Penguins select Peyton Kettles No. 39 overall in 2025 NHL Draft

The Pittsburgh Penguins selected Peyton Kettles with the 39th overall pick on Saturday at The Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.

Kettles spent the 2024-25 season with the Swift Current Broncos of the Western Hockey League (WHL), where he tallied five goals and nine assists for 14 points in 53 games and 65 penalty minutes. Among Broncos defensemen, Kettles ranked third. He added two assists in five WHL Playoff contests as the Broncos were eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

Last season, in his rookie year, Kettles put up 13 points and 44 penalty minutes in 61 WHL games, and two points in eight WHL Playoff games.

Kettles stands 6-foot-5 and is a shutdown defenseman who is able to use his reach to deny passes and poke-check pucks away from other opposing players. 

According to HockeyFights.com, Kettles got into two fights in the 2024-25 WHL season and four fights in the 2023-24 season as a rookie.

The Winnipeg, Manitoba native represented Canada at the Hlinka Gretzky Cup, where he had one goal in five games and helped Canada capture a gold medal. Kettles also represented Canada Red at the Under-17 World Hockey Championships, where he had one assist in seven games.

Kettles was ranked No. 67 on Steven Ellis’ Final Top-120 Draft rankings.” Kettles didn’t put up many points in Swift Current, but he wasn’t afraid to absolutely blast someone. The 6-foot-5 defender takes up a ton of space, defends well and is decently mobile for his size. He can kill penalties, and I actually think he’s better offensively than his 14 points suggest. Kettles also plays a ton of minutes, which is never a bad thing. If he makes it to the NHL, it’s for his shutdown qualities.”

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