As is tradition, the Pittsburgh Penguins prospects will be heading up I79 to I90 to visit Buffalo for the annual Prospects Challenge at the Harborcenter. This event is a lot more interesting these days because the Penguins actually have some actual prospects to showcase.
For years the Penguins farm system was bone dry and this tournament was, whatever. There was no real reason to pay attention, but things are a-changing
Here is the roster the Penguins will be bringing with them
Forwards of interest
For me, the players of note will be Ben Kindel and Ville Koivunen at forward. Koivunen showed well in his limited NHL action last year and I would fully expect him to dominate his ice time at this tournament. For Kindel I would hope that he would be able to create time and space playing against other NHL prospects. If he were to struggle to do so it wouldn’t be the end of the world, but it would gain my attention moving forward. This is a setting I expect both players to do well in. I would play them together, at least for the first game. If they light it up. Separate them and see if they can lift others up.
Defenders of note
On defense you have Harrison Brunicke, Owen Pickering, and Emil Pieniniemi who I will be focusing on. Brunicke has been excellent any time he has put on the Penguins crest in an official capacity. I have no reservations about his trajectory at this point.
Owen Pickering is getting to the point where he needs to show out at something like this. He had a decent AHL season and it earned him some NHL minutes last year. It is time for him to take the next step and putting together a very strong performance here is necessary.
Emil Pieniniemi is coming off a point per game season in the OHL and with him entering his 20 year old season it is now his turn to show what he has against other NHL prospects. He should use this opportunity to springboard into what should be a successful first year of professional hockey in the AHL. Being a left shot he has a clearer path to the NHL than those currently on the right side, but that is a fluid situation with an Erik Karlsson trade looming over everything. I’m hoping to see Pieniniemi drive some offensive success in this tournament.
On the goaltending side of things Sergei Murashov will be at the tournament and this is a big year in his development. He shined in the ECHL and then did a good job in the AHL. At a minimum he is looking at a full year at the AHL level where he can build up his stock and perhaps push for some NHL minutes if things go great for him. This set of games can be where that starts.
Penguins Prospect Injuries
Unfortunately, Rutger McGroarty, Bill Zonnon and Peyton Kettles are unavailable for action due to injury. Those injury updates will be forthcoming. Bill Zonnon is somebody who I would have wanted to see at this event. Anytime you have a fresh first round picks you like to see them compete and how they stack up against the competition. We’ll have to see if he and the other two will be ready for training camp in a few weeks.
It’s been a pretty dull offseason considering we were being conditioned for a Rust, Rakell, and/or Karlsson trade and nothing has happened. At least now we will have some prospects in action in the very near future.
