Carter Sanderson is starting to look like one of those late-round finds that can sneak up on everybody.
Taken 169th overall in the 2025 NHL Draft by Kyle Dubas and Wes Clark, the Penguins prospect is suddenly drawing real attention after a fast start with the Calgary Hitmen in the WHL. Sanderson, a 19-year-old from San Diego, has gone from largely off the radar to a name getting more notice from Penguins fans, scouts and staff, along with the Team USA selection group for the World Junior Championship.
His path to this point has been moving quickly. Last season, Sanderson captained the USHL’s Muskegon Lumberjacks to a USHL Clark Cup. This fall, he made the jump to the CHL and landed with the same Calgary program that previously featured Ben Kindel and Tanner Howe before they moved on to professional hockey.
The production has been loud. As of October 27, Sanderson has 21 points in 11 games, including 15 goals and six assists. On that pace, he is tracking toward 90 goals, 36 assists and 126 points over roughly a 65-66 game regular season.
It is the kind of start that only adds to the case for why Dubas and Clark have earned credit for finding players who can emerge from deeper in the draft. Sanderson’s early numbers are making that point harder to ignore.
At 6-foot-2, he brings more than scoring touch. His frame gives him the ability to play a physical game on both sides of the puck, and scouts have continued to praise that presence. That kind of strength can matter in junior hockey, college hockey and the NHL, especially when a player can use limited chances to swing momentum and inject life into a game.
There is still plenty to sort out, of course. The season is just beginning, and Sanderson still has a long WHL schedule ahead of him, with the possibility of adding the World Junior Championship in late December and into the new year. But after this start, he is no longer just another name in the system.
In Other News...
Penguins Latest Malkin Line Test Says A Lot About Their Young Forwards
Early in the 2026-27 season, Dan Muse is already in lineup-reshuffling mode, with injuries and uneven play pushing the Penguins to keep searching for the right combinations. That search has made the young forwards especially important, and it has also underscored how much Kyle Dubas has been willing to adjust the roster after bringing in defenseman Spencer Stastney from Edmonton while losing Filip Hallander.
One of the more interesting tests has come with Ben Kindel centered between Egor Chinakhov and Evgeni Malkin, a trio that did not offer much in limited looks last season. Muse has also had reason to lean into Hendrix Lapierre at center, where he has looked more productive and shown real chemistry with Ville Koivunen, while Andrei Kuzmenko has not found the same level of effectiveness so far. For a Penguins group trying to sort out its depth, those combinations may say as much about the young players as they do about Malkins line. [Read more 🡒]
Penguins Roster Shuffle Puts New Focus On Whos Available Next
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The shuffle leaves the Penguins with a little more clarity on the immediate lineup picture, but not much margin for error as the injuries keep stacking up. Brazeaus return is a timely boost, yet the roster movement also opens the door to more questions about who might be available next and how long Pittsburgh can keep piecing things together without further setbacks. [Read more 🡒]
Former Penguins Defenseman Lands In A Familiar Rival's Emergency Plan
Jack St. Ivanys next stop came through waivers, with the Washington Capitals claiming the defenseman from the Winnipeg Jets to shore up a blue line that needed reinforcements. The move gives Washington another experienced depth option on defense, and for Penguins followers it is a familiar name resurfacing in a different place after spending most of his professional career in Pittsburghs organization.
St. Ivany had been traded to Winnipeg this summer before landing on waivers, and his path back into the NHL now goes through a rival that has a pressing need for bodies on the back end. With injuries thinning the Capitals defense, his arrival is less about splash than survival, but it also puts an ex-Penguin into one of the leagues more familiar matchups in a spot where he could be asked to contribute sooner rather than later. [Read more 🡒]