Czeching up on the kiddos part 3

Let's take another look at the statistics of notable Penguin prospects.

In Canada:

Keven Veilleux (C, Victoriaville Tigres/Rimouski Oceanic, QMJHL): 56 games played, 16 goals, 46 assists, 62 points, 71 PIMs, -8
Jacob Muzzin (D, Sault St. Marie Greyhounds, OHL): 62gp, 5g, 12a, 17p, 51 PIMs +14
Dustin Jeffrey (C, Sault St. Marie Greyhounds, OHL): 51gp, 30g, 53a, 83p, 28 PIMs, +20
Jean-Phillip Paquet (D, Baie-Comeau Drakkar, QMJHL): 62gp, 9g, 28a, 37p, 104 PIMs, -2
Luca Caputi (LW, Niagra Ice Dogs, OHL): 63gp, 49g, 58a, 107p, 94 PIMs, +25
Alex Grant (D, St. John Sea Dogs, QMJHL): 65gp, 14g, 27a, 41p, 96PIMs, +12


And in the US college ranks:

Michal Gergen (W, University Minnesota-Duluth): 29 gp, 5g, 7a, 12p, 45 PIM
Carl Sneep (D, Boston College): 34 gp, 3g, 9a, 12p, 12 PIMs
Brian Strait (D, Boston University): 31gp, 0g, 10a, 10p, 16 PIM

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By far, the cream of the crop--even if you still included Angelo Esposito--remains 2007 late round gems Caputi (4th round, 111th overal) and Jeffrey (6th round, 171st overall). Caputi is 4th in scoring in the OHL and Jeffrey (who missed games by remaining in Pittsburgh's training camp) is 10th that same race. Both of those prospects are listed as at least 6'3 and 190 so it should be interesting to continue to track their progress.

It should also be noted that the 6'5" Veilleux, a second round pick last summer, has put up 20 points in 14 games for his new team Rimouski since being traded there.

As of now Pittsburgh doesn't have a pick until the 4th round of this summer's draft; in part of the return to acquire Marian Hossa, Hal Gill and Georges Laraque the Pens gave up their 1st, 2nd and 3rd round picks respectively, essentially gutting the draft. If guys like Jeffrey, Caputi and Veilleux can become gems it will go a long way towards filling in the gaps for a contending organization that's dealt many picks away in exchange for established NHL players.