The Penguins typically aren't tipping their hand about which player they might choose with the fifth overall pick in the NHL Entry Draft June 22, but they have formed a prioritized list of those they consider to be the top five prospects.
From there, the hope is that one of the top four on that list trickles down.
"What we do will depend on what happens with the picks that go before us," head scout Greg Malone said yesterday at a Mellon Arena news conference. "Anytime you draft, you've got to get lucky sometimes. I think there are a couple of kids in the draft who can play in the NHL this year, but we'll see how it goes for us."
Scouts around the league seem to be in near-unanimous agreement about the top four: Jay Bouwmeester, a defenseman for Medicine Hat of the Western Hockey League; Kari Lehtonen, a goaltender for Jokerit of the Finnish Elite League; Rick Nash, a left winger for London of the Ontario Hockey League; and Joni Pitkanen, a defenseman for Karpat in the Finnish Elite League.
But there is nothing close to a consensus as to who might be No. 5.
The player whose stock has risen the most in the past few months is right winger Joffrey Lupul of Medicine Hat. He led the WHL with 56 goals and 51 assists in 72 games and has no glaring weakness on his resume, including the gritty manner in which he employs his 6-foot-1, 194-pound frame. Malone labeled him the best goal-scorer in the draft and added, "Anytime a kid scores 56 goals, you have to pay attention."
Other candidates are Ryan Whitney, a lanky but smooth-skating defenseman from Boston University; Scottie Upshall, a 32-goal, captain-type right winger from Kamloops of the WHL; and Steve Eminger, a solid two-way defenseman from Kitchener of the OHL.
"I think that, at the top end of the draft, the prospects there are probably as good as any in the past few years," Malone said. "After that, it falls off in terms of depth."
Malone and General Manager Craig Patrick emphasized that the team does not have a positional preference for the first pick, but Malone added that it could lean toward goaltenders in later rounds.
Patrick: No Lang regrets
Although the Penguins appear on the verge of losing center Robert Lang to unrestricted free agency in July, Patrick expressed no regrets about his decision to keep Lang beyond the March 19 trading deadline.
The day of the deadline, he told a group of reporters that there were "a lot of good offers out there" for Lang. But yesterday, he made an about-face and said the offers he received were not sufficient.
"That's the reason we didn't trade him," Patrick said yesterday. "We felt more comfortable with our chances of making the playoffs with Robert than with anything else we could have gotten, based on what we were offered."
Lang had a broken hand at the time of the trade deadline. He rebroke it in his first game back in the Penguins' lineup March 23 and was finished for the season.
"It was a gamble, I guess, on his hand," Patrick said. "But other than that, getting a compensatory pick is better than what we were getting trade-wise."
If the Penguins lose Lang to free agency, they will receive a compensatory pick in the 2003 draft, likely in the second round.
They also will still have whatever money they have set aside to make an offer to Lang, which Patrick acknowledged might be used to sign another unrestricted free agent this summer.
"There will be money there. It's available for me to spend. Whether it's for veteran guys or signing bonuses for quality young people, I don't know right now. I'm hoping we sign Robert, so I haven't looked at that next step yet."
Lemieux's pay similar
Patrick said "it's reasonable to assume" center Mario Lemieux's playing salary for next season will be close to what it was last season: $5.25 million.
Lemieux, also the Penguins' owner, had his pay determined by the rest of the team's ownership committee last August. Before agreeing to that term, he had stated several times that his plan was to allow Patrick to sign all the players he wanted to sign, then put the rest of the team's budgeted player payroll toward his salary.
Asked if he hoped Lemieux would have that policy again, Patrick laughed and replied, "I'm hoping so, yeah."
Picks eyed to be signed
Patrick said he would like to sign three recent draft picks this summer: left winger Konstantin Koltsov, the team's first choice in 1999; left winger Matt Murley, the second choice that year; and right winger Colby Armstrong, the first choice last year.
Koltsov, a native of Belarus who plays professionally in Russia, has balked repeatedly at coming to North America, and Patrick is uncertain if that will change. Koltsov would have to be signed by July 15 to play next season, as per NHL rules regarding European prospects.
"I'm not optimistic," Patrick said. "I hear the same rhetoric every year, how he wants to come over, and then July 15 comes and goes and he's still not here."
Tip-ins
The Penguins have not ruled out the possibility they could trade up or down in the draft. "Whatever makes sense to us to get better, that's what we'll do," Patrick said. "We've had lots of dialogue with probably all of the teams so far. It's just a normal occurrence." ... One player heavily scouted by the Penguins last season was Pierre-Marc Bouchard, a 5-9, 155-pound center for Chicoutimi of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Malone said he watched Bouchard play 15 times last season, a number he called "a little high for me." Bouchard had 46 goals and 94 assists in 69 games, but his size makes him a gamble the Penguins likely can't afford in such a high slot. ... Patrick, who has not seen any of the top prospects play first-hand, reiterated that his policy is to leave the draft up to his scouts and act "like a referee" when they disagree. ... The Penguins plan to offer a radio-style broadcast of the draft on their Web site. ... The team announced that John Brophy will return to coach its East Coast Hockey League affiliate in Wheeling, W.Va.
Penguins hope trickle-down effect shows up on draft day 
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