NHL ENTRY DRAFT

Friday, June 25, 2010 & Saturday, June 26, 2010

BEAU BENNETT

The Pittsburgh Penguins selected forward Beau Bennett from the Penticton Vees of the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL) with their first selection (20th overall) of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft Friday night in Los Angeles.

Bennett, 18, led the BCHL in scoring this past season with 120 points (41G-79A) in 56 games. He added 14 points (5G-9A) in 15 postseason contests for the Vees.

Bennett, whose point total was the most in the BCHL since the Toronto Maple Leafs’ Tyler Bozak registered 128 points in 2007, became the first BCHL rookie to surpass 100 points in the past seven years. 

The 6-foot-1, 173-pound Bennett, who has committed to attend the University of Denver beginning in the fall, is the highest-drafted Californian-born player in NHL history.

Bennett, a Gardena, Calif. native, was rated the 32nd-best North American skater by Central Scouting. He was a member of the gold-medal winning Team USA entry at the World Junior ‘A’ Challenge in PEI this past November, where he was the only non-USHL member of the team.

Prior to joining Penticton, Bennett played his junior hockey with the Los Angeles Jr. Kings of the Midwest Elite Hockey League (MWEHL). Bennett scored 25 goals and 58 points in 46 games with the Jr. Kings in 2008-09.
 

The Pittsburgh Penguins selected forward Bryan Rust from the United States National Development Team of the United States Hockey League (USHL) with their third-round pick (80th overall) at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.

Rust, 18, appeared in 27 games with the U.S. Under-18 team this past season, recording 10 goals and 23 points. He was a member of the U.S. squad which won the gold medal at the 2010 World Under-18 Championships in Belarus. Rust was one of the offensive leaders for the Americans as he finished with four goals, six points and a plus-4 rating in seven games. His four goals ranked second on the team.

Rust (6-foot, 191 pounds), who will attend the University of Notre Dame in the fall, spent the 2008-09 campaign with the U.S. Under-17 team, where he scored nine goals and 20 points in 58 contests.

The Pontiac, Michigan native is the second member of his family to be drafted following his brother, Matt, who was the 101st-overall selection by the Florida Panthers in 2007.

The Pittsburgh Penguins selected forward Tom Kuehnhackl (KOO-knock-el) from Landshut of the German-2 league with their fourth-round pick (110th overall) at the 2010 NHL Entry Draft Saturday afternoon in Los Angeles.
 

Kuehnhackl, 18, was Central Scouting’s No. 8 ranked European skater. He appeared in 38 games for Landshut this past season, scoring 12 goals and 21 points. He added four goals and six points in five games with Team Germany at the World Under-18 Championship. Kuehnhackl will play for the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League (OHL) in 2010-11.

Kuehnhackl comes from a family rooted with hockey experience. His father, Erich, was elected to the International Ice Hockey Federation Hall of Fame in 1997 and was named the German hockey player of the century in 2000. Kuehnhackl’s brother and sister also played hockey in Germany.

Kuenhackl (6-foot-2, 192 pounds) grew up a Penguins fan and lists Sidney Crosby as the player he patterns his game after. Kuehnhackl named Game 7 of the Penguins’ 2009 Stanley Cup Championship as the most memorable hockey game he has ever watched.