th overall)
- Jordan Charron -RW-(5th round, 154th overall)
- Carter Sanderson -LW- (6th round, 169th overall)
- Kale Dach -C- (7th round, 201st overall)
