Markus Ruck with big goals, great experience at Pens camp

PITTSBURGH (93.7 The Fan) – Markus Ruck and his twin brother Liam have been teammates for pretty much their entire hockey careers. After all, they’d only been apart four days in their lives before they were both selected by the Pittsburgh Penguins in the 2026 NHL Draft last weekend.

But this week at development camp, the two forward were thrown into unfamiliar territory when they were placed on different teams for once. While Markus was given a gold jersey for “Team Barrasso”, Liam was assigned to don a black jersey as a member of “Team Murphy”. After each of them spent the first four days of camp getting to know their teammates, the duo finally got to go head-to-head in a game situation during Friday’s series of 3-on-3 scrimmages.

Following four 20-minute round-robin games, only Markus remained in the tournament, as he and his team advanced to the final against “Team Rutherford”. His first and only goal of the afternoon came during that high-stakes matchup and gave his squad a late 3-2 edge. Both sides lit the lamp one more time as Team Barrasso held on to capture the Camp Cup.

“It was nice for Markus to step up and score the big goal for the winning team there. It looked like it was gonna stand as the winning goal,” Penguins Director of Player Development Tom Kostopoulos said.

Markus notching just one goal wasn’t really all that surprising. After all, he’s always been much more of a pass-first player than a pure scorer throughout his junior hockey career. By the end of last season, his 87 helpers were far more than any of his teammates on the Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL). Though it didn’t result in many points for him on Friday, Markus’ ability to move the puck efficiently helped his team nearly find twine on several occasions. Kostopoulos echoed that sentiment, but also noted that the youngster still has plenty of room to grow in another key area.

“You can see Markus can put pucks to areas that only his teammates can get to. (As for his) skating, I think there’s a lot of potential there as he gets stronger and more powerful. He’s not slow, but he can build more power,” Kostopoulos said.

That will come with more time spent in the gym this offseason as he works through his summer regimen. However, Markus is also aware that if he wants to put on some muscle in time for next season, he’ll need to eat just as well as he exercises going forward.

“There’s lots of things I need to work on for sure. A big one for me is the nutrition and putting on the weights. I’m a guy that loves to be on the ice, but staying off the ice a little bit would be important for me,” Markus said.

Capped off with a tournament win at development camp, Markus would likely agree that the past six days have been some of the best of his life. Sure, getting his name called on the NHL draft stage was exciting, and getting to talk on the phone with Sidney Crosby right after was also likely something he’ll never forget. But according to Markus, what’s really made his time in Pittsburgh so far special is the reception he’s gotten from the fans.

“It’s been unbelievable,” Markus said of his experience being a Penguin thus far. One day, we were walking back to our hotel when a car slowed in the middle of the road and said, ‘Welcome to Pittsburgh’. That means a lot. Everyone’s been so welcoming, the fans are cheering loud and saying hi. It’s unbelievable, and I love it here.”