PITTSBURGH — When Carter Casey got to Medicine Hat, the young goalie faced a common problem.

He couldn’t tell the Ruck twins apart.

But like a poker shark, he discovered their tell — Liam had a discolored tooth. The Rucks’ jovial personalities made that a nearly foolproof identifier.

“They’re smiling all the time,” Casey said.

But when Liam got the tooth fixed, Casey was out of options. He had to learn the differences between Liam and Markus. By January or February — about five months after he arrived — he finally had it down.

Still, even their Medicine Hat teammate could not fully articulate exactly how he differentiates the twin brothers the Penguins selected with their first two picks in the 2026 NHL draft.

“Honestly, I don’t even know anymore,” Casey said. “ ... For me, it’s just getting used to being around them. Their voices are a little different. Once you’re around people like that for a certain amount of time, you just get used to who’s who.”

He can try to impart that knowledge to the other players at Penguins prospect development camp, which began Monday at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex in Cranberry, Pa.

Casey went undrafted before joining Pittsburgh’s development camp alongside his identical twin teammates. The smiles he once used to tell Liam and Markus apart were plastered across their faces throughout the day.

The Rucks looked and sounded like people who had a seemingly impossible dream — that both would be drafted by the same NHL team — come true.

Markus is eight minutes older. But Liam joined the Penguins a whole day before his brother when they selected him 22nd overall in the first round Friday.

Pittsburgh had the 39th overall pick in the second round Saturday, and it was widely expected they would use it on Markus. But that didn’t ease his nerves Friday night. He was in the unusual position of rooting for a slightly later selection.

“After Liam was picked here, I was pretty stressed laying in bed at night going into Day 2,” Markus said. “But Liam was keeping me calm. He told me it’s gonna work out.

“And waiting until [pick] 39 was stressful, as well. I was honestly hoping I would slide to there. And for it to happen, it was unbelievable.”

The longest the brothers have ever spent apart is four days, when Liam had a concussion that prevented him from traveling to a tournament a few years ago. If the NHL draft had gone differently, they might have been forced to separate for much longer.

Liam had a similar sense of relief seeing Markus join him in black and gold.

“I might have been happier than when I got picked,” Liam said. “Just to hear that he’s coming with me and that we get to share our journey together, it means the world to both of us.”

Sometimes twins grow tired of being treated as a package deal and intentionally differentiate themselves from one another. The Rucks have gone the opposite direction.

The only off-ice difference Markus could come up with is their condiment preferences.

“I like ketchup; he doesn’t,” Markus said. “But to be honest, there’s not much other than that. We do everything together. We enjoy the same things. We spend almost every second of our life together.”

In the rare moments when they’re not together, they stay in close communication and want to know what the other is doing.

“I’m always texting him. He’s always texting me,” Markus said.

The Penguins ensured they’ll spend some time apart this week by placing them on different teams among the three squads at development camp.

The organization knows what they can do together — Markus ranked first in the Canadian Hockey League with 108 points in 68 games last season, while Liam was second with 104.

“They just always know where each other are,” Casey said. “ ... They’re just all over the ice, making tic-tac-toe passes that I had never seen before.”

Now, the Penguins will get to see what they can do separately.

Liam’s quick release that allowed him to score 45 goals last season immediately stood out. Penguins director of player development Tom Kostopoulos said Liam is a little farther along in his skating than Markus, though it’s an area where both will need to grow.

“Liam can get up and down the ice a little bit quicker,” Kostopoulos said. “He's got some separation speed. [It’s] just building the strength.”

Kostopoulos called Markus “an incredible playmaker” and said that as his strength and skating technique improve, “his game will really come along.”

It was a reminder the twins could develop on different timelines. They know that and they will be happy for the other if he reaches the NHL first. But Liam sounded fairly confident that won’t be a problem.

“We’re both pretty competitive guys and compete with each other every day. I think knowing that, we’re gonna go on the same trajectory and hopefully come in at the same time,” he said.

For the first time in a couple of years, the Ruck twins will get to play against each other at the development camp tournament Friday. They’re relishing that opportunity — which could harken back to the one source of tension in their childhood.

Markus said they basically never argue or fight, but mini-stick games could turn heated. After about an hour of the silent treatment, they were back to best friends.

“​​Since we were young, we’ve done everything together. We love doing everything together,” Markus said. “ ... We often agree and if we don’t agree, we’ll work it out. We just grew up liking the same things and we have a really special bond.”

The 18-year-old Osoyoos, British Columbia, natives are expected to return to Medicine Hat in the Western Hockey League next season and are both committed to the University of North Dakota for 2027-28 — so Penguins fans probably have a while to figure out which is which.

Markus said their close friends point to their hair, nose and smile as slight indicators. But it usually just comes with time.

One thing you certainly can’t use to tell the Rucks apart is their attitudes.

Casey described them as happy, energetic and kind. All of those were on display Monday.

“They’re such good people, just on and off the ice,” he said. “They’re always smiling, having fun and lightening the mood in the locker room.”

____

©2026 PG Publishing Co. Visit at post-gazette.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.