There's a community 2011 NHL Mock Draft going over at the SB Nation blog Hockey Wilderness, and they've gotten around to naming the Penguins' top pick at No. 23. It's American forward Rocco Grimaldi, who the Western College Hockey blog writes about here.
He's truly an exceptional athlete with amazing physical abilities.
If it were up to me, I'd have no problem taking Grimaldi with a top ten pick in this year's draft. NHL teams are likely to be a little more conservative about using such a high pick on a player that is going to be deemed risky because of his size. Most likely, Grimaldi will go in the mid-to-late first round, possibly even dropping into the second round, though he could be a huge steal in the draft.
The problem with Grimaldi is that he's very small, at 5-foot-6. But when you're picking No. 23 overall, you aren't going to get a perfect prospect. Grimaldi has great speed, works hard and has terrific stickhandling abilities. It sounds like he'd be worth the risk at No. 23 overall.
Hockey Wilderness has the Chicago Blackhawks taking local product Brandon Saad with the No. 18 pick. You can read more on Saad here.
For more on the Penguins, check out PensBurgh.