How Penguins made Ruck twins’ NHL dream come true by pairing brothers Liam and Markus

With their first two picks in the 2026 NHL Draft, the Pittsburgh Penguins not only added two talented players, they drafted a pair of twins.

Two notable prospects in the NHL Draft were Liam and Markus Ruck, twin brothers from British Colombia in Canada. The duo have played together their entire lives, including most recently for the Medicine Hat Tigers in the WHL.

Not only does Pittsburgh get a couple of offensive prospects, the team adds automatic chemistry between two players who know exactly how to play with each other. Here's how the Penguins landed both Ruck brothers in the NHL Draft.

MORE: Tracking every pick in the 2026 NHL Draft

How Penguins drafted Ruck twins

In the first round on Friday night, the Penguins took Liam Ruck with pick No. 22 overall, adding a young offensive talent to its prospect pool and giving Liam bragging rights over his brother.

One proud family 🫶 pic.twitter.com/XFPssr11Q1

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 27, 2026

However, Markus Ruck remained on the board for any other team to take, but the first round ended with Markus still available. After the first round, Penguins GM Kyle Dubas seemed to imply that the team was focused on reuniting the Ruck brothers on Saturday.

It sure sounds like the Penguins have every intention on drafting Markus Ruck tomorrow. I'd be surprised if they don't. Dubas mentioned that they've never spent more than four days apart.

— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) June 27, 2026

Sure enough, when Markus was still on the board for the Penguins' No. 39 overall selection, Pittsburgh took the other Ruck brother to keep the twins together.

Twice as nice 🤩 🤩 pic.twitter.com/rSbk3S2G91

— Pittsburgh Penguins (@penguins) June 27, 2026

The brothers play well off each other, as Liam is known more for finishing and Markus is more of a playmaker. Therefore, besides this being a nice story, it also makes sense to keep them together.

Markus is officially on board now as well. He’s the playmaker to Liam’s finishing, but don’t sleep on his shot, too. Not as powerful as his brothers, but he’s got one. I think he’s a C for now, but let’s see how he develops. Bit of a choppier skater than Liam. Engaged defensively

— Jesse Marshall (@jmarshfof) June 27, 2026

Twins to play on same NHL team

While brothers have often played on the same team in the NHL, it is much more rare that twins get that honor. The highest-profile example of this, though, belongs to the Sedin twins, who played together on the Vancouver Canucks for their entire careers.

The Canucks selected Daniel and Henrik Sedin with the second and third overall picks in the 1999 NHL Draft, pairing the twins immediately. Vancouver owned the third pick in that draft and traded up to get the second pick, ensuring they could have both Sedin twins.