Owen
Pickering
D · PIT · Defensive · Below average
- PAL
- 34
- WAR
- 0.2
- Value
- 54
- PTS
- 3
2024-25№ 145 / 314
Owen Pickering (Pittsburgh Penguins) stats and profile: offensive production, ice time, advanced stats, WAR and PAL rating.
Owen Pickering
HEIGHT : 196 cm · WEIGHT : 97 kg · SHOOTS : L
Born : January 26, 2004 · St. Adolphe, Canada
Drafted : 2022 · PIT · round 1, pick #21
Contract : $950,000 · 2022-23 → 2026-27 · Entry-Level Contract · RFA · Signing bonus $95,000
NHL record
| Year | Team | GP | G | A | PTS | PIM |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 4 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 |
| 2024-25 | Pittsburgh Penguins | 25 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 6 |
| NHL totals | 29 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 8 | |
Owen Pickering: our analysis
2024-25 season: 25 GP, 1 G, 2 A, 3 PTS, -5 +/-, 14:49 TOI. WAR 0.2 (145th of 314) · PAL 34, below average.
In 2024-25, Owen Pickering, 22, posts a PAL Rating of 34 out of 100 (below average), and his WAR of 0.2 ranks 145th among 314 regulars, in the top half.
His strengths: defense (67, above average) and power play (65, above average). On the other hand, creation (11, among the weakest in the league) and offense (16, well below average) hold him back.
Breaking down his WAR (goals above average), his biggest contribution: finishing (+0.6); his biggest cost: EV offense (-0.3).
Contract-wise, his Value score of 54 (fair value) weighs his output against what he costs: 50 is what that salary should buy.
Owen Pickering's story
Picked late in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft, Owen Pickering came up through Manitoba minor hockey while also playing baseball, volleyball and basketball; he began violin lessons at age six. Those multi-sport roots and musical training framed his early years and his development as a composed young defenceman.
In junior hockey Pickering established himself with the Swift Current Broncos. The club made him captain on 14 October 2022, and his play earned him a spot on the WHL Central Division All-Star First Team for 2022–23 — an honour he repeated in 2023–24. Those seasons marked his growth into a top prospect in the league.
The Pittsburgh Penguins selected him 21st overall in the 2022 NHL Entry Draft and signed him to a three-year entry-level contract on 16 July 2022. Pittsburgh assigned him to their AHL affiliate, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, on 30 March 2023; he made his AHL debut the next day in a 4–2 loss to the Lehigh Valley Phantoms. After returning to Swift Current for the 2023–24 campaign, Pickering reached the NHL in 2024–25: he was called up and debuted on 16 November 2024 against the San Jose Sharks, recording his first NHL point with an assist on Jesse Puljujärvi's goal, and scored his first NHL goal on 3 December in a 5–4 overtime win over the Florida Panthers.
He played 25 games for Pittsburgh in that stretch before being reassigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton on 15 January 2025. Back in the AHL, he finished the 2024–25 season with 13 points (2 goals, 11 assists) in 47 games. His AHL club was eliminated in the first round of the 2025 Calder Cup playoffs by Lehigh Valley in a best-of-three series; Pickering appeared in both games but did not record a point.
Internationally, Pickering represented Canada at the 2022 IIHF World U18 Championships. Personal notes from his pre-draft profile include a childhood fandom of the Winnipeg Jets and an admiration for Miro Heiskanen; he is also a second cousin of fellow 2022 first-round pick Denton Mateychuk, and his younger sister Avery has played for Canada at the IIHF World Women's U18 Championship.
Facts drawn from Wikipédia, told in our own words.
Advanced stats
- TOI/GP
- 12:06
- PP TOI/GP
- 0:00
- SH TOI/GP
- 0:02
- Pts/GP
- 0.00
- EV points
- 0
- Hits
- 1
- Blocks
- 2
- Takeaways
- 1
- Corsi % (SAT)
- 47.8 %
- Off. zone starts
- 29.5 %
Stats and photos: NHL (NHL.com)
Prospect value
Scout Report Center →Rank
31
among all 32 teams' prospects
Rating
95/ 100
percentile among prospects at his position
Potential
75/ 80
First line or top pair
Ceiling: 5.7 WAR from age 21 to 26
NHL probability
65 %
of playing 200 NHL games from age 21 to 26
Expected WAR, age 21-26
1.9
the most likely outcome
NHLe
16
NHL points over 82 games, from 2025-26 (AHL, 68 games)
2026-27 projection
Projected points
1between 0 and 5 (80% range)
- Goals
- 0
- Assists
- 1
- Games
- 11
So far: 0 pts in 0 games. The team has played 18 of 84 games. Projected pace: 0.11 pts per game (last season: 0.00).
The projection follows last season's pace. Tested on 2,265 player seasons (2022-23 to 2025-26): average miss of 9 points over 82 games; for players at 0.9 points per game and up, it ran 5 points high on average.
This is only a projection. It knows nothing about injuries, trades or role changes; one player in five finishes outside the range.
Player ratings, 2024-25
All ratings →Fourteen ratings from 0 to 100 drawn from data, never by hand: 75 = established NHL player, 95+ = elite.
OV · OverallConfidence 27 %
69
Depth
- SK
- Skating
- 64
- Confidence 40 %
- ST
- Strength
- 79
- Confidence 31 %
- EN
- Endurance
- 62
- Confidence 50 %
- DU
- Durability
- 57
- Confidence 40 %
- CK
- Checking
- 70
- Confidence 31 %
- FG
- Fighting
- 80
- Confidence 14 %
- DI
- Discipline
- 75
- Confidence 31 %
- FO
- Faceoffs
- —
- PA
- Passing
- 68
- Confidence 27 %
- SC
- Scoring
- 74
- Confidence 27 %
- DF
- Defense
- 79
- Confidence 23 %
- PS
- Penalty shot
- 76
- Confidence 0 %
- EX
- Experience
- 32
- Confidence 100 %
Why these ratings?Hide details
SK — Skating64
- Top speed (35 %)34.5 · 63
- Bursts > 20 mph /60 (30 %)1.47 · 70
- Distance /60 (20 %)14 · 67
- Speed consistency (15 %)34 · 69
ST — Strength79
- Contact absorbed /60 (50 %)4.856 · 72
- Body mass (50 %)0.911 · 81
EN — Endurance62
- Ice time per game (45 %)17.4 · 68
- Total ice time (20 %)365 · 35
- Shift length (15 %)44.6 · 64
- Lowest recent ice time per game (15 %)16.1 · 67
- Special-teams time per game (5 %)2.05 · 71
DU — Durability57
- Share of games played (100 %)0.66 · 57
CK — Checking70
- Hits /60 (70 %)3.164 · 72
- Lowest seasonal rate (20 %)2.804 · 73
- Season volume (10 %)2.639 · 54
FG — Fighting80
- Fights per 82 games (100 %)0.902 · 80
DI — Discipline75
- Net penalty value /60 (50 %)-0.035 · 75
- Penalties taken /60 (30 %)0.572 · 76
- Penalties drawn /60 (20 %)0.37 · 75
PA — Passing68
- Primary assists /60 (40 %)0.254 · 62
- Secondary assists /60 (20 %)0.41 · 75
- Offensive creation (RAPM) (20 %)-0.018 · 74
- Power-play points /60 (10 %)4.422 · 80
- Assist consistency (10 %)0.14 · 61
SC — Scoring74
- Goals /60 (25 %)0.211 · 75
- Individual xG /60 (20 %)0.167 · 67
- Finishing (goals − xG per shot) (20 %)0.153 · 79
- High-danger chances /60 (15 %)0.07 · 71
- xG per shot (10 %)0.034 · 73
- Shot attempts /60 (10 %)9.645 · 74
DF — Defense79
- RAPM defense /60 (35 %)0.031 · 76
- Relative xG against (20 %)-0.15 · 81
- On-ice xG against /60 (15 %)2.51 · 80
- Penalty kill /60 (10 %)-0.04 · 69
- Takeaways − giveaways /60 (10 %)-1.361 · 81
- Shot attempts against /60 (5 %)58.2 · 77
- Blocked shots /60 (5 %)4.16 · 66
PS — Penalty shot76
- Shootouts (60 %)32.7 · 76
- Penalty shots (40 %)29.3 · 76
EX — Experience32
- Career regular-season games (65 %)46
- Career playoff games (25 %)0
- NHL seasons (10 %)24
OV — Overall69
- DF · Defense (30 %)79
- PA · Passing (22 %)68
- SK · Skating (12 %)64
- SC · Scoring (12 %)74
- EN · Endurance (9 %)62
- ST · Strength (6 %)79
- DI · Discipline (5 %)75
- CK · Checking (4 %)70
The bars show confidence (sample size), not player quality. — : not enough data, not a zero. Engine version 1.0.
WAR and PAL ratings, 2024-25
How we rate →PAL Rating scores performance from 0 to 100 against players at the same position (50 = average player), starting from the player's strength, offensive or defensive. Value Rating compares that performance with what the player costs: 50 means paid what the play is worth.
PAL Rating
34/ 100
Performance · Below average
158 of 253 at the position
Value Rating
54/ 100
Fair value
0.89 M$ · expected PAL 29
ProfileDefensiveValue comes mostly from defense
- Offense
- 18
- Defense
- 60
See full detailsHide details
- Offense
- 16
- Creation
- 11
- Shooting
- 40
- Possession
- 39
- Defense
- 67
- Discipline
- 55
- Power play
- 65
- Penalty kill
- 59
From 0 to 100; 50 is the average player at the same position, adjusted for ice time.
Hockey IQ, 2024-25
Rankings and method →The quality of the player's decisions with and against the puck at 5-on-5, against regulars at the same position (50 = average). PAL measures output; IQ measures how the player plays.
Overall IQ
28/ 100
Below average
better than 28% of defensemen, offense and defense combined
Offensive IQ
3/ 100
Low
passing, shots, puck
Defensive IQ
74/ 100
Very good
takeaways, discipline, own zone
Overall IQ isn't an average of the two scores: it's the player's rank with offense and defense combined, 166 of 231 defensemen.
See full detailsHide details
Offense
- Playmaking passes
- 9
- Shot selection
- 2
- Penalties drawn
- 32
- Puck management
- 55
Defense
- Takeaways
- 40
- Discipline
- 49
- Safe zone exits
- 96
Percentiles: 80 means better than 80% of regulars at the same position. Play without the puck (positioning, coverage) isn't measured: the NHL doesn't publish that data.
WAR, 2025-26
How it's calculated →Wins added to the team, compared with a replacement-level player called up from the AHL.
-0.0
wins above replacement
-0.1 to 0.0 — 90% interval
229 of 325 defensemen
-0.1 goals above replacement
Full leaderboard →See full detailsHide details
- EV offense
- -0.1
- EV defense
- +0.0
- Power play
- 0.0
- Penalty kill
- 0.0
- Shooting
- -0.0
- Penalties
- -0.2
- Average → replacement
- +0.1
In goals.
| Season | Team | GP | WAR | 90% interval | Rank |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2025-26 | PIT | 4 | -0.0 | -0.1 to 0.0 | 229/325 |
| 2024-25 | PIT | 25 | 0.2 | -0.1 to 0.6 | 145/314 |
Player tracking (NHL EDGE)
League EDGE leaderboards →Speed, shot power, distance covered, time by zone: measured by chips in the puck and shoulder pads. 90th percentile = better than 90% of players.
- Hardest shot
- 147.6 km/h58th percentileleague avg. 143.1 km/h
- Top skating speed
- 32.6 km/h10th percentileleague avg. 34.7 km/h
- Bursts over 20 mph, season
- 18th percentileleague avg. 31
- Offensive zone time
- 41.3 %45th percentileleague avg. 42.3 %
See full detailsHide details
- Total distance, season
- 11.4 km11th percentileleague avg. 214.3 km
- Distance, single-game high
- 3.15 km5th percentileleague avg. 5.23 km
- Offensive zone at 5v5
- 41.2 %28th percentileleague avg. 42.1 %
- Neutral zone time
- 18.1 %63rd percentileleague avg. 16.8 %
- Defensive zone time
- 40.7 %48th percentileleague avg. 40.9 %
Shooting
| Shots on goal | Goals | Shooting % | |
|---|---|---|---|
| All | 14th percentile | 00th percentile | 0.0 %0th percentile |
| High danger | 00th percentile | 00th percentile | 0.0 %0th percentile |
| Mid range | 00th percentile | 00th percentile | 0.0 %0th percentile |
| Long range | 16th percentile | 00th percentile | 0.0 %0th percentile |
Shots on goal by zone
2025-2026 regular season. Measured by puck and player tracking chips; the percentile ranks the player within the league.
Game log, 2025-26
TOR
WPG
MIN
PHIOwen Pickering: frequently asked questions
How many goals does Owen Pickering have in 2025-26?
Owen Pickering has 0 goals and 0 points (0 assists) in 4 games in 2025-26.
How old is Owen Pickering?
Owen Pickering is 22 years old: he was born on January 27, 2004.
How tall is Owen Pickering, and how much does he weigh?
Owen Pickering is 6'5" (196 cm) and weighs 214 lb (97 kg).
Where is Owen Pickering from?
Canada: Owen Pickering was born in St. Adolphe, Manitoba, Canada.
What team does Owen Pickering play for?
Owen Pickering plays for the Pittsburgh Penguins in the NHL, at D, wearing number 38.
Is Owen Pickering injured?
No: Owen Pickering is not on the latest NHL injury report. This answer is updated throughout the season.
How good is Owen Pickering?
Owen Pickering produced -0.0 wins above replacement (WAR) in 2025-26, 229th of 325 players at his position in the NHL.
How much does Owen Pickering make?
Owen Pickering carries a cap hit of $950K per season, on a contract worth $3.6M in total over 3 years.
When does Owen Pickering's contract end?
Owen Pickering's contract runs through the 2026-27 season; he will then be a restricted free agent.
Is Owen Pickering a top-10 player at his position?
No: by WAR, he ranks 229th of 325 players at his position in the NHL in 2025-26. Our comparison tool puts him side by side with any other player.
How has Owen Pickering played lately?
Over his last 4 games, Owen Pickering has 0 points (0 goals, 0 assists).
What are Owen Pickering's career stats?
Over his NHL career, Owen Pickering has 29 games, 1 goal, 2 assists and 3 points. His best season: 2024-25, with 3 points in 25 games.
Where was Owen Pickering drafted?
Owen Pickering was drafted 21st overall (round 1) by Pittsburgh Penguins in 2022.
How does Owen Pickering perform in the playoffs?
Owen Pickering has not played in the NHL playoffs yet.
Is Owen Pickering a good fantasy pick?
Probably not, except in deep leagues: our projection has him at 1 points in 2026-27, or 0.09 points per game.
Does Owen Pickering have siblings?
Yes: his younger sister Avery (has represented Canada at the IIHF World Women's U18 Championship).
Is Owen Pickering related to anyone famous?
Yes: Denton Mateychuk (second cousin, also selected in the first round of the 2022 NHL entry draft).
What is Owen Pickering's nationality?
Owen Pickering is Canadian. Internationally: represented Canada at the 2022 IIHF World U18 Championships.
What awards has Owen Pickering won?
WHL Central Division All-Star First Team, 2022–23 season ; WHL Central Division All-Star First Team, 2023–24 season.
Where did Owen Pickering play before turning pro?
Swift Current Broncos (WHL) — selected in the ninth round, 177th overall, in the 2019 WHL Bantam Draft.
How many points is Owen Pickering projected to score in 2026-27?
Our projection has him at 1 points in 11 games in 2026-27 (0 to 5 points, 80% interval), based on his recent seasons, age and role.
See also: his Pittsburgh Penguins teammates
Full roster →
NHL.com ↗ · Stats and photos: NHL (NHL.com)