CRANBERRY, Pa. -- Charlie Trethewey knew his surroundings.
Mario Lemieux's No. 66 hanging along a side wall. Five Stanley Cup banners at the other end. Black and white photos of kids in No. 87 Sidney Crosby jerseys above the second rink.
UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex, the Pittsburgh Penguins practice facility, became familiar when Trethewey developed in the Penguins Elite youth program from 2020-22, so the 17-year-old defenseman didn't feel out of place sitting atop a makeshift stage on the main rink two days after being selected by the Penguins in the third round (No. 73) of the 2025 NHL Draft.
"Obviously, coming back to Pittsburgh, it's a dream come true," Trethewey said Monday. "Playing two years here with the Pens Elite, it was awesome. I really enjoyed my time here."
Trethewey is from Ellicott City, Maryland, located west of Baltimore. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, he relocated to Mt. Lebanon, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pittsburgh and the hometown of his dad, Bob, to live with his grandfather, Bill. They then moved to Cranberry, near the Lemieux Complex where Trethewey played for Penguins Elite before leaving for the Little Caesars AAA program in Michigan.
"It's unbelievable. It's pretty special," Penguins Elite executive director of hockey operations Danny MacKinnon said. "You can see it when he got drafted there, the social media had images of him in a Penguins jersey at a young age. His dad grew up in the area.
"To have a Pens Elite kid drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins is something that's pretty special. It's something that we as a staff are proud of. Having Charlie in our program and having helped with his development, it's just something special to see."
Trethewey (6-foot-1, 201 pounds) had 55 points (18 goals, 37 assists) in 115 games over two seasons for USA Hockey's National Team Development Program under-18 team.
"It was great. It was just an unbelievable feeling," Trethewey said after being drafted Saturday. "I'm kind of at a loss for words. ... I didn't really think I was going to go to the Pens. I didn't meet with them at the (NHL Draft) Combine but like I said, it's an unbelievable feeling to go to kind of a hometown team for me and represent the Penguins."
Committed to Boston University, Trethewey is part of a steady cadence of high-end talent from Penguins Elite with a record five former members drafted this year.
Like Trethewey, forward Kieren Dervin was selected by the Vancouver Canucks in the third round (No. 65,). Forward L.J. Mooney went to the Montreal Canadiens in the fourth round (No. 113), the same round forward Brandon Gorzynski (No. 126) was taken by the Dallas Stars. Forward Jacob Cloutier was chosen by the Winnipeg Jets in the seventh round (No. 220).
"It's a great place for the top players in the country to go develop," Trethewey said. "It's a really tight-knit [group] of guys. We become brothers through all the adversity."
Utah Mammoth forward Logan Cooley, in Penguins Elite from 2018-20, was selected No. 3 by the Arizona Coyotes in the 2022 NHL Draft. He has 109 points (45 goals, 64 assists) in 157 games.
Brandon Svoboda, a forward at Boston University, was a third-round pick (No. 71) of the San Jose Sharks in the 2023 NHL Draft. He was one of eight players from the program in the Frozen Four last season, along with Western Michigan defenseman Brian Kramer and six from Penn State.
In 2012, Penguins Elite began as a joint initiative between the Penguins, the Pittsburgh Hornets amateur hockey association and Dick's Sporting Goods. It's now the premier AAA organization in Western Pennsylvania.
"Whether they make it to the NHL or not, we just want to maximize everyone's potential," MacKinnon said. "Obviously, it's pretty special and it's a kind of perfect scenario when a kid from Pens Elite is drafted by the Pittsburgh Penguins.
"It's pretty cool, it's pretty neat, but it's not our goal. ... Our goal is to make sure we provide a great experience for our youth athletes."
Even if it isn't the primary intention, the program is a proven pipeline to the NHL or premier colleges.
And for Trethewey, it eventually led back home.
"I'm going to be so close to a lot of family," Trethewey said. "I just can't wait to get started."
