The Pittsburgh Penguins kick off the preseason tonight when they visit the Montreal Canadiens at Bell Centre.
Previously, preseason games in years past were completely meaningless for the Penguins. They were a veteran laden team with minimal roster spots up for grabs. That is no longer the case. There are plenty of available spots and Kyle Dubas has made it clear that the spots will go to whoever earns them regardless of their time spent in the NHL, which is the proper direction to go in.
Here are the forwards who will be in the lineup tonight
FORWARDS
12 – Robby Fabbri
14 – Boko Imama
15 – Joona Koppanen
18 – Tommy Novak
22 – Sam Poulin
26 – Tristan Broz
39 – Anthony Mantha
43 – Danton Heinen
48 – Valtteri Puustinen
49 – Rafael Harvey-Pinard
81 – Ben Kindel
84 – Atley Calvert
85 – Avery Hayes
Sorry, Montreal. Sidney won’t be in the lineup this evening. While the forward lineup lacks star power I do think there are a few players of note for me.
Tonight, we will get to see Ben Kindel in his first Penguins action against fellow NHL players. He just came off the prospect tournament where I think he had a decent enough showing. The competition will be a step above that. I’m hoping we can see Kindel able to make plays and create time and space. It would be a nice early sign for the Penguins top selection in 2025.
Forwards in lineup
Avery Hayes is going to try and pick up where he left off when he led the Penguins in the prospect tournament with four goals. He is gunning for a spot on the big roster and these games are going to be a temperature check for him in that pursuit.
Tristan Broz is entering the time period of his career where he is going to have to continue to show growth if he wants to be considered a regular NHL player. He had 19 goals and 37 points in 59 games in the AHL last year during his age 21 season.
In contrast, Anthony Mantha and Robby Fabbri will be making their Penguin debuts. Both are veteran players with years of experience. Fabbri is on a PTO and will be looking for a contract while Mantha will want to bounce back off a major knee injury and return to a top six role scoring goals. If he does so it will likely land him a trade to a playoff contender and earn him a more lucrative contract at the end of the year.
Lastly on the forward front, I am interested to see more of Tommy Novak. He came over from Nashville at the trade deadline last year, but unfortunately was injured immediately after making his debut and missed the remainder of the season. Novak is looking to become the Penguins third line scoring center. A role that has been woefully bare for the Penguins after the Nick Bonino years. In 2023-24 Novak had a nice offensive year putting up 18 goals and 45 points in 71 games. It would be nice to see that kind of production in a depth role for Pittsburgh.
Defensemen in the lineup
Here are the defensemen the Penguins are going with this evening
5 – Ryan Shea
24 – Matt Dumba
27 – Ryan Graves
38 – Owen Pickering
45 – Harrison Brunicke
50 – Finn Harding
75 – Connor Clifton
For me, I am only really going to focus on Harrison Brunicke and Owen Pickering. They paired together in the prospect tournament and I am hoping they do the same tonight. It very well could be an NHL pairing we see this season depending on how training camp and the preseason goes.
Owen Pickering will almost certainly start the year in the NHL given the Penguins depth issues on the left side of their defense. Brunicke is the wild card. He was super impressive last year in this exact spot. Can he take the next steps to give the Penguins the confidence he can start his NHL career? Tonight is one of the first tests he faces to make that a reality.
Goaltenders
Dan Muse is going with the younger goaltenders for this evening. Sergei Murashov and Joel Blomqvist will be the two goalies rostered for tonight. Murashov has had a great start to training camp and if he shows out in his preseason action he just might steal a job at the NHL level. The Penguins have no cap issues so they won’t hesitate to give playing time to the younger goaltenders instead of Tristan Jarry.
Personally, I thought Blomqvist had a rough go of things at the NHL level last year. He’s going to have to bounce back and build up a sample size of success with things trending in Murashov’s direction along with the acquisition of Arturs Silovs.
Both goaltenders will be splitting time tonight
So those are my focal points for tonight’s preseason opener. It’s great to finally have some NHL action to talk about.
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Good game so far. Puus and Broz standing out, Novak showing some skills.