Chuck Fletcher does not expect anyone to feel sorry for the Penguins simply because their pool of young talent outside the NHL is not quite as deep or dazzling as some others.

And he shouldn't.

After all, it is hard to have much pity for a team with so many recent draft choices who needed little, if any, developmental time before cracking the major-league lineup.

Or, in the case of Sidney Crosby and Jordan Staal, actually had a couple of years of junior-hockey eligibility remaining when they settled in at the game's highest level.

"There probably aren't many teams that have as many recently drafted kids playing in the NHL [as the Penguins do]," said Fletcher, the Penguins' assistant general manager. "When you look at, basically, from 2000 to 2006, all those first-rounders are playing in the NHL, and now we have [Kris] Letang and [Tyler] Kennedy there, as well."

But, even with all the talent that has moved through their pipeline during the past half-decade or so, Fletcher believes the Penguins' current collection of prospects is better than average.

"The kids outside of the NHL, in terms of quality and quantity, I still think we're in the top half [of the NHL]," he said.

Angelo Esposito, the Penguins' No. 1 choice in the June entry draft, is a consensus choice as their top prospect, and understandably so. He is a game-breaker-in-training, a versatile forward whose skills set makes him a potential impact player at this level for a lot of years.

"He's an NHL shooter, and he has elite speed," Fletcher said. "He has a chance to be a big-time goal-scorer."

Fletcher figures Esposito, a center by trade who is learning to play left wing, will be a serious challenger for a job at training camp next fall, and the Penguins have a couple of other forwards -- left winger Ryan Stone and right winger Jonathan Filewich -- who should do the same.

Toss in a few more who will need more extensive seasoning before they pull on a Penguins sweater -- 2007 second-rounder Keven Veilleux, a super-sized center, is one to watch in that group -- and their contingent of up-and-coming forwards seems fairly solid.

"If you look up front, we have quite a lot of skill and we have some size," Fletcher said.

Even so, Fletcher believes the Penguins' greatest strength on their organizational depth chart -- outside of the NHL, anyway -- is on defense, where they have a pack of players capable of playing here eventually, even if there aren't any obvious Norris Trophy contenders in the group.

"We have a lot of young defensemen coming," Fletcher said.

"That's something that the last two drafts have really helped to shore up a little bit."

The headliner is Alex Goligoski, who is spending his first professional winter with the Penguins' minor-league team in Wilkes-Barre, but collegians such as Brian Strait and Carl Sneep and junior players like Alex Grant and Robert Bortuzzo flesh out a group that could make a significant long-term contribution.

"There's a lot of quality and a lot of quantity there," Fletcher said, "and that's a hard position to get."

That doesn't mean they are going to provide a quick fix for the Penguins' blue line. Goligoski could play here next season, especially if he upgrades his strength, but most of the rest likely are three or four years away from landing steady jobs in the NHL.

Satisfied as the Penguins are with their prospects on defense and up front, they are concerned about a lack of depth in goal.

"We tried to address it [this summer] by signing [draftee] David Brown and [free agent] John Curry, but, clearly, we have to continue to add more goaltenders to the system," Fletcher said.

"With the exception of [Chad] Johnson, we don't have any other kids even in the pipeline. That's something we're aware of and, whether it's through free agency, the draft or a trade, something we'll try to shore up."

He also noted that the Penguins have a No. 1 goalie, Marc-Andre Fleury (23), and a backup, Dany Sabourin (27), who do not exactly qualify as elderly, although Fleury no longer is part of a group Fletcher believes is without peer in the NHL.

"If you look at players 22 and younger in NHL organizations, whether they're in the NHL or the minors, and you look at the quality and quantity of those kids," he said, "we'd have to be No. 1."