The NHL draft provides very few guarantees, and the Pittsburgh Penguins are learning afresh that it's just as important to luck out in later rounds as it is to cash in on the surefire lottery picks.

With 12 goals in 21 games, forward Jake Guentzel - a native of Omaha, Nebraska, who was drafted 77th overall in 2013 - leads the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs in scoring, and by a wide margin over his all-world teammates.

Evgeni Malkin (second overall in 2004) sits in a tie for second with nine goals, while Sidney Crosby (first overall in 2005) has a share of the fourth-highest total with seven.

Related: Guentzel sets playoff goals, points record by American-born rookie

A quick look back at the 2013 draft reveals that Pittsburgh didn't originally own the third-round pick used on Guentzel. In fact, the Penguins were the fourth team to lay claim to it.

Here's a quick look at how it came into their possession:

June 27, 2011: The Minnesota Wild sent a 2013 third-round pick to the Philadelphia Flyers in exchange for forward Darroll Powe.

Feb. 16, 2012: Philadelphia flipped the pick, as well as a 2012 second-round selection acquired from the Los Angeles Kings, to the Dallas Stars for defenseman Nicklas Grossman.

March 24, 2013: Dallas traded a conditional third-round pick and forward Brenden Morrow to Pittsburgh for defenseman Joe Morrow and a fifth-round pick in 2013. The Stars also possessed a third-round pick by way of the Edmonton Oilers, and therefore placed a condition on the trade with Pittsburgh whereby the Penguins would receive the lower of the two selections. Minnesota finished with a better record than Edmonton that season, hence the Wild pick being assigned to Pittsburgh.

Catch all that?

And so, when Pittsburgh was called upon to make the pick, a forward from the USHL's Sioux City Musketeers became property of the Penguins.

From there, Guentzel spent three seasons at the University of Nebraska-Omaha, developing his game in his hometown and registering 40 goals and 79 assists in 108 NCAA games.

He signed his entry-level deal with the Penguins in 2016, and made an immediate impact upon being called up this past regular season, scoring two goals on his first two shots in his NHL debut, capped by a memorable reaction from his family.

After his latest playoff goal, he's on the brink of scoring 50 in his first full season as a pro.

Guentzel has emerged as an unlikely Conn Smythe Trophy candidate as playoff MVP, and, with the next draft only a few weeks away, he's serving as a reminder for the other 30 teams that championships are often won by mining gold on the second day of the annual event.

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Matt Murray is a train that keeps on rolling.

The Pittsburgh Penguins netminder collected his fifth win of the postseason Wednesday night, helping his club take a commanding two-games-to-none lead over the Nashville Predators as the series shifts back to Tennessee.

With the victory, Murray reached 20 playoff wins in the third-fewest games of any goalie in NHL history. He completed the feat in 28 games between this spring and last, while Bill Durnan did so in 26 games across four playoff runs from 1944-47, and Patrick Roy got there in 27 games spread across three postseasons.

Despite being in his second NHL season, Murray is still considered a rookie by NHL standards. That rare circumstance has allowed him to set the NHL record for wins by a rookie goaltender. His 20 wins are five more than Steve Penney, Patrick Roy, Ron Hextall, and Cam Ward, who all sit tied for second.

Murray now leads the playoffs with a 1.54 goals-against average and a .943 save percentage in seven games.

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With the offseason underway for most teams and the remainder to join them in a few weeks, we're looking at what's in store for each club in the coming months.

2016-17 Grade: B

After a first-round, Game 7 loss to the Nashville Predators in 2016, Anaheim Ducks general manager Bob Murray invoked a seemingly desperate measure in firing head coach Bruce Boudreau and replacing him with Randy Carlyle, who led the club to a Stanley Cup win in 2007.

The end result was another playoff series loss to the Predators, albeit this time in the Western Conference Final and with significant injury issues to boot: two big scorers - Rickard Rakell and Patrick Eaves - and No. 1 goalie John Gibson were all sidelined due to injury to finish the postseason, while defensemen Sami Vatanen and Hampus Lindholm both require offseason shoulder surgery after playing through torn labrums.

Murray faced a barrage of criticism for bringing Carlyle back into the mix, but, to his credit, the veteran bench boss was able to adapt to a younger, faster game, bringing the team close to a berth in the final.

There's several questions moving forward, but 2016-17 has to be seen as a success for the Ducks, despite falling short of the ultimate goal.

Free agents

The Ducks will be in the market for a new backup goalie if unable to re-sign either one of their two free agents at the position, while the most notable forward looking for a new deal will be trade deadline acquisition Patrick Eaves.

2017 draft picks

Anaheim's first-round pick is owned by the Dallas Stars thanks to the aforementioned Eaves trade.

The Ducks will also be able to call it a day after the fifth round, pending any picks acquired through further wheeling and dealing.

Summer priorities

1. Figure out expansion protection

Of all 30 teams faced with decisions on who to expose in the upcoming expansion draft, the Ducks face arguably the toughest.

As a refresher, teams can protect one goalie and either seven forwards and three defensemen, or any combination of eight skaters. Any player with a no-movement clause cannot be exposed, however, unless he agrees to do so.

That Kevin Bieksa has a NMC on his deal may cause havoc for the Ducks, seeing as Anaheim will no doubt be reticent to expose one of Hampus Lindholm, Sami Vatanen, or Cam Fowler.

Protecting all four defensemen, coupled with the fact Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Ryan Kesler can't be moved, would likely mean exposing Jakob Silfverberg up front, which seems unimaginable.

In short, Murray has his work cut out for him here.

2. Explore all trade possibilities

The Ducks are absolutely loaded on the blue line, with Josh Manson, Brandon Montour, or Shea Theodore (all exempt from expansion protection, by the way) waiting in the wings to take on big roles behind the four players mentioned above.

All three will become restricted free agents next summer, and with Fowler eligible to hit unrestricted free agency at the same time, there simply won't be enough cash to go around.

Literally every NHL team is looking to upgrade at this position, giving Anaheim plenty of leverage to pull off a significant trade, ideally for a high-end young forward.

3. Improve goaltending depth

The Ducks remain bullish on Gibson's stock as a No. 1 goalie, but the fact he was injured to finish the postseason and Jonathan Bernier was unable to pick up the slack may have cost the team a shot at the Cup.

Both Bernier and Jhonas Enroth will be UFAs this summer, and there's not much to speak of at this position in the pipeline. As such, drafting a goalie and signing a capable backup are musts on Murray's summer to-do list.

2017-18 Outlook

While there's somewhat of a youth movement happening in Anaheim, the core of the team remains built around Ryan Getzlaf, Corey Perry, and Ryan Kesler, all of whom are on the brink of exiting their peak years, despite carrying heavy cap hits for the foreseeable future.

There are only so many opportunities to get the job done, and Anaheim's window won't remain open forever. In order for 2017-18 to be a success, nothing short of a final appearance will suffice.

This will be a tricky offseason to navigate, but if Murray can push all the right buttons, he may just be able to serve up the right mix for a winning recipe.

Offseason Outlook Series

COL | VAN | NJD | ARI | BUF
DET | DAL | FLA | LAK | CAR
WPG | PHI | TBL | NYI | WAS
TOR | CGY | BOS | SJ | OTT
STL | NYR | EDM | MTL | ANH

(Photos courtesy: Action Images)

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