Kangas stayed in Finland for a second full season with HPK, with the club listing him under contract through 2026 and still carrying him as a regular on its Liiga roster. On HPK’s player page, he is up to 50 games in 2025-26 with five assists and a plus-2, which fits the same defense-first profile he brought into the year rather than signaling a new offensive layer. HPK and Liiga listings also continued to show him in the lineup into January and February, which is the real step here: he is not just passing through men’s hockey now, he is holding a pro role over a full season. The Penguins’ original draft view of him as a big left-shot defender who is hard to play against still tracks cleanly, and this season has mostly reinforced that identity. The growth is in stability, minutes, and pro habits, not production. For fantasy or upside purposes, he still looks like a long-term, low-event defensive prospect, but the floor is firmer now because he has proven he can stay in a Liiga lineup and survive in that role over time.

The Pittsburgh Penguins’ seventh-round pick (223rd overall) from the 2023 NHL Entry Draft, Kangas, spent the majority of the 2024-25 season in Liiga with HPK. In 41 games, he produced five assists. He also played seven games at the 2025 World Junior Championship and tallied one assist. Kangas is not known for his offensive production; he is a big, defense-minded defenseman who makes it hard for the opponent to play against. Kangas will play for HPK once again during the 2025-26 season, and is a long-term project that would be best suited for a bottom-pairing shutdown role if he were to come to North America and join the Penguins organization.