NHL Draft: Can the Penguins keep the Ruck twins united?
· Yahoo Sports
The Pittsburgh Penguins drafted Liam Ruck last night in the first round. Ruck will be very invested to see what the Pens end up doing today when round two starts and his twin brother Markus is still available.
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"Better together…"
— TSN Hockey (@TSNHockey) June 26, 2026
@markhmasters on the twins holding out hope for a Ruck reunion at the NHL Draft: https://t.co/A53nKKbY5e
The twins, in what else but a joint interview, talked about their connectedness.
TSN: How much better are you guys together?
Markus Ruck: “Quite a bit. We’ve spent a lot of time together and had a lot of practice together. We watch a lot of video together at home. I think that helps a lot. We spent 18 years of our life together and barely been apart. I think we are better together. But we’d both do well apart as well.”
TSN: How much time have you guys spent apart?
Liam Ruck: Not a whole lot. I think the longest is four days, maybe once or twice. We’ve pretty much been through it all together.
TSN: How big of a challenge would it be to carry on your hockey journeys with separate NHL organizations?
Markus Ruck: On the ice I think it would be completely fine. I think off the ice at first would be a little challenging. I think I’d miss him and miss competing with him every day and getting better with him because I think that’s an important thing that we have going. We love competing with each other every day whether it’s just a little fun game or it’s in the gym competing to get better. We love doing that with each other. But on the ice I think if you put a smart player with either of us and watch the same film that we do together, I think you’ll get the same outcome.
The pair sounds hopeful they will be drafted by the same team but understanding if they are selected by different clubs. Liam, who the Pens drafted is more of a shoot-first player. Markus, who remains available and is expected to be a second round pick, is more of a playmaker. The duo will certainly now be hoping the Pens will ‘complete the set’ of Rucks with the 39th pick.
Kyle Dubas’s comments from last night seem to indicate that would be a strong possibility for Pittsburgh, saying “that would make sense” about the Pens’ interest in drafting Markus if they could at 39th overall.
Dubas, on the possibility of drafting Liam's identical twin Markus on Day 2: "I think at the Combine they said they'd spent four nights apart total in their whole lives. So, I think that would make sense, if that's the way that the board falls tomorrow." Pittsburgh has pick 39.
— Pens Inside Scoop (@PensInsideScoop) June 27, 2026
Now the Ruck twins and hockey world will wait and see what happens between picks 33-38 before the Pens get back on the board. Other clubs might stray from taking Markus with a high second round pick since they wouldn’t be able to get the package deal of his brother, but only time will tell if the twins end up on the stage in the same jersey.
The good news for the twins is that they won’t be splitting in the near future regardless of how their NHL rights go. Both are expected to return to their junior team in Medicine Hat to play another season in the WHL in 2026-27. After that, for now at least, both are committed to play at the University of North Dakota in 2027-28. Before that, both will be watching and hoping that Markus joins Liam as hearing his name called by the Penguins in this draft.