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We are on the cusp of yet another training camp for the Pittsburgh Penguins. Last year, they broke their three year playoff drought before ultimately bowing out in the first round against the Philadelphia Flyers. This year they will be looking for their aging core to not lose any steps while hoping the younger players continue to move towards being impact players.
Today, I am going to focus on the younger players who have yet to earn a regular spot on the NHL roster. These players might not yet be ready for NHL minutes, but they are the players I am the most intrigued by heading into camp.
Third time a charm?
Harrison Brunicke is going to be entering his third training camp. The first two camps were tremendous for him. He shined the past two Septembers against NHL competition and became one of the more prominent NHL prospects in the Penguins system. Last year, he earned his first stint in the NHL. He wasn’t quite ready for primetime and the team did a really nice job of balancing his games played before they had to send him back to junior hockey.
After the completion of Brunicke’s junior season he joined the Baby Penguins and he was one of their stronger players during their playoff run. He very much looked the part of a player who would eventually be moving on from the AHL level.
Here’s the issue. The Penguins roster has a number of right-handed defensemen on it at the moment. You have Erik Karlsson, Kris Letang, and the newly acquired Kaeden Korczak and Trevor van Riemsdyk. Even with van Riemsdyk potentially playing on the left side Brunicke would still have to bump Korczak out of a regular lineup spot. Korczak makes 3.25M. He is signed through the 2029-30 season.
With Brunicke done with junior hockey the Penguins would be able to send him directly to the AHL. Unless, Brunicke wows the team in camp I do think this is the likeliest option. This is why he intrigues me. What if he does? Then what does the team do? Brunicke knows that he will have to go above and beyond to make the big roster.
5th round find
A player who slipped through the cracks for me is former 2023 5th round pick, Mikhail Ilyin. If you can get a 5th round pick to give your team meaningful NHL minutes I consider that found money. Ilyin might be on course to do just that.
He has played in three and a half KHL seasons despite being only 21 years old. Last year he put up 14 goals and 44 points in 68 games with Cherepovets Severstal. He was the team’s second leading scorer. The KHL is perceived to be a lower scoring league, making these numbers very encouraging. His NHLe score has him putting up 43 points in 82 NHL games. So this is nothing to sneeze at.
Ilyin joined the Baby Penguins for the end of the season and in 15 playoff games he had two goals and nine points.
Given his professional hockey background in the KHL I am going to pay closer attention to him during training camp to see how he looks against seasoned NHL competition.
Future help on the left side
Tomas Galvas was taken in the second round of the 2026 entry draft. He is an offensive defenseman who has been playing in the top Czech league the past three seasons. During the rookie tournament last weekend he was the standout for the Penguins.
He was zooming all around the ice and put on a pretty good Bobby Orr impression against the Red Wings
Galvas also has some nice shootout moves for a defenseman
Last season for Liberec Bili Tygri HC he had 24 points in 32 games. That translates to about 24 points in an 82 game NHL season per NHLe. Galvas was named defenseman of the year in the Czech league.
Considering the lack of difference makers on the left side of the Penguins defense Galvas turning into a quality offensive defenseman at the NHL level would be just what the doctor ordered for the team.
Currently, Sam Girard and Declan Carlile are the only NHL rostered defensemen who are left-handed on the Penguins. Galvas already has three years of professional experience heading into camp. I’d love to see him show out and make plays the next few weeks. While the AHL seems like his current destination there aren’t a lot of roadblocks currently on the NHL roster, either. A superb camp might give him a shot at NHL minutes. If not, he can go do his thing with the Baby Penguins in a high usage role.
Former first rounder graduating to professional ranks
Bill Zonnon was taken 22nd overall by Kyle Dubas in 2025. Last year was the final year he had to play junior hockey. It was an injury filled season that left him only playing in 35 regular season games. In those games he had 46 points. In 17 QMJHL playoff games he put up two goals and 15 points. Once that was out of the way he was clear to join the Baby Penguins for their playoff run.
In Zonnon’s first three career professional games he scored in each of those games. While the scoring tailed off his physical play and work ethic stood out. He mostly played fourth line center and coming into the 2026-27 season he will most definitely be looking at a larger role.
It remains to be seen how a now healthy Zonnon will stack up against other NHL players. He is the type of player that should have skaters like Rutger McGroarty, Elmer Soderblom, Justin Brazeau, Connor Dewar, and Hendrix Lapierre looking over their shoulder. Given that Zonnon is one of Dubas’ first round selections you have to imagine he will get the benefit of the doubt in a tie goes to the runner scenario.
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