With the 169th overall pick in the sixth round of the 2025 NHL Entry Draft on Saturday, the Pittsburgh Penguins would draft former Oahe Capital and current Muskegon Lumberjack Carter Sanderson as he becomes the first NHL draftee born in South Dakota.
It wasn’t a certainty going into the draft, but the thought would be the Penguins, who had several conversations with Sanderson along with also potentially the Tampa Bay Lightning, who had four picks in the seventh and final round. But the Penguins decided to snatch up Sanderson near the midway point of the sixth round. Sanderson say it’s an awesome and exciting feeling to be drafted by the Penguins…
While the first round on Friday was very slow, Saturday’s second through seventh rounds started to really fly. It was moving so fast Sanderson didn’t have a call prior to being picked and one of his teammates with Muskegon knew before he did…
Sanderson grew up with the Oahe Capitals, playing through his eighth grade year with that last year being his lone varsity season with the Caps. He says he was always living the dream playing hockey with the Caps…
Sanderson was able to enjoy being drafted on Saturday, but then had to leave on Sunday to head to Pittsburgh where work begins on Monday…
The most likely outcome for Sanderson in the near future is like most every other draft pick for the NHL, he will continue at least another season in the USHL for his senior year of high school and then will be evaluated to either join the University of North Dakota as a freshman or could play another year at the USHL, which is also not uncommon, especially for someone like Sanderson, who is the second youngest player taken in the draft by a day. Sanderson knows being the first South Dakotan to be drafted could not be possible without his family and the support he’s had throughout his career…
It’s the second Pierre athlete to be drafted in 2025 with Grey Zabel being selected by the Seattle Seahawks in April and now Sanderson to the Pittsburgh Penguins in June.
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