2024 NHL Draft: Pittsburgh selects Harrison Brunicke with 44th overall pick

The Pens make their first draft pick in 2024

The Pittsburgh Penguins had to wait a while in the 2024 first round pick to make their first selection. It came at number 44 overall, and the Pens wasted no time when they were on the clock to put the pick in to draft defenseman Harrison Brunicke from the Western Hockey League.

Here’s his hockeydb resume:

From the CHL:

With the 2024 NHL Entry Draft just days away, Harrison Brunicke could be one step closer to making hockey history.

The Kamloops Blazers defenceman aims to become the first skater born in South Africa to make the NHL.

“I only moved to Calgary in 2008 when I was two years old,” Brunicke, who was born in Johannesburg, explained. “I would say I’m more Canadian, but that’s back to my roots. My blood is all South African. I’m super, super proud of where I’m from. To be the first South African NHL skater would be unreal. It’s something that I would cherish for the rest of my life.”

The NHL’s only South African-born player was Vezina Trophy-winning goaltender Olaf ‘Olie’ Kolzig, who also played junior hockey in the Western Hockey League and is now a part-owner of the Tri-City Americans.

Kolzig suited up for parts of three seasons with Tri-City and the New Westminster Bruins, scoring a rare goalie goal and posting the league’s best goals-against average and save percentage in 1989.

Now, 15 years after Kolzig retired from the NHL, Brunicke is poised to hear his name called at the 2024 NHL Entry Draft.

The 6-foot-3, 183-pound right-shot defenceman has found his groove on the Blazers’ blueline and caught the attention of scouts across the pro ranks.

“He wasn’t a player that was on the radar and doing all the Hockey Canada stuff from an early age and identified as the next big star,” Blazers General Manager and Head Coach Shaun Clouston said. “He’s really embraced this whole process and seems to be having a lot of fun with it which I think is important for a lot of players.”

When Brunicke broke into the league as a rookie in 2022-23, Clouston says the Blazers opted to dress 11 forwards and seven defencemen on their powerhouse squad to help the youngster get some reps alongside elite players like Logan Stankoven (Dallas Stars) and Olen Zellweger (Anaheim Ducks).

Brunicke played well enough to earn consistent minutes through the WHL Playoffs and the 2023 Memorial Cup- where he scored his first CHL playoff goal against the Peterborough Petes.

While Kamloops entered this season in a building phase, Brunicke was eager to take on a bigger role and prove his abilities in his first year of draft eligibility.

The 18-year-old more than doubled all of his offensive totals from his rookie year, netting 10 goals and 11 assists for 21 points in 49 matches.

“He’s a player that can play at both ends,” Clouston added. “He’s a great skater. He can pass the puck out of trouble, he can skate the puck out of trouble. He’s very good at getting the puck moving north and breaking pucks out. He has some ability to make a move at the blue line and jump down and create some offense. He walks the blue line well, but I think in his two years in the league he’s probably made the biggest improvements with his defensive game.”

Initially tagged as a potential fourth or fifth-round NHL pick by NHL Central Scouting in its preseason rankings, Brunicke climbed the list to become one of the 40 Canadian Hockey League Players invited to the 2024 Kubota CHL/NHL Top Prospects Game in January.

The Penguins are fairly empty on projectable right shot defensemen prospects with future and have high hopes that Brunicke will make a mark in the years to come.