The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins have a lot of depth at wing this season. So much so that they don't even have room for their two latest acquisitions.
Given the lack of high draft picks in recent years, many of these players are undrafted, college free-agent signings, or lower-end draft picks that are working their way up through the system.
One of those players fighting for a spot is Robert Morris alum Cody Wydo.
Wydo has spent the majority of his season with the Wheeling Nailers, where he's been on a tear, racking up 22 goals and 28 assists in only 41 games. When he's in Wheeling, he looks out-of-place, like he belongs in the AHL. He seems to agree.
"I knew that I could play at the next level," he told me of his time in Wheeling.
Wydo's latest opportunity came on Feb. 16, when Wilkes-Barre recalled him from Wheeling after losing a few forwards to injury, recall, or the Olympics.
"It's always a good feeling when you get that call back up to the AHL and play at this level," Wydo said of the opportunity. "That's what you've been working for all season and the offseason, just trying to get to the next level. It's always just a great feeling."
He took advantage of the opportunity immediately, and recorded a goal and an assist that night in Rochester -- one of the few bright spots in a 12-3 loss.
Wydo feels comfortable in Wilkes-Barre, and he said that it helps that his linemates -- guys like Troy Josephs, Gage Quinney, and Jarrett Burton have followed a similar path to him and built up chemistry together in Wheeling.
It also helps that he's familiar with head coach Clark Donatelli, former head coach of the Nailers.
"He knows what kind of game that you play, and you know what kind of game he wants you to play," he said of Donatelli.
One aspect of Wydo's game that Donatelli and other members of the organization like to see is his speed. Speed has always been one of Wydo's main strengths, and that was evident in the skills competition at the ECHL All-Star game this season. Wydo's time of 13.04 seconds was not only enough for second place in the competition, it was enough for second place in the all-time ECHL records.
RMU alum Cody Wydo ‘15 ((@WheelingNailers // @WBSPenguins)) takes second in the #ECHLAllStar18 fastest skater contest with a 13.04 lap #colonialpride pic.twitter.com/U6OJx8JTSp
— RMU Hockey (@RMUMHockey) January 15, 2018
Something Wydo wanted to improve on when I spoke to him earlier in the season was his two-way game, and playing more responsibly in the defensive zone. He thinks that he was able to improve his defensive play in Wheeling, but his focus now is improving a different area of his game at the suggestion of the coaching staff.
"They just want to see my board game, protecting the puck on the wall and just controlling the puck more and not losing battles," he said. "It's just a part of the game that they want to see me improve on a little bit."
Wydo's biggest takeaway from his time in the AHL is how much effort it takes to stay there, and that he always needs to be working.
"There's always something that you can be working on to help make you stick at that level or get to the next level," he told me.
He's back in Wheeling for now, reassigned on Sunday, but he takes the process in stride.
"You never get down when you get sent down, you just gotta keep working hard," he said. "You'll always get your shot and an opportunity, you just have to be able to take advantage of it."
THOMAS TAKES BRONZE
Christian Thomas and Team Canada took home the bronze medal, modeled here by his sister:
Canada took bronze in a 6-4 win over the Czech Republic.In Canada's six games, Thomas scored one goal, the game-winner over South Korea. He tallied one assist in the tournament, the primary assist on Mat Robinson's goal in Canada's semifinal loss to Germany.
WHERE ARE THE NEW GUYS?
The Penguins acquired two new prospects in the three-team Derick Brassard trade last week in Tobias Lindberg and Vincent Dunn. Don't expect to see either in a Wilkes-Barre or Wheeling sweater any time soon, though.
Both Lindberg and Dunn will be staying with their respective teams -- Lindberg with the AHL's Chicago Wolves, and Dunn with the ECHL's Brampton Beast. The Penguins still own the rights to both players and can call them up or move them to Wilkes-Barre or Wheeling at any point this season, but are electing to let them stay where they are for now.
With Wilkes-Barre's forward depth, and players like Christian Thomas, Tom Kostopoulos, and Tom Sestito returning this week, there just isn't room for Lindberg and Dunn.
Both players are in the final year of their entry-level contract. So, if they aren't reassigned before the season ends, there's a good chance we won't see them at all.
Lindberg spoke about the trade here:
It is almost like he never left Chicago. Tobias Lindberg remains with the Wolves & will play today vs. Manitoba. He shares his perspective on a wild night as he was a part of a 3 team deal between Vegas, Ottawa & Pittsburgh #Wolvesbites #NHLTradeDeadline pic.twitter.com/3M7dofDF9G
— Jason Shaver (@theshaves) February 24, 2018
For a full report on the background of both players, you can check out my article here.
KOSTOPOULOS RETURNS
Tom Kostopoulos played his 700th AHL game on Friday night, one of many milestones for the 39 year-old captain.
Kostopoulos is the franchise leader in goals (182), assists (274), points (456), power play goals, game-winning goals, and games played (636). He's also the franchise's postseason leader in goals (23), assists (44), points (67), and games played (91). Perhaps one of his most impressive feats is being one of only four players ever to appear in both 600 AHL and 600 NHL games.
Through it all, the only league award won by Kostopoulos throughout his career is the 2015-16 Fred T. Hunt Trophy, the AHL's sportsmanship award.
Kostopoulos has only been able to play in 10 games this season due to an injury sustained in October. He returned for a single game on Jan. 27, then did not play again until Friday.
His impact is immediately noticeable when he's in the lineup. He's recorded seven points through his 10 games, three of which came in this weekend's two games. His contributions are seen everywhere, from his two-way play to his play in front of the net.
Given his age and his injuries this season, it wouldn't be unreasonable to assume that this might be TK's last shot at a championship.
MORE FROM WILKES-BARRE
• Feb. 23: vs. Rockford, 6-3 win
• Feb. 24: at Syracuse, 3-1 loss
• Feb. 25: vs. Hershey, 3-2 win
• Goaltender Anthony Peters was signed to a full AHL contract after his tryout contract ended. He started Saturday's game this week, and while he took the loss, he made 33 saves on 36 shots.
• Wydo, Troy Josephs, and Freddie Tiffels were reassigned to Wheeling on Sunday. Tiffels has got to be heading for some sort of record for transactions in one season:
• Daniel Sprong had a four-point weekend, tallying a goal and an assist on Friday, and two assists on Sunday. His 21 goals and 23 assists over this season lead the team.
• Lines and defense pairings from Sunday:
Thomas Di Pauli - Jean-Sebastien Dea - Reid Gardiner
Garrett Wilson - Gage Quinney - Tom Kostopoulos
Tom Sestito - Jarrett Burton - Joey Cramarossa
Adam Johnson - Teddy Blueger - Daniel Sprong
Kevin Spinozzi - Ethan Prow
Kevin Schulze - Kevin Czuczman
Jarred Tinordi - Jeff Taylor
• Defensemen Lukas Bengtsson, Chris Summers, Frank Corrado, and Andrey Pedan remain out with injuries, as do forwards Ryan Haggerty and goaltender Michael Leighton. Greg McKegg is injured, but only considered day-to-day.
• After this week, the Penguins remain in second place in the Atlantic Division, trailing the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
• The Penguins (32-16-4-1) will have a tough three-in-three on the road this week. They'll see the Grand Rapid Griffins (30-19-1-6) on Friday, Rockford IceHogs (27-23-3-3) on Saturday, and Milwaukee Admirals (26-24-4-1) on Sunday.
GOALS OF THE WEEK
Adam Johnson scored a pair of goals in Sunday's win over Hershey. His second of the night was this pretty backhander:
Johnson's had a great move for his goal on Friday to outwork the Rockford defenseman:
Reid Gardiner tallied his first AHL goal of the season on Friday:
SAVE OF THE WEEK
I couldn't tell you how Casey DeSmith managed to keep this one out:
BEYOND THE AHL
Niclas Almari, drafted in the fifth round in 2016, is one of the Penguins' top defensive prospects outside of Wilkes-Barre.
The 19 year-old Finn has played most of his 2017-18 season with HPK of the Finnish Liiga, the top professional league in Finland. Wilkes-Barre previously signed him to an amateur tryout contract in April of 2017 and he trained with the team for the remainder of the season, but he did not appear in any games.
Almari wanted to play in North America this season, but the Penguins elected to keep him in Finland.
Almari is a two-way defenseman, and has had some offensive success with HPK this season, with three goals and four assists in 36 games. The league he plays in is more of a low-scoring league, especially for defensemen, and his three goals are the second-most of any defenseman on his team.
When Almari was drafted, then-director of amateur scouting Randy Sexton described him as "tall, but he’s very slender, very lean. He’s an excellent skater, he’s real smooth-skating, puck-moving transitional type D-man."
As a good skater with the ability to chip in offensively and join the rush, he's the type of defenseman who is a good fit in the Penguins system.
At 6-foot-1 and 167 pounds at the time he was drafted, Almari was definitely on the smaller side. During his time since in Finland he's put on almost 15 pounds, which will be helpful if he does make the jump to North America soon.
TOP PICK TRACKER
• Defenseman Zachary Lauzon (second round, 2017) returned to the Huskies' lineup earlier this month, Feb. 14, after being out since Nov. 26 with a neck injury. After appearing comfortable in three games last week, he played three games in three days this weekend. He's scoreless since his return.
• Forward Kasper Bjorkqvist (second round, 2016) and Providence College played one game this week, a 1-0 loss to UMass. They'll be back in action on March 9 when the Hockey East Quarterfinals get underway.
• Defenseman Connor Hall (third round, 2016) returned to the Rangers' lineup on Sunday after missing three weeks with an upper-body injury. He was scoreless in Kitchener's 5-2 loss to Ottawa.
We'll check in with Ross McMullan this week, now playing the position of forward.
PROSPECT FUN THING
Wilkes-Barre mascot Tux had his birthday party at Sunday's game. The broadcast showed a nice shot of Tux and the other mascots invited -- Lehigh Valley's meLVin, Hershey's Coco, and the Nittany Lion, among others.
I took the clip and added music and effects to make it a bit more fun. We'll assume Tux is 21:
Mike Commodore has been having fun on Twitter with trade deadline rumors and pretending to be an insider. Sestito had fun with the Sprong rumors:
. @commie22 I know I’m safe but my buddy @sprong97 wants to know if he should start packing
— Tom Sestito (@TomSestito23) February 26, 2018
